Reforms of Southern German Imperial Circles: Criminal Law and Punishments in Early Modern Times (Reformen süddeutscher Reichskreise: Strafrecht und Strafen in der frühen Neuzeit)
Author : Wolfgang Wüst
Abstract :
Criminal law reforms and crime control in the early modern period were by no means only territorial or urban affairs, for the Imperial Circles (Reichskreise) – especially the active southern German Imperial Circles in Franconia, Swabia, and along the Upper Rhine – coordinated and acted preferably whenever cross-border necessities were involved. Legislative initiatives of the Imperial Circles were sought after by the county councils when requests came from the group of smaller territories. Since the expansion of competences and the readjustment of the ten Imperial Circles by the Augsburg Diet of 1555 – under the resolutions of this Diet other results were overshadowed by the religious peace treaty – petitions for help from individual Circle Members to the Circle Assemblies or the Circle Directors became more frequent. Many of these petitions were of civil or criminal relevance. They concretize the importance of the Imperial Circles for the highest jurisdiction.
Keywords :
Criminal law, penal system, legislation, imperial circles, jurisdiction, galley punishment, Germany, Franconia, Swabia, Upper Rhine
