IsisCB Explore

Article ID: CBB714681925

Mysticism in the Courtroom in 19th-Century Europe (2018)

Graus, Andrea (Author)

History of the Human Sciences
Volume: 31
Issue: 3
Pages: 21-40
Publication date: 2018
Language: English

URI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0952695118761499

DOI: 10.1177/0952695118761499

Outside Links

WorldCat

Google Scholar

JSTOR

Jurisprudence Mysticism Criminal law 19th century Germany France Spain

This article examines how and why criminal proceedings were brought against alleged cases of Catholic mysticism in several European countries during modernity. In particular, it explores how criminal charges were derived from mystical experiences and shows how these charges were examined inside the courtroom. To bring a lawsuit against supposed mystics, justice systems had to reduce their mysticism to ‘facts’ or actions involving a breach of the law, usually fraud. Such accusations were not the main reason why alleged mystics were taken to court, however. Focusing on three representative examples, in Spain, France and Germany, I argue that ‘mystic trials’ had more to do with specific conflicts between the defendant and the ecclesiastical or secular authorities than with public concern regarding pretence of the supernatural. Criminal courts in Europe approached such cases in a similar way. Just as in ecclesiastical inquiries, during the trials, judges called upon expert testimony to debunk the allegedly supernatural. Once a mystic entered the courtroom, his or her reputation was profoundly affected. Criminal lawsuits had a certain ‘demystifying power’ and were effective in stifling the fervour surrounding the alleged mystics. All in all, mystic trials offer a rich example of the ways in which modern criminal justice dealt with increasing enthusiasm for the supernatural during the 19th century.

...More

Citation URI

data.isiscb.org/p/isis/citation/CBB714681925

This citation is part of the Isis database.

Citations Indexes

Similar Citations

Book Susanna L. Blumenthal; (2016)
Law and the Modern Mind: Consciousness and Responsibility in American Legal Culture (/p/isis/citation/CBB113405995/)

Article Giuseppe Sartori; Giulia Melis; (2022)
Deception in Court (/p/isis/citation/CBB180040129/)

Book Bach, Thomas; Maatsch, Jonas; Rasche, Ulrich; (2008)
“Gelehrte” Wissenschaft: Das Vorlesungsprogramm der Universität Jena um 1800 (/p/isis/citation/CBB001020619/)

Thesis Smith, Jennifer; (2006)
Mysticism as an Escape from Scientific Discourse: Eluding Female Subjectivity in Late Nineteenth- and Early Twentieth-Century Spain (/p/isis/citation/CBB001561723/)

Book Heather Wolffram; (2018)
Forensic Psychology in Germany: Witnessing Crime, 1880-1939 (/p/isis/citation/CBB886091707/)

Article Wetzell, Richard; (2009)
Psychiatry and Criminal Justice in Modern Germany, 1880--1933 (/p/isis/citation/CBB001030995/)

Book íguez-Ocaña, Esteban Rodr; (2002)
The Politics of the Healthy Life: An International Perspective (/p/isis/citation/CBB000831197/)

Book Blanchard, Pascal; (2008)
Human Zoos: Science and Spectacle in the Age of Colonial Empires (/p/isis/citation/CBB001033417/)

Article Suay Belenguer, Juan Miguel; (2013)
La cometa en las obras de física y de divulgación científica de los siglos XVIII y XIX (/p/isis/citation/CBB001200195/)

Article Verplaetse, Jan; (2002)
Prosper Despine's Psychologie naturelle and the Discovery of the Remorseless Criminal in Nineteenth-Century France (/p/isis/citation/CBB000202507/)

Article E. Claire Cage; (2019)
Child Sexual Abuse and Medical Expertise in Nineteenth-Century France (/p/isis/citation/CBB516319186/)

Article Sara Black; (2019)
Morphine on Trial: Legal Medicine and Criminal Responsibility in the Fin de Siècle (/p/isis/citation/CBB218342384/)

Article Aubusson de Cavarlay, Bruno; (2007)
Des comptes rendus à la statistique criminelle: c'est l'unité qui compte (France, XIXe-XXe siècles) (/p/isis/citation/CBB000931373/)

Book Pierre Janet; Stéphane Gumpper; Florent Serina; (2021)
Les formes de la croyance (/p/isis/citation/CBB546764097/)

Book Lachapelle, Sofie; (2011)
Investigating the Supernatural: From Spiritism and Occultism to Psychical Research and Metapsychics in France, 1853--1931 (/p/isis/citation/CBB001033411/)

Article Szabo, Jason; (2002)
Seeing is Believing? The Form and Substance of French Medical Debates over Lourdes (/p/isis/citation/CBB000201125/)

Book Oppitz, Ulrich-Dieter; Uexküll, Thure von; (1999)
Medizinverbrechen vor Gericht: das Urteil im Nürnberger Ärzteprozess gegen Karl Brandt und andere sowie aus dem Prozess gegen Generalfeldmarschall Milch (/p/isis/citation/CBB000502943/)

Book Vega, Amador; (2003)
Ramon Llull and the Secret of Life (/p/isis/citation/CBB000410636/)

Article Mülberger, Annette; (2009)
Teaching Psychology to Jurists: Initiatives and Reactions Prior to World War I (/p/isis/citation/CBB000931968/)

Article Stefan Wulf; (2020)
„Schlagt das Hitlerei zu Brei.“ (/p/isis/citation/CBB312121645/)