Crime and Punishment in Early Modern Germany Courts and Adjudicatory Practices in Frankfurt am Main, 1562–1696 Maria R. Boes Crime and Punishment in early modern Germany Dedicated to Susan F. Levine Crime and Punishment in early modern Germany Courts and adjudicatory Practices in Frankfurt am main, 1562–1696 maria r. Boes West Chester university, usa First published 2013 by Ashgate Publishing Published 2016 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business Copyright © 2013 maria r. Boes All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. maria r. Boes has asserted her right under the Copyright, designs and Patents act, 1988, to be identified as the author of this work. Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Boes, maria r. Crime and punishment in early modern Germany : courts and adjudicatory practices in Frankfurt am main, 1562–1696. 1. Criminal procedure--Germany--Frankfurt am main--history--16th century. 2. Criminal procedure-- Germany--Frankfurt am main--history--17th century. 3. Crime--Germany--Frankfurt am main--history-- 16th century. 4. Crime--Germany--Frankfurt am main--history--17th century. 5. Corrections--Germany-- Frankfurt am main--history--16th century. 6. Corrections--Germany--Frankfurt am main--history-- 17th century. i. title 345.4'3416405-dc23 The Library of Congress has cataloged the printed edition as follows: Boes, maria r. Crime and punishment in early modern Germany : courts and adjudicatory practices in Frankfurt am main, 1562–1696 / By maria r. Boes. pages cm includes index. isBn 978-1-4094-3147-3 (hardcover) -- isBn 978-1-4094-3148-0 (ebook) -- isBn 978-1-4094-7443- 2 (epub) 1. Criminal procedure--Germany--Frankfurt am main--history--16th century. 2. Criminal procedure--Germany--Frankfurt am main--history--17th century. 3. Crime--Germany--Frankfurt am main-- history--16th century. 4. Crime--Germany--Frankfurt am main--history--17th century. 5. Corrections-- Germany--Frankfurt am main--history--16th century. 6. Corrections--Germany--Frankfurt am main-- history--17th century. i.title. KKC6717.7.B64 2013 364.943'416409032--dc23 2013000820 ISBN 9781409431473 (hbk) ISBN 9781315574783 (ebk) Contents List of Figures and Tables vii Preface and Acknowledgments ix Part I: the CIty’s ProfIle 1 socio-economic and religious Background 3 2 legal/Judicial setting 25 Part II: CrImInal DeteCtIon methoDs 3 Public appearance and Criminal Judicial Practices in early modern Germany 53 Part III: Cultural anD relIGIous/raCIal ImPeDIments 4 on Cultural Crossroads: Gypsies on trial 71 5 targeted twice: Jews as Individual Criminal and Judicial Victims 93 6 enough is enough: two Jewish resistance trials 113 Part IV: GenDer Issues 7 Women and the Penal system in frankfurt am main, 1562–1696 135 8 Women Bonding: Collaborative Infanticide 145 vi Crime and Punishment in Early Modern Germany 9 Choosing Death over shame: unwed mothers and Infanticide 165 Part V: sexual BehaVIor 10 on trial for sodomy in early modern Germany 183 Part VI: mIlItary asCenDanCy 11 Judicial treatment of soldiers for Killings unrelated to the Battlefield 205 Part VII: DesPerate aCts 12 escapes from Judgment: self-Inflicted Deaths of Criminal suspects 237 Conclusion 267 Index 275 List of Figures and Tables Figures Frankfurt city map xii 1.1 Die Frankfurter Judengasse, Frankfurt’s Jewish Street 24 9.1 Razor used by “Jüdin Bölle” in her 1695 suicide (Criminalia 2036). Photo: Michel Schmidt © Institut für Stadtgeschichte, Frankfurt am Main. 180 Table 7.1 Distribution of pleas per gender, 1562–1689 143 This page has been left blank intentionally