Zarzut czarostwa jako kalumnia w praktyce sądowej mniejszego miasta pomorskiego w drugiej połowie XVII i XVIII wieku
The Allegation of Witchcraft as an Insult in the Judicial Practice in a Smaller Pomeranian Town in the Second Half of the 17th and 18th Centuries

Summary/Abstract: The Chełmno law (ius culmense) and other legal systems in force protected good reputation. It was reflected for example in the fact of penalizing any kinds of verbal insults and slanders (calumny) which were not supported by appropriate evidence; they were treated as an insult to the legal interest of a human being. It also concerned false allegations of witchcraft. The subject matter of the article is the practice of adjudicating cases concerning slander (calumny) and including the allegation of witchcraft in smaller towns of the Royal Prussia ( the second half of the 17th-18th centuries). On the basis of the judicial files of the town of Nowe nad Wisłą, the author presented the background of false allegations, the model of conduct of the judicial bodies and the catalogue of punishments used by the courts. It constitutes a contribution to a more extensive discussion about trials concerning witchcraft in the Prussian province and other parts of the Polish Kingdom in the early modern period.

• Details
• Contents