Court pillar

Court column in Karow (1753)

A court pillar or jurisdiction pillar (sometimes also court pillar ) used to delimit the area of jurisdiction of a municipality. Their installation had to be approved by a higher authority (landlord, bishop, sovereign). They are colloquially referred to as “ pillory ” because - according to oral tradition - not only were judgments passed on them, but punishments were also carried out. In addition, they were often a sign of civic pride.

history

Columns of justice are related to the economic prosperity and the increasing political self-government of cities and larger communities in the late Middle Ages and in the early modern period. This was often preceded by the granting of market, trade and tax privileges. High medieval (i.e. Romanesque ) court columns are not known; the oldest, all undated, specimens come from the 15th century (i.e. late Gothic ). While the tradition of erecting court pillars in southern Europe ends around 1700, in Central Europe (as a border marker) they were sometimes erected in the 18th century.

Iberian Peninsula

In northern Spain ( Old Castile ) and Portugal , court columns are called rollo jurisdiccional ( rollo for short ), picota or pelourinho . They usually stand on a stepped round base in the middle of the respective place or on its edge and announce the independent jurisdiction of the communities. As part of the reconquest ( reconquista ) and settlement ( repoblación ) of central and south-western Spain and the associated stabilization of power relations, they were also built in Estremadura and New Castile ; in the south ( Andalusia , Algarve ) or east ( Aragón , Catalonia , Valencia , Murcia ) they are unknown.