the execution and its message As might be expected, the time of preparation could be defined in various ways. At its simplest it was the time between sentencing and death, but in later centuries it was understood to start when upcoming death was certain, generally when any reprieve had been denied. When such a decision was given late to the condemned, preparation was often forced to start and even finish earlier. Preparation could also be started earlier at the wishes of the condemned or the priest, especially when there was little hope of clemency. Longer spiritual preparations also allowed for more elaborate preparations for execution ceremonies and meant the prisoner could be prepared not only for heaven, but also for her forthcoming role as an example to others. The most important factor, however, was the pastoral care for the condemned prisoner. Looking further from how much time would be available and who would be involved we come to the reasons for the preparation. The constant twofold pressure, always, but with varying strength, from the dogma of the church and often from the judicial system, led to many priests exerted themselves to obtain a confession from the prisoners they met. Many could balance or elude some of the pressure, but there were exceptions when the confession before God and before the court were almost seen as synonymous. How important preparation might be have been the subject of theological debate and ecclesiastical practice – also, both how the preparation was understood and the circumstances governing it differed much between environments, most noticeably between areas with different confessions. Therefore, places and times here are arranged by the main confessions of the western church. This crude sectioning aims to focus on the similarities and differences between the churches and the areas dominated by them. The differences of the churches also could result in the preparation aiming to get the condemned to convert from a minority confession to the confession held by the majority.177 Germany with its profound mixture of confessions was a special case. Fundamental for the modern time is the CCC, from 1532 the penal law 177 See e g Shore 2012 p 189. 70
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