It was forbidden to say bad things about another person. If you insulted someone, you could be punished and you had to pay a fine. The law told which words were forbidden to say.
"These are the words, for which one has to pay a fine: thief, murderer, liar, bastard, arsonist, son of a bitch, whore, prostitute, witch. Someone who calls the other by these abusive words (and if there are witnesses) must pay a fine of twelve marks or be sworn free by six men. If he cannot pay, he must hit his mouth and say that he lied, and he will be put in the stocks and then he must leave town."
Slander, to insult someone verbally, was punished by a large fine. If one couldn’t pay, one had to admit that one had said a bad thing. Then one was put in the stocks and expelled from town as well. Imagine that we should have to pay a fine today, if we insulted somebody!