THE SCENE: Medieval Russian law drew an explicit distinction between how the law punished rich and poor people, as is demonstrated in the excerpt below.
THE TEXT: If he who has committed murder runs away and escapes, the relatives of the murdered man shall receive the murderer’s property in the case that he is wealthy. But if the escaped culprit is poor, he shall be pursued till found, and when he is found, he shall be executed. If a Russ commits assault with a sword, spear, or any other weapon, he who has committed this crime shall pay five pounds of silver according to the Russian law, but if he is poor, all his available property shall be sold, even to the garments he walks in, and those too shall be taken from him. Finally, he shall swear upon his faith that he has no possessions, and then he shall be released.
– Tales of Bygone Years, Nestor, 12th Century AD
