Constitutio Criminalis Theresiana
The Constitutio Criminalis Theresiana (also Nemesis Theresiana or just Theresiana ) was a penal code issued by the Austrian ruler Maria Theresa . The book established a uniform criminal law and criminal procedure law in the countries of Austria and Bohemia. In Hungary, however, the law did not apply.
The book was drafted in Vienna in 1768 and came into force on December 31 of that year, although it had been rejected by the State Council and the State Chancellery because of its backwardness. The controversial Theresiana was only valid until 1787, when torture was completely abolished in the Josephinian penal law .
The Constitutio Criminalis Theresiana was, in addition to the desired standardization of criminal law in Austria, an attempt by Maria Theresa to regulate and limit the torture methods customary at the time.
The book contains in two appendices, the "Beylagen", drawings of technical details and construction plans of torture instruments . The correct implementation of the "legal tortures" is also described meticulously.
The penalties and their precise implementation were laid down in the text of the code. These included death sentences such as execution by burning , sword or hanging as well as physical punishment, e.g. B. by whipping, torture or maiming. For women, the law provided for the possibility of tightening the death penalty by tearing out the breasts before the actual execution (see also Breast Tearer ).
Thumb stick
Application of the thumb stick
lacing
Extension ladder
Page from the text part
Illustration of leg screws
Applying the leg screws
Torture by hoisting with a winch
The scope can be seen from the text immediately after the large title :
| text | intended areas |
|---|---|
| "Offer everyone, and everyone in ours ... | |
| ... royal-Bohemian, ... | Countries of the Bohemian Crown with Bohemia , Moravia and Austrian Silesia |
| ... as well as down- ... | Archduchy of Austria under the Enns |
| ... inside ... | Inner Austria with the Duchy of Styria , the Duchy of Carinthia , the Duchy of Krain and the Austrian coastal region with again the rule of Duino , Rijeka , Istria , the rule of Trieste , the Prince's County of Gorizia and Gradisca (= Innergorizia & the Prince's County of Gradisca , including today's East Tyrol) (still without the west coast of Istria) |
| ... above- ... | Archduchy of Austria above the Enns |
| ... and front-Austrian hereditary lands ... | Front Austria with the county of Tyrol (North and South Tyrol, excluding Trentino), today's Vorarlberg ; Oberamt Breisgau , Oberamt Offenburg , Oberamt Hohenberg , Oberamt Nellenburg , Oberamt Altdorf , Oberamt Tettnang , Oberamt Günzburg , Oberamt Winnweiler , Konstanz (= parts of today's Switzerland, Alsace, around Belfort, in southern Baden-Württemberg and in Bavarian Swabia) |
| ... the high and lower court bodies, city and regional judges, jury courts, district court owners, and administrators, also in general all of our most loyal subjects, and inmates, whatever dignity, class, or nature are the same, Our grace, and hereby add masculine knowledge: …" | |