On the Blood Feud.
Nihil, you will typically find the system of blood vengeance in societies with no central authority, no courts, no police force, etc. In such societies, it serves a useful purpose (although, of course, it can go out of control, just as other systems of justice -- or injustice -- can).
How do you prevent somebody from killing you or a member of your family? (You can't have him arrested and put in jail, because there are no policemen and no jails.) So you make him aware that if he does so, he, or a member of his family, will be killed in return. This is the rule for the whole society, and everybody knows it.
In addition, the blood vengeance system has other means of dealing with murder: reconciliation through intermediaries, money payments, etc.
Typically, blood vengeance systems have endured the longest in mountainous, relatively inaccessible regions: Montenegro, Albania, the Caucasus, even Scotland. The problems come when the blood vengeance system endures too long, long after the establishment of a central authority and the legal system that goes along with it.
Joan |
