Definition
Latin: "Of wounds and mayhem." A criminal appeal formerly used in English law, initiated by a private party against an individual for unlawfully wounding or maiming them. The appeal was a personal accusation brought directly by the injured victim — not a prosecution by the Crown — and belonged to the older system of private criminal process that predated the dominance of public prosecution. If successful, the appeal could expose the defendant to criminal punishment. The proceeding was governed by the forms and limitations of the general law of appeals in criminal cases.
Common Confusion
De plagis et mahemio is one of several named criminal appeals from early English law. It should not be confused with the appeal of felony generally, which encompassed a broader range of crimes, or with the appeal of mayhem standing alone. The writ specifically joined wounding (plagis) and maiming (mahemio) as dual grounds, distinguishing it from instruments addressed to only one type of bodily injury. Researchers encountering the term in medieval or early modern English sources should also take care not to conflate it with civil actions for battery or mayhem, which coexisted in the common law courts and followed entirely different procedural paths.
Why It Matters in Research
This term belongs to a class of nearly obsolete procedural instruments that surface in historical legal materials — particularly in Bracton, the Fitzherbert Natura Brevium, and Reeve's History of English Law — but have no practical presence in modern law. Researchers will encounter it almost exclusively in three contexts: (1) antiquarian legal histories tracing the evolution of criminal prosecution from private appeal to public indictment; (2) studies of mayhem as a substantive offense, where the procedural history of the appeal sheds light on how the injury was defined and remedied; and (3) analysis of the decline of the appeal of felony in England, a process largely complete by the late medieval period but formally abolished only in 1819.
Because the term appears in fragmented form across dictionary entries — the Black's first edition entry is incomplete as preserved — researchers relying solely on dictionary sources may not obtain a full picture of the writ's procedural mechanics. The most reliable primary authority is Bracton, fol. 144b, which describes the appeal in its procedural context. Reeve's History of English Law (vol. 2) provides accessible secondary synthesis. Fitzherbert's Natura Brevium, while cited in connection with cognate writs, is most useful for the original formulary context.
The corpus connection to mayhem (mahemium) is significant: the substantive offense defined what injuries could ground the appeal. Understanding de plagis et mahemio therefore requires understanding the historical definition of mayhem — permanent disabling injury to a body part useful in combat — as opposed to lesser wounding. This interplay between procedure and substance is a common research trap: the appeal's availability depended on the character of the injury, not merely the fact of it.
Historical Dictionary Support
The dictionary sources are in close agreement on the essential meaning: all three define the term as a criminal appeal for wounding and maiming, attribute it to English practice, and point to Bracton fol. 144b and Reeve's History as supporting authority. Burrill's entry is the most complete as preserved, citing both sources explicitly. The Black's second edition matches Burrill's substance almost exactly. The first edition entry, as it appears in the source material, is fragmentary — the writ's description is separated from its definitional phrase by what appears to be a printing artifact — but the surviving text is consistent with the other sources.
None of the historical dictionaries elaborate on the procedural mechanics of the appeal itself, the rules governing who could bring it, or the consequences of failure. For those details, primary sources — particularly Bracton — remain indispensable. The dictionary entries function as navigational markers, not comprehensive treatments.
No meaningful divergence exists among sources on this term. All treat it as a historical artifact of English law, not as living doctrine.
Jurisdictional Note
De plagis et mahemio was a creature of English common law and has no direct counterpart in American legal practice. The criminal appeal as a procedural form was never adopted in the American colonies or states. American mayhem law developed through statute and common law indictment, not private appeal.
Encyclopedia Cross-Reference
See Law Mind Encyclopedia: Mayhem; Appeal of Felony; Criminal Procedure (Historical)