A hostage or pledge, especially one given as security in medieval times to guarantee a contract or agreement.
From Old English 'gisel,' borrowed from Old Norse 'gísl,' which also gave us the word 'hostage.' The term was common in Germanic legal traditions during the Middle Ages.
Medieval societies relied on human pledges as contracts—imagine your younger sibling held as collateral until you paid your debts! This shows how legal systems evolved from personal trust to paper agreements.
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