A Hangman's Diary: The Journal of Master Franz Schmidt, Public Executioner of Nuremberg, 1573-1617

An entry from Nuremberg hangman Franz Schmidt’s diary, for Friday, February 12th 1584:

“Five thieves who … had burgled and stolen. …the eldest were 22, 17, 16 and 15 years old; the youngest 13 years. All five hanged here at Nuremberg.”

It didn’t pay to be a juvenile delinquent, apparently.

The actual diary is about half the book; the rest is commentary by English translator C.V. Calvert and German legal scholar Albrecht Keller. Schmidt was unusual in keeping a record; Calvert reports most hangmen were illiterate. The original was lost but manuscript copies are known from several German libraries, indicating it must have been of sufficient interest for people to copy it out in longhand.

Nuremburg seems to have been pretty show more tolerant for the place and time; both Catholic and Lutheran chaplains are mentioned as ministering to the condemned and there are no witches burned (although a woman gets it for claiming to be a witch; it’s clear, though, that she’s punished for defrauding people of money rather than a pact with Satan). There’s a nod to justice for both the rich and poor: a couple of wealthy men are beheaded: a former town councilor, found guilty of embezzlement, and a burgher who killed a prostitute. There’s gender equality; women are hanged and beheaded for a variety of offenses, with infanticide punished by drowning in a sack. (Pretty frequently; in one case Schmidt intervenes to get the sentence commuted to a lesser punishment, beheading. As much as can be told from Schmidt’s accounts – he was responsible for administering justice, not for judgement – the women convicted of infanticide were mostly servants seduced by their masters, and the masters aren’t punished. But there’s one case of a man executed for raping a 14-year-old). It isn’t strictly a capital crime for a woman to be adulterous, promiscuous, or a prostitute, but several women are executed for having sex with both a father and a son. Some men are executed for sodomy, and one is burned – along with the cow – for bestiality. The most brutal execution method – breaking on the wheel – is used for habitual offenders; in one case Schmidt has to do his own brother-in-law this way, and is conscientious about it, taking 31 strokes.

The initial essay on justice in 16th century Germany, by Calvert, notes that there was no CSI Nuremberg and the only way to get a conviction was to catch the perpetrator in the act or get a confession; in that regard they had ways of making you talk – the rack, the thumbscrews, the boot, etc. If you managed to last through this, they pretty much had to let you go, although you might not be in very good shape. There were some lesser punishments – branding, loss of a hand, flogging out of town, the galleys (Nuremberg had a contract with Genoa to take galley slaves). Nuremberg is chided by an adjacent polity for being too lenient on criminals and the town fathers indignantly reply that they would rather let ten guilty go than punish one innocent.

No references or bibliography, although some relevant works are mentioned in the text. Contemporary woodcut illustrations. show less

Edited and with an Introduction by Albrecht Keller and an essay “A Brief Account of Criminal Procedure in Germany in the Middle Ages”, by C. V. Calvert

This is a diary of the executioner of the city of Nuremberg in Germany. It begins with an essay by C. V. Calvert followed by a brief introduction to the diary itself. If you’re interested in medieval justice, the essay is invaluable, explaining the various people who worked at the prison, what a cell looked like, the various punishments meted out and for what crimes. The language used is occasionally archaic, for example the translator uses ‘incendiary’ where we would be more familiar with the term ‘arsonist’. The introduction goes over some information about the city of show more Nuremberg and the text itself.

The journal is edited, with occasional notes in brackets explaining that information has been cut (generally items in lists, for example with thieves, where 2 or 3 thefts are given details and others left out for space). There are also some notes referring the reader to other passages (when someone is let off and is later executed or if two people are accused and executed on different days).

The diary entries alternate between terse single lines, “A thief hanged” and long passages giving tantalizing details of the crimes for which people were punished. The diary is a bit frustrating in that you’re never given motivations for the crimes, and in some places I dearly wanted to know more of what went on.

On the whole it was a quick, interesting read. show less

An interesting personal perspective of the executioner and his role in the late 16th century

There is nothing deep about the executioner Schmidt, as read from his diary. But it still puts what was perceived as high crime worthy of 16th Century capital punishment into perspective. A good book to draw from for the history reader or historical fiction writer.

The introduction provides the much needed background to make the terse journal entries meaningful. The rest requires a lot of imagination.

This is a diary of the executioner of Nuremberg from 1573 to 1617. Probably the most remarkable thing about this is the length of time Franz Schmidt served in that capacity. Schmidt was not a verbose fellow. His diary consists of little more than a name, and what action he performed, beheaded, branded, etc. He rarely offers any insight into the criminal and even less into his own feelings about what he was doing.

A fascinating look at criminal procedure and punishment in 16th century Germany.