Felo de se

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Felo de se, Latin for "felon of himself," is an archaic legal term meaning suicide. In early English common law, an adult who committed suicide was literally a felon, and the crime was punishable by forfeiture of property to the king and what was considered a shameful burial (typically with a stake through his heart and with a burial at a crossroad).^[1] A child or mentally incompetent person, however, who killed him- or herself was not considered a felo de se and was not punished post-mortem for his or her actions. The term is not commonly used in modern legal practice.

"Felo de se" is also the name of a poem by fin de siecle poet, Amy Levy.

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