Electoral Saxon constitutions

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The Electoral Saxon Constitutions are a collection of case decisions published in 1572 by the Saxon Elector August . The constitutions are therefore not abstract normative regulations, but decided legal cases. The law faculties of Leipzig , Jena and Wittenberg , as well as the electoral councils, were primarily involved in the formulation of the constitutions .

history

Since the codification of the high medieval Saxony law in the Sachsenspiegel , the law had changed significantly. The Electoral Saxon Constitutions developed against the background that the view was taken that the traditional jurisprudence no longer met the requirements of a modern territorial statehood. Contradicting judgments of the court courts, the jury's chairs (see Schöppenstuhl zu Leipzig ) and other courts were complained about and had accumulated. This made it necessary to modernize Saxon law. A comprehensive new codification of Saxon law was not planned, instead individual decisions on issues were collected and published in the form of the Electoral Saxon constitutions. The Electoral Saxon Constitutions are the further development of the Saxon law based on the Sachsenspiegel legal book to form “common Saxony law”, a regional special law to other common law . It combines traditional jurisprudence with modern provisions based on Roman law . In particular, the written form of litigation was specified. The jurisprudence was thus standardized in Saxony.

The constitutions had the character of legislation on issues of dispute. Every subject of the Electorate of Saxony, including farmers, was free to turn to the court of appeal in civil court matters with the help of a lawyer directly in Dresden if one did not agree with the court judgment from the first instance.

The body of law fits into the parallel process of territorialization and confessionalization in Saxony, a time in which the consolidation and specialization of sovereign legislation could be determined. Elector August of Saxony was a typical representative of his generation of rulers. He wanted to correspond to the image of a caring householder. Therefore, he wanted to take care of both the administrative affairs and the salvation of the subjects. This corresponded to Luther's doctrine of the role model function of a ruler who should exercise a just rule through law-making and enforcement. Therefore, August von Sachsen took special care of the administration of justice. The Electoral Saxon constitutions were part of a large program for the administration of justice under his rule.

The Saxon constitutions lasted until the introduction of the Saxon Civil Code in 1865.

content

The work consists of four parts and nine separate chapters.

In contrast to previous legal texts, such as the Constitutio Criminalis Carolina , a special form of the witchcraft rule can be found in the Electoral Saxon constitutions . The punishability of the witchcraft rule was determined by entering into a devil's alliance . In the original version of the Electoral Saxon Constitutions, no revision of the witchcraft rule was planned. There were no disagreements about this offense in the Sachsenspiegel or in the Carolina. At a meeting of lawyers in Leipzig in 1571, it was decided to repeal some provisions from the Sachsenspiegel and to redefine and punish the witchcraft rule. Well severe cases of witchcraft, such as should damage spells are penalized or pact with the devil, with burning at the stake. Minor offenses such as blessing or divination should be punished with imprisonment or expulsion from the country.

literature

Source texts

  • August of Saxony: Electoral Saxon constitutions . Dresden 1572. Digitized

Representations

  • Martina Schattkowsky : The Saxon Constitutions of 1572. A body of law between peasant protection and compromise in power , in: Winfried Müller / Martina Schattkowsky [u. a.]: Elector August of Saxony. A post-Reformation "Prince of Peace" between territory and empire: Contributions to the scientific conference from July 9 to 11, 2015 in Torgau and Dresden , Sandstein Verlag, Dresden 2017, ISBN 3-95498-302-8 , pp. 110–121.
  • Martina Schattkowsky: Between manor, residence and empire: the living environment of the electoral Saxon nobleman Christoph von Loss auf Schleinitz (1574–1620) , Leipziger Universitätsverlag, 2007.
  • Manfred Wilde : The sorcery and witch trials in Kursachsen, Böhlau, Cologne [u. a.] 2003.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Martina Schattkowsky : The Saxon Constitutions of 1572 , 2017, p. 112.
  2. ↑ Martina Schattkowsky: The Saxon Constitutions of 1572 , 2017, p. 114.
  3. ↑ Alexander Kamcke: The importance of the peasant protection legislation of the Elector August (1555-1586) for the shaping of the peasant legal relationships in Saxony in the 16th century. Edelmann Verlag, Leipzig 1941, dissertation, p. 5 f.
  4. ↑ Martina Schattkowsky: With the means of the law. Studies on conflict resolution in a Saxon manor. Tel Aviv yearbook for German history, Volume XXII, on the social and conceptual history of the Middle Ages, Tel Aviv University, Bleicher Verlag, Gerlingen 1993, ISBN 3-88350-496-3 , p. 299. Explanations on the appellate court and the patrimonial jurisdiction on a concrete Example in Saxony.
  5. ↑ Martina Schattkowsky: The Saxon Constitutions of 1572 , 2017, p. 110.
  6. ↑ Wilde, Die Zauberei- und Hexenverarbeitung in Kursachsen , 2003, pp. 29–30.