Precedent times : the early-medieval justice before major crimes -- Sovereignty and merum imperium -- The symbology of the gallows : jurisdiction and terror -- The death penalty in the "plenitudo potestatis" -- The death penalty in the non-royal jurisdictions -- The death penalty in the legislation and municipal capitality -- The death penalty in ordinary justice -- The death sentences -- The application of the death penalty : the ceremony of execution -- The application of the death penalty : the display of the body -- The application of the death penalty : punishment by fire -- More fire : the inquisition and the death penalty -- The death penalty and otherness : jews and muslims before the death penalty -- The death penalty in the mind -- The death penalty in the paths to consolidate power and social cohesion -- The death penalty at the end of the middle ages in the tense Catalonia.
Summary:
The death penalty was unusual in medieval Europe until the twelfth century. From that moment on, it became a key instrument of rule in European society, and we can study it in the case of Catalonia through its rich and varied unpublished documentation. The death penalty was justified by Roman Law; accepted by Theology and Philosophy for the Common Good; and used by rulers as an instrument for social intimidation. The application of the death penalty followed a regular trial, and the status of the individual dictated the method of execution, reserving the fire for the worst crimes, as the Inquisition applied against the so-called heretics. The executions were public, and the authorities and the people shared the common goal of restoring the will of God which had been broken by the executed person. The death penalty took an important place in the core of the medieval mind: people included executions in the jokes and popular narratives while the gallows filled the landscape fitting the jurisdictional limits and, also, showing rotten corpses to assert that the best way to rule and order the society is by terror. This book utilises previously unpublished archival sources to present a unique study on the death penalty in late Medieval Europe.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.