He will no longer have to fuel an ancient debt

GENEVA: A Swiss court has wiped the slate clean for a farmer and his family, relieving them of an annual debt to a Roman Catholic church dating back to 1357, it was reported yesterday.

The court, in the north-eastern canton of Glarus, ruled that the farmer and his family no longer needed to pay about 70 Swiss francs (R650) a year to keep the sanctuary lamp of the Naefels Catholic church burning. The debt dated back to 1357, when a certain Konrad Mueller killed a man named Heinrich Stucki. To save his soul and avoid revenge from the victim’s family, Mueller gave a lamp to the church and vowed to finance its fuel “for eternity”, or his land would go to the church.

The owners of Mueller’s old land have continued to pay for the lamp oil. But when the parish wanted to register this with the municipality, one of the landowners balked. The church took him to court, but the court ruled that legal customs of the 14th century had ceased to be valid. – Sapa-AFP