''Caput lupinum'' or ''caput gerat lupinum'' is a term used in the

English legal system English law is the common law legal system of England and Wales, comprising mainly criminal law and civil law, each branch having its own courts and procedures. Principal elements of English law Although the common law has, historically, be ...

and its derivatives. The

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

term literally means "wolf's head" or "wolfish head", and refers to a person considered to be an

outlaw An outlaw, in its original and legal meaning, is a person declared as outside the protection of the law. In pre-modern societies, all legal protection was withdrawn from the criminal, so that anyone was legally empowered to persecute or kill them ...

, as in, ''e.g.'', the phrase ''caput gerat lupinum'' ("may he wear a wolfish head" / "may his be a wolf's head"). The term was used in

Medieval England England in the Middle Ages concerns the history of England during the medieval period, from the end of the 5th century through to the start of the Early Modern period in 1485. When England emerged from the collapse of the Roman Empire, the econ ...

to designate a person pronounced by the authorities to be a dangerous criminal, who could thus be killed without penalty. The term ''caput lupinum'' is first recorded in a law attributed to

Edward the Confessor Edward the Confessor ; la, Eduardus Confessor , ; ( 1003 – 5 January 1066) was one of the last Anglo-Saxon English kings. Usually considered the last king of the House of Wessex, he ruled from 1042 to 1066. Edward was the son of Æth ...

, in the text ''

Leges Edwardi Confessoris The title ''Leges Edwardi Confessoris'', or ''Laws of Edward the Confessor'', refers to a collection of laws, purporting to represent English law in the time of Edward the Confessor (reigned 1042–1066), as recited to the Norman invader king Wil ...

''. This law stated that a man who refused to answer a summons from the king's justice for a criminal trial would be condemned as a ''Caput lupinum''. The thirteenth-century writer on law,

Henry de Bracton Henry of Bracton, also Henry de Bracton, also Henricus Bracton, or Henry Bratton also Henry Bretton (c. 1210 – c. 1268) was an English cleric and jurist. He is famous now for his writings on law, particularly ''De legibus et consuetudinibus ...

, wrote in his book ''De Legibus et Consuetudinibus Angliae'' that outlaws ''"gerunt caput lupinum"''- "bear the wolf's head." Bracton added that this meant that outlaws could thus be killed without judicial inquiry. The fourteenth-century English legal textbook ''

The Mirror of Justices ''The Mirror of Justices'', also known in Anglo-Norman as ''Le mireur a justices'' and in Latin as ''Speculum Justitiariorum'', is a law textbook of the early 14th century, written in Anglo-Norman French by Andrew Horn (or Horne). The original ...

'' stated that anyone who was accused of a

felony A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "félonie") to describe an offense that resu ...

, who refused three times to attend county courts, would be declared ''Caput lupinum'' or "Wolfshead". The book added ''""Wolfshead!" shall be cried against him, for that a wolf is a beast hated of all folk; and from that time forward it is lawful for anyone to slay him like a wolf."''

Black's Law Dictionary ''Black's Law Dictionary'' is the most frequently used legal dictionary in the United States. Henry Campbell Black (1860–1927) was the author of the first two editions of the dictionary. History The first edition was published in 1891 by West P ...

, 8th edition (2004: 225) reads "an outlawed felon considered a pariah – a lone wolf – open to attack by anyone." A person designated a ''caput lupinum'' was a

criminal In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Can ...

whose rights had been waived. As such, he or she could be legally harmed by any

citizen Citizenship is a "relationship between an individual and a state to which the individual owes allegiance and in turn is entitled to its protection". Each state determines the conditions under which it will recognize persons as its citizens, and ...

References

Outlaws Common law {{Criminal-law-stub