Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online

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Death penalty
(3,238 words)

1. Transition to early modern period

The legal killing of a delinquent for a committed crime is in principle found as the severest sanction in criminal law in all periods and cultures, but differing in form and frequency. For Europe, traditional legal history sought the medieval origins of the phenomenon in “Germanic” and Roman law. Moti…

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Schwerhoff, Gerd, “Death penalty”, in: Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online, Editors of the English edition: Graeme Dunphy, Andrew Gow. Original German Edition: Enzyklopädie der Neuzeit. Im Auftrag des Kulturwissenschaftlichen Instituts (Essen) und in Verbindung mit den Fachherausgebern herausgegeben von Friedrich Jaeger. Copyright © J.B. Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung und Carl Ernst Poeschel Verlag GmbH 2005–2012. Consulted online on 01 October 2023 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2352-0272_emho_COM_028940>
First published online: 2015
First print edition: 20170626



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