Institute of History
Topic
Legal Norm Versus Judicial Practice in the Early Modern Period
PhD. program
World History
Name of the supervisor
Mgr. Blanka Szeghyová, PhD.
Contact:
Receiving school
Faculty of Arts, Comenius University Bratislava
Annotation
The aim of the dissertation is to investigate the functioning of judicial practice, the competence, and strategies of judicial institutions in comparison with contemporary legal norms during a more narrowly defined period. The doctoral candidate can choose to research the topic using the example of a selected region or city, or by focusing on a chosen crime or group of crimes (prostitution/sexual offenses, homicide/violent offenses, libel, etc.), or on female or male criminality, utilizing selected archival sources within a defined time period.
In the early modern period, criminality was perceived as a sin, and the relationship of legal norms to judicial practice was not always straightforward or absolutely binding. This was due to the fragmentary and unsystematic nature of the law and the absence of unified and universally applicable codes, which contributed to the predominance of local customary law and the considerable discretionary power of judges. In analysing the chosen judicial practice, the PhD student may explore the strategies and attitudes of judges based on moral justifications for sentences, references to specific legal or ecclesiastical norms, the nature of mitigating and aggravating circumstances, the impact of intercessions, or the possibility of mitigating punishment or pardon.
The study can also delve into the ecclesiastical treatment of sexual offenses and marital conflicts, as well as the punishment of religious/moral offenses in the early years after the adoption of the Code of Law by Joseph II (legal implementation in practice). Alternatively, the focus can be solely on the criminalization or decriminalization of certain offenses (e.g., moral/sexual offenses, witchcraft and sorcery, etc.).
Requirements: A good knowledge of the language(s) of the chosen archival sources (usually Latin, German, or Hungarian), Slovak/Czech and English (min. B2).
In the early modern period, criminality was perceived as a sin, and the relationship of legal norms to judicial practice was not always straightforward or absolutely binding. This was due to the fragmentary and unsystematic nature of the law and the absence of unified and universally applicable codes, which contributed to the predominance of local customary law and the considerable discretionary power of judges. In analysing the chosen judicial practice, the PhD student may explore the strategies and attitudes of judges based on moral justifications for sentences, references to specific legal or ecclesiastical norms, the nature of mitigating and aggravating circumstances, the impact of intercessions, or the possibility of mitigating punishment or pardon.
The study can also delve into the ecclesiastical treatment of sexual offenses and marital conflicts, as well as the punishment of religious/moral offenses in the early years after the adoption of the Code of Law by Joseph II (legal implementation in practice). Alternatively, the focus can be solely on the criminalization or decriminalization of certain offenses (e.g., moral/sexual offenses, witchcraft and sorcery, etc.).
Requirements: A good knowledge of the language(s) of the chosen archival sources (usually Latin, German, or Hungarian), Slovak/Czech and English (min. B2).