Wild catch law
The wild catch law is a term from German history. In the 17th century it existed mainly in the Palatinate under Elector Karl Ludwig . He believed he had a right to be able to make any man who passed his country and who could not identify himself as belonging to a sovereign as a "wildling" his subject. This right was confirmed to the Electoral Palatinate by Emperor Maximilian I in 1518 , but in the years 1664 to 1666 it led to armed conflicts with the Elector of Mainz and the Duke of Lorraine. A renewed confirmation of this right finally ended the dispute.
The fact that in the town of Mundenheim, which today belongs to Ludwigshafen am Rhein, 115 people of 122 inhabitants were so-called " wild caught " in 1667 , suggests that this " right " was extensively exercised by the sovereign.
Quote
- In the 17th century the so-called wild-catching law still existed, which was especially developed in the Palatinate under Elector Karl Ludwig and which presented itself as a remnant of bad conditions from the Middle Ages , in which often brutal violence formed law. The elector believed he had an old right to be able to compulsorily make any man who passed his country and who could not identify himself as belonging to a sovereign as a "wildling" his subject. This right, exercised extensively by Elector Karl Ludwig for the sake of the population of his country, was confirmed by Emperor Maximilian I in the Electoral Palatinate in 1518 , but subsequently led to warlike entanglements with the Elector of Mainz and the Duke of Lorraine in the Years 1664 to 1666. A renewed confirmation of this Electoral Palatinate law finally ended the dispute.
- (Quote from the history of the city of Ludwigshafen am Rhein . Published by the mayor's office. Ludwigshafen, 1903)