Cent court

A cent court was a medieval and modern legal institution in the Holy Roman Empire (HRR).

definition

A penny court was entrusted with the jurisdiction in the context of the exercise of the high jurisdiction. It thus performed the judicial part of a central office , because, as is customary in the HRR, there was no separation of jurisdiction from administration . The executive part of a central office, however, was carried out by the committee , a paramilitary organization of troops, which was also used for criminal prosecution , among other things . The committee was called up by the center judge , who was the highest official of a center office. This judge, originally appointed by the bishop, presided over the Centgericht and held court sessions with his college of aldermen in which residents of the Cent District who had committed criminal offenses were tried. The defining word of the term “Centgericht” was derived from the Latin centum (“hundred”), which went back to the time of the Franconian conquest . Because during this time the colonists settled in hundreds .

history

The role of the cent court had experienced a considerable loss of importance during the 16th century. The cause of this development was the great upheaval that had arisen in the legal system of the HRR since the end of the 15th century. As a result, the area of ​​jurisdiction of the Centgericht was significantly narrowed and a significant part of its previous competencies now fell to the area of Vogteilichen jurisdiction , the exercise of which was incumbent on the Vogtgericht . The only thing left for the Centgericht was to punish serious criminal cases, because their processing continued to fall within the legal scope of a high court . These criminal offenses, threatened with the death penalty, included the four or five "high reprimands" that had already been mentioned in documents from the early 14th century. These included, in particular, murder or manslaughter, serious and bloody bodily harm, serious theft, rape and night arson.

literature

• Hildegard Weiss: City and district of Bamberg (=  Historical Atlas of Bavaria, part of Franconia . I, 21). Commission for Bavarian State History, Munich 1974, ISBN 3-7696-9884-3 .
• Hanns Hubert Hofmann : Höchstadt-Herzogenaurach (=  Historical Atlas of Bavaria, part Franconia . I, 1). Commission for Bavarian State History, Munich 1951, DNB  452071143 ( digitized version ).
• Helmut Demattio: Kronach - The Altlandkreis (=  Historical Atlas of Bavaria, part of Franconia . I, 32). Commission for Bavarian State History, Munich 1998, ISBN 3-7696-9698-0 .
• Erich Freiherr von Guttenberg, Hanns Hubert Hofmann: Stadtsteinach . In: Historical Atlas of Bavaria . Commission for Bavarian State History, Munich 1953.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Höchstadt-Herzogenaurach . In: Historical Atlas of Bavaria . S. 25 ( Digitale-sammlungen.de [accessed on May 27, 2020]).
2. ↑ Höchstadt-Herzogenaurach . In: Historical Atlas of Bavaria . S. 28 ( digital-sammlungen.de [accessed on May 27, 2020]).
3. ↑ Stadtsteinach . In: Historical Atlas of Bavaria . S. 18 ( digital-sammlungen.de [accessed on May 27, 2020]).
4. ↑ Stadtsteinach . In: Historical Atlas of Bavaria . S. 13 ( digital-sammlungen.de [accessed on May 27, 2020]).
5. ↑ Kitzingen . In: Historical Atlas of Bavaria . S. 33 ( digital-sammlungen.de [accessed on May 27, 2020]).
6. ↑ Stadtsteinach . In: Historical Atlas of Bavaria . S. 34 ( digital-sammlungen.de [accessed on May 27, 2020]).
7. ^ City and district of Bamberg . In: Historical Atlas of Bavaria . S. 41 .
8. ↑ Forchheim . In: Historical Atlas of Bavaria . S. 15 ( digital-sammlungen.de [accessed on May 27, 2020]).
9. ↑ Kronach - The Altland District . In: Historical Atlas of Bavaria . S. 127 .
10. ^ City and district of Bamberg . In: Historical Atlas of Bavaria . S. 42 .
11. ↑ Kronach - The Altland District . In: Historical Atlas of Bavaria . S. 45 .
12. ↑ Forchheim . In: Historical Atlas of Bavaria . S. 25 ( Digitale-sammlungen.de [accessed on May 27, 2020]).