Early Modern Europe is a period modern historians date from around 1450 to the beginning of the industrial revolution in late 18th century Britain. It is considered a transition period from the Medieval world to the modern world, and thus has elements of both in most aspects of life at this time. The Legal system was not an exception as during the 17th century, the legal system across Europe was changing to reflect the centralizing power of the crown or lack thereof. The new legal systems tried to reflect a desire for empiricism and order in a violent world once ruled by the nobility. A major aspect of the legal system at this time is corporal and capital punishment. In modern terms, capital punishment is rare and is reserved for the most
…show more content…
These types of punishments were not isolated to the decentralized HRE, but was rather all over Europe and was far from the only means of execution. Emperor Charles V promulgated in 1532 a legal codification known as Constitutio Criminalis Carolina, or Carolina for short. This code made the death penalty the legal punishment for murder, arson, counterfeiting, treason, blasphemy, conjuring, witchcraft, rape, abortion, unnatural sex, forgery, highway robbery with violence, and theft at the third conviction. Punishment in the early modern period was extremely harsh, and was sanctioned by the growing state. Charles V, as emperor of a large part of Europe, could spread these harsh punishments across Europe to places that might have had different punishments for those …show more content…
She wrote one of the first systematic attempts in her family to preserve the record of the peasants who petitioned her for a reduction in the penalty imposed by the local judge. Cornelia Costanza at this time was known to have read as much about wayward cows as she did about errand villager. She read so much about local issues because her most common petition was a reduction in grazing violation punishments. Many who often petitioned Cornelia Costanza also had some relief given to them for their punishment. This style of crime and punishment shows that there was still a large distance between the law itself and how it is practiced on a local level. Local leaders still had a lot of control in the early modern period, despite the new law codes to centralize. Local people could still talk to their lord and explain themselves in a way that makes the courts have a sense of humanity, even for harsher crimes such as assault. Central authority with the courts had not reached a point where local nobles in more rural and isolated areas had their authority stripped
These types of punishments were not isolated to the decentralized HRE, but was rather all over Europe and was far from the only means of execution. Emperor Charles V promulgated in 1532 a legal codification known as Constitutio Criminalis Carolina, or Carolina for short. This code made the death penalty the legal punishment for murder, arson, counterfeiting, treason, blasphemy, conjuring, witchcraft, rape, abortion, unnatural sex, forgery, highway robbery with violence, and theft at the third conviction. Punishment in the early modern period was extremely harsh, and was sanctioned by the growing state. Charles V, as emperor of a large part of Europe, could spread these harsh punishments across Europe to places that might have had different punishments for those …show more content…
She wrote one of the first systematic attempts in her family to preserve the record of the peasants who petitioned her for a reduction in the penalty imposed by the local judge. Cornelia Costanza at this time was known to have read as much about wayward cows as she did about errand villager. She read so much about local issues because her most common petition was a reduction in grazing violation punishments. Many who often petitioned Cornelia Costanza also had some relief given to them for their punishment. This style of crime and punishment shows that there was still a large distance between the law itself and how it is practiced on a local level. Local leaders still had a lot of control in the early modern period, despite the new law codes to centralize. Local people could still talk to their lord and explain themselves in a way that makes the courts have a sense of humanity, even for harsher crimes such as assault. Central authority with the courts had not reached a point where local nobles in more rural and isolated areas had their authority stripped