Banishment Practices in Fifteenth-Century Zagreb
Banishment Practices in Fifteenth-Century Zagreb

Summary/Abstract: Banishment is undoubtedly an ancient method of punishment. It was widespread in the Middle Ages, not only as a punishment, but also as a form of correction of behavior or coercion. The present paper focuses on the case of the city of Zagreb, a complex city in itself. Even though numerous studies were devoted to urban life in Zagreb, the topic of banishment(s) was never actually addressed. The preserved sources reveal the existence of (at least) 120 procedures of banishment only in the course of the fifteenth century. The sanction of banishment emerges as an alternative to fines, a flexible, potentially reversible and cheap form of punishment. Unsurprisingly, banishment was in fact a “middle path” between fines and the death penalty.

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