the execution and its message Thus, in the late medieval period, executions progressively became events replete with theological content and messages, where liturgy and pastoral care were increasingly central. Schuster provides an important theological background to the composition of the system, as he understands the Reformation as atime when the secular courts came to be understood as delivering the judgement and justice of God.157 Another, related view was given by Sweden’s king ErikXIVin alaw of 1563. For the crimes God himself in his law had explicitly forbidden, the penalty of death was the rule. Royal clemency was shown in rare cases, but all possibility for the courts to alter the penalties was abolished.158 In 1608, his brother king Karl IXwent further. As an appendix to the general medieval laws, extracts from the Mosaic laws were published to be used by the courts. In this, Karl followed reformed rather than Lutheran theology, which wanted the law to uphold the will of God but not to follow the specific regulations for the Jewish people.159 Van Dülmen, while not mentioning these theological developments, does see their practical consequences. The priest originally was taking care of the condemned and represented her before the authorities. In the early modern penal system, the priest instead worked for the authorities, having been tasked with preparing the condemned to voluntarily go to her death. The duty also, according to van Dülmen, included to reach a confession and hinder its retraction, even if the priest himself was convinced of the innocence of the condemned.160 One could even reflect that these theological positions and the system they inaugurated and worked in can almost be seen as a motivator at least for confessing, if not committing, these crimes. Being executed is thus following the will of God due to the crimes committed against His will and law. 157 Schuster 2007 p 705 sq, 711. An understanding of the system in a Catholic environment, Vienna, is given by Kathy Stuart, although her most explicit statement concerns the Corpus Christi procession: ”The militaristic elements, absent from Corpus Christi processions before the Reformation, illustrate to what extent rituals of state and church became intertwined in the era of confessional absolutism.” Stuart 2023 p 229. 158 Kjöllerström 1957 p 45 sqq. 159 Kjöllerström 1957 p 92 sq. 160 Dülmen 1984 p 213 sq, Dülmen 1988 p 89, see also Terpstra 2008a p 131 sq. 64
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