Legal Definitions - novigild

Novigild refers to a historical legal concept where a person who damaged another's property was required to pay a penalty equal to nine times the purchase price or assessed value of the damaged item.

This term reflects an ancient form of compensation and punishment, emphasizing a significant financial deterrent against property destruction.

• Example 1: Damage to Agricultural Property

  Imagine a scenario in a medieval village where a farmer's runaway herd of pigs breaks through a fence and destroys a significant portion of a neighbor's valuable crop of wheat, which was ready for harvest. If the estimated market value of the destroyed wheat was, for instance, two silver pieces, the farmer responsible for the pigs would be obligated to pay the neighbor eighteen silver pieces (nine times the value) as novigild.

  This illustrates novigild because the payment is a direct consequence of property damage (the wheat crop), and the amount is calculated as nine times the property's value.

• Example 2: Damage to a Merchant's Goods

  Consider a bustling historical marketplace where a dispute between two merchants escalates, and one merchant deliberately knocks over the other's display, shattering several expensive ceramic pots imported from a distant land. If the total purchase price of the broken pots was five gold coins, the merchant who caused the damage would be compelled to pay forty-five gold coins (nine times the value) to the owner as novigild.

  Here, novigild applies as the payment is a punitive compensation for the destruction of the merchant's goods, calculated at nine times their original cost.

• Example 3: Damage to a Dwelling or Structure

  Suppose, in an older legal system, a person intentionally vandalized a section of a neighbor's newly built wooden stable, causing structural damage that required extensive repairs. If the cost to build that specific damaged section of the stable was estimated at three pounds of currency, the vandal would be liable to pay twenty-seven pounds (nine times the cost) as novigild to the stable's owner.

  This example demonstrates novigild in the context of damage to a structure, where the perpetrator pays a multiple of the damaged property's value as a penalty.