When the people of Mons in Belgium were short of something to do, they decided—having no criminals of their own on hand—to buy a robber from a neighboring town, tie a horse to each of his ankles and wrists, and then have him torn limb from limb. “At this,” we are told, “the people rejoiced more than if a new holy body had risen from the dead.” The only upsetting thing about the episode, said the chronicler, was that the good citizens of Mons paid too much for the man.
