Thusner criminal court
The Thusner Criminal Court describes the trial in Thusis in the Free State of the Three Leagues against the leaders of the Spanish- Habsburg party, the so-called Hispanism, in 1618 at the beginning of the Bündner turmoil .
prehistory
The Evangelical-Rhaetian Synod met from April 15–20, 1618 (old style; corresponds to April 25–30 in the Gregorian calendar) in Bergün / Bravuogn . In the course of the negotiations, the Reformed pastor of Ftan , Jacob Anton Vulpius , openly called for violent action and called for a public criminal court.
"The horde of papists must be destroyed with fire and sword"
Georg Saluz presided over the synod at the beginning, but was soon criticized as too moderate and replaced by the radical preacher Caspar Alexius , who had worked as pastor and professor at the academy in Geneva .
In the Lower Engadine , at the same time as the Synod, judicial communities gathered for the «Fähnlilupf». Attempts to calm the situation down by means of a delegation led by Georg Saluz and the Ilanzer Stefan Gabriel failed. A kind of uprising developed in which armies from the Upper Engadin , Bergell , Puschlav , Bergün and Fürstenau joined forces with the Lower Engadine rebels. The rebels were led by the pastors Blasius Alexander , Jörg Jenatsch and Bonaventura Toutsch .
Course of the criminal court
First actions
The castellan of Wildenberg Castle in Zernez , Rudolf Planta , managed to escape before his residence was looted.
The rebels then advanced to Sondrio in Valtellina , a subject area of the Three Leagues. There they captured the archpriest Nicolò Rusca , a passionate clergyman who practiced the Counter-Reformation and who was nicknamed «Heretic's Hammer».
Johann Baptista Prevost was brought under control in Bergell . He had previously negotiated with the Spanish Count Fuentes as Landammann and was equally hated by Protestants and Grisons patriots.
The first plan was to try the prisoners in Chur . But since there were too many supporters of Hispanism in the main town in Graubünden, this plan was abandoned and instead turned to Domleschg in Thusis at the foot of Heinzenberg .
The process
The court consisted of 66 judges, 27 inspectors (secular assessors) and nine predicants (clergymen, so-called "reprimand jury", including Jörg Jenatsch, Blasius Alexander and Stefan Gabriel). The chair was Jakob Joder Casutt , who had already headed a criminal court in Chur in 1607.
The criminal court began in August 1618 and lasted until January of the following year. Catholic dignitaries of the canton had also been invited, but no cleric took part in the negotiations.
"The court negotiated and decided with ardent hatred and arbitrariness that is second to none. A contemporary observer from the Spanish camp noted that the court cited, condemned, robbed and banished everything at the whim of the predicants".
The first person to be forced into a confession under torture , sentenced to death and then executed was Johann Baptista Prevost from Bergell (known as "Zambra"). His relatives, Rudolf and Pompejus Planta , were on the run and were banished "forever" in their absence, including their property, when their homes were destroyed and pillars of shame were erected at the same place.
Also banned and also for outlaws was declared the Bishop of Chur Johann V. Flugi .
Parallel diplomatic efforts
The Thusner criminal court, which had become more cautious after the first violent judgments, decided to send ensign Johann Flisch von Scheidt (≈1580–1654) letters to the King of France. The letters should have informed the monarch of the actions of the French ambassador Charles Pascal and his successor Etienne Gueffier, which the evangelical party was suspicious of. First, however, Ensign Johann Flisch should have traveled to Lyon in order to receive letters of recommendation from his former captain of the royal garde Rudolf von Schauenstein, which would have made an audience with the king possible. However, since the Thusner criminal court felt more and more threatened, it did not send Ensign Flisch, but Colonel Johann Guler "von Weineck", an excellently informed, intelligent and eloquent man as envoy not only of the Thusner criminal court, but of all councils and communities of the three Bünde, with extensive authorization to Paris. He fulfilled his mission brilliantly, as he received from the king the assurance of his help for the evangelical party because they were intriguing against Austria, the arch enemy of France.
The trial against the archpriest Rusca
The trial against Nicolò Rusca attracted the most attention . He was subjected to torture to coerce a confession from the start. He was hung from a hook with his hands tied and was interrogated in this position for hours. In particular, the predicant Johannes a Porta from Zizers and the Chancellor "Peter Janetus" stood out for their cruelty. Rusca refused to admit guilt. Finally the rope broke and Rusca fell to the ground, sustaining serious injuries. The rope was strengthened and the priest was pulled up again. He lost consciousness and died. It has been reported that the priest's corpse, lying on the ground, was beaten with his feet by his penitents. The same day the deceased was buried directly under the gallows .
consequences
Catholic Church
In the Roman Catholic Church "Nikolaus Rusca" is venerated as a martyr and among the common people as a saint . This because of his steadfast faith, his work for the poor and his ascetic-religious life. On April 21, 2013, he was beatified in Sondrio at the behest of the Pope . The hatred of the denominations was further increased by the Thusner criminal court and soon led to revenge in the Veltliner murder in 1620 . It was the prelude - after the fall of the Prague window - to a painful European religious war that had lasted for decades, with all its terrible consequences such as hunger, ethical and social neglect and pestilence.
Contemporary Reformed Church
Even then, people spoke of a " judicial murder ". A few weeks after Thusis Tribunal took the landslide of Plurs 1618. He was appointed as in much of the Reformed parish shaft as well as the people of God's judgment interpreted. The Graubünden Synod of 1619 reinstated Georg Saluz, who was keen on compensation, as dean and dispensed Jörg Jenatsch and Blasius Alexander from their parish duties for six months.
New criminal courts
Catholic flags, etc. a. from the French-minded Upper Confederation and from the Lugnez , forced a new criminal court, which should overturn the judgments of the Thusner criminal court. This court took place in Chur and declared the majority of the Thusner judgments to be invalid and unjust.
Another criminal court should also restore the confederations and restore legal security. It met in Davos from October 1619 to July 1620 . But the partiality of the judges made a fair trial impossible. The Davos criminal court took place in a poisoned atmosphere and ended in renewed disputes and legal uncertainty. The incursion of Austrian troops into Graubünden in autumn 1621 and the subsequent outbreak of the Prättigau uprising finally brought the legal system of the old Free State of the Three Leagues to a standstill.
Varia
An old motto from Thusis about the history of the place also keeps the memory of the criminal court alive:
- «The Nolla made me shiver,
- the conflagration turned to ashes,
- the Thusner court was furious and difficult,
- the call of the mule is never heard. "
literature
- The Thusner Strafgericht, in: Bündner Kirchengeschichte Vol. 3: Albert Frigg: Die Gegenreformation, S. 50–53