- Online
- $140
Every human society must confront the problem of crime and how to deal with it. In this course, we examine how people who were labelled as criminals were identified, tried and punished in Europe from the Middle Ages to the 18th century.
We begin by considering the evolution of systems of criminal justice in different parts of Europe. We then examine different forms of punishment and explore the social and religious justifications for public executions. Next, we study the tragic distortions of judicial procedure applied to women suspected of witchcraft as well as the strange practice of ritually destroying the houses of executed criminals. Finally, we look at critiques of criminal law practices during the 18th century as expressed in writing and art.
Dr. Chris Friedrichs, PhD, is professor emeritus of History at UBC, where he taught European and world history for 45 years before retiring in 2018. He is a specialist in the social and political history of German and European cities of the early modern era. His books include The Early Modern City, 1450-1750 (1995) and Urban Politics in Early Modern Europe (2000). Chris was awarded a Killam Teaching Prize from UBC in 1997.
Course outline
Week 1. Criminal Law and Criminal Trials in Medieval and Early Modern Europe
Week 2. Executions as Public Rituals in Early Modern Europe
Week 3. Witch Trials as Perversions of Justice
Week 4. Ritualized House-Destruction as a Form of Punishment
Week 5. Critiques of the Criminal Justice System in Words and Art