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Old 21 May 2026, 08:39 AM   #6
SideshowBob
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Join Date: Jan 2017
Posts: 410
It's not really the same thing, Joe Bloggs is just a generic name rather than an unknown man.

John Doe was used in English Law in the late Middle Ages. After the black death, feudalism began to break down, but it took a long time for property law to catch-up. If a landlord tried to evict a tenant, it was theoretically possible that it could end-up in trial by combat.

Lawyers invented a way around this; the landlord needed the help of two friends, one pretended to own the property and the other pretended to be the tenant. The real landlord and tenant got called as witnesses establishing the owner's right to evict the actual tenant.

Eventually the Judges streamlined this process; most of the trial could be skipped by giving the names John Doe and Richard Roe in place of the two friends turning-up.

At least that's what I heard.
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