HIST 105-03, Crime and Punishment in Early Modern Europe, Fall 2005

Abstract

This course introduces students to the study of early modern European history (approximately 1350 to 1800) by focusing on the origins of the European legal tradition. It examines social and legal responses to perceived violations of public morality and order from the Middle Ages to the French Revolution. It will assess how public and legal perceptions of crime, justice and punishment changed over time and why these changes are relevant at the beginning of the twenty-first century. Among the topics to be covered: anti-Semitism; heresy and “social disciplining;” witchcraft; prostitution; sexuality; insanity; mob violence and political revolution; and the emergence of organized crime and the modern police force.