the strategies behind the reactions and the counterstrategies in 1767, while an Austrian legislation from 1715 stated shorter time in prison except for recidivists. • IIIb In order to counter crimes in order to be executed it was not meaningful to execute. Something else – prison or hospital or freedom when the urge to kill was quenched – was a better solution. • IIIc Because the crimes were understood to be committed by mentally deranged persons they should be treated by psychiatrists. This strategy probably emerged from the greater influence of psychiatry, but it might also partially be a result of the loosening of the grip of the Christian faith, which resulted in people strongly interested in spiritual matters sometimes being seen as deranged. These three groups of strategies are not mutually exclusive, which is shown by for example IIIa which is something of a mix of II andIII. I in all its variations is the most flexible and is something of the brainchild of the cool Enlightenment in conjunction with the seemingly immortal thought that despite most research capital punishment must be and is an effective deterrence. II in its eighteenth–century setting is distinguished by its concentration on the penalty in itself. Other aspects of the execution can be upheld, the solution should be found in the penalty, thereby reminiscent both of medieval and contemporary penal practices. InIII rational considerations are mixed with different elements of abolitionism. When the presence of the priests at and near the execution was considered as something to be prohibited or otherwise dealt with, the priests or their pastoral, liturgical or homiletical functions were rarely seen as the real problem. Instead, it consisted of the influence their presence and their actions might have on the crowd, and especially the interpretation certain individuals made, seeing the execution as a well-prepared road to heaven. Therefore, pastoral care was restricted because of the crowd, while fewer restrictions were needed when the crowd itself, eventually, was expelled from the executions by the introduction of intramural executions. Describing strategies in these general terms also highlights another related problem – to what extent did the ideas and legislation in one country influence others? Were, for example, the early Danish laws 228
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