Medieval Norman sick days
Here's an interesting bit from one of the customals of Normandy. Sometimes the Normans had to decide whether one of the parties in a lawsuit was ill enough to justify delaying court proceedings. The way they did it was to send two agents of the court to the sick man's house to check up on him. The agents were required to come back and report the following formula "N is so feeble that he cannot come to court and in his own house he cannot put on his pants."

I never quite know how literally these formulas were taken.


Reminder: The Henchminion is Not to Be Trusted Party is on Sunday. The Internets at large are invited. Swordfighting at 4:00, pub night starting at 6:30.