Legal Definitions - dominicide

Dominicide

Historically, dominicide refers to:

• The crime of killing one's master.
• A person who commits such an act.

This term is rooted in historical legal systems where individuals could hold absolute authority or ownership over others, such as in contexts of slavery, feudalism, or certain forms of indentured servitude. The "master" in this sense was someone with significant legal and social control over another person's life and labor.

Here are some examples illustrating the concept of dominicide:

• Imagine a scenario in the American South during the era of slavery. An enslaved person, driven to desperation by brutal treatment, plans and executes the killing of the plantation owner who legally "owned" them. This act, in historical legal terms, would have been considered dominicide, as the enslaved person killed their legal master.

• Consider a medieval European manor. A household servant, bound to the lord of the manor and under his absolute authority, poisons the lord in an act of rebellion. The lord, as the head of the manor and the master of his servants, would be the victim of dominicide by the servant.

• In 18th-century England, a young apprentice, legally bound to a master craftsman for several years, suffers severe abuse. In a moment of extreme duress, the apprentice kills the craftsman. The craftsman, as the legal "master" overseeing the apprentice's training and labor, would be the victim of dominicide.