Ransom is the practice of holding a prisoner or item to extort money or property to secure their release, or it can refer to the sum of money involved.

In early Germanic law a similar concept was called Weregild.

Julius Caesar was captured by pirates near the island of Pharmacusa and held until someone paid 50 talents to free him. It also refers to demanding concessions from a person or organization by threatening damaging action.

In Europe during the Middle Ages, ransom became an important custom of chivalric warfare. An important knight, especially nobility or royalty, was worth a significant sum of money if captured, but nothing if he was killed. For this reason, the practice of ransom contributed to the development of heraldry, which allowed knights to advertise their identities, and by implication their ransom value, and made them less likely to be killed out of hand. Examples include Richard the Lion Heart and Bertrand du Guesclin.

When ransom means "payment", the word comes via Old French rançon from Latin redemptio = "buying back": compare "redemption".

In Christianity, ransom is the shed blood of Jesus Christ, which made deliverance from sin and death possible for the offspring of Adam.

In Judaism ransom is called kofer-nefesh ( ). Among other uses, the word was applied to the poll tax of a half shekel to be paid by every male above twenty years at the census.

In the popular imagination, ransom notes (i.e. letters sent by the captors to those who they expect to pay up) are constructed from letters cut from newspapers to stop anyone from recognising the handwriting of the extortionist.

In typography, and later in computing lore, the ransom note effect occurs when a document uses too many fonts.

In school athletics, a school's mascot is sometimes kidnapped, and the ransom payment is usually a contest like a football game.

Although ransom is usually demanded only after the kidnapping of a person, it is not unheard of for thieves to demand ransom for the return of an inanimate object or body part. In 1987, thieves broke into the tomb of Argentinian president Juan Perón and stole his hands; they later demanded $8 million US for their return. The ransom was not paid.

See also

• bail, a judicially determined sum of money deposited as security to ensure that a prisoner appears in court if released.
• blackmail, a legal term.
• extortion, a legal term.
• Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
• Federal crime
• Hostage
• INTERPOL
• Kidnapping
• Piracy
• Danegeld

References

1. Plutarch, “ The Life of Julius Caesar,” in The Parallel Lives, Loeb Classical Library edition, 1919, Vol. VII, p. 445. The pirates originally demanded 20 talents, but Caesar felt he was worth more. After he was freed he came back, captured the pirates, took their money and eventually crucified all of them, a fate he had threatened the incredulous pirates with during his captivity.
2. "Peron Hands: Police Find Trail Elusive." The New York Times, September 6, 1987. Accessed October 16, 2009.