The Bamberg Maleficent Order as an Anthropological Source for the History of Justice

Abstract

The Bamberg Maleficent Order or Constitutio Criminalis Bambergensisis is a crucial legal text, as it was the first German criminal code to be published in printed form. It was a turning point in the development of German criminal law because it represented a synthesis of criminal law, shaped by the Northern Italian practice and theory under the influence of Roman and canon law and domestic Bavarian common law. The malefic order featured 22 woodcuts illustrating the legal text. Based on the preserved depictions, we can thus accurately imagine how criminal proceedings were conducted 500 years ago while simultaneously gaining a unique anthropological insight into the cultural history of the judiciary and judges at the beginning of the Modern Period.