A tragedy of the great plague of Milan in 1630 / by Robert Fletcher.
- Robert Fletcher
- Date:
- 1898
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: A tragedy of the great plague of Milan in 1630 / by Robert Fletcher. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.
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![Verri had carefully perused all the records of the trial of Piazza and Mora, and while pointing out the injustice done these wretched men, he decried in good set phrase the legal- ized use of torture. It is not surprising that he delayed the publication of his treatise. As late as 17G8 the Empress ^laria Theresa had authorized the publication of a codification of the laws relating to the use of torture by tbe courts. The judicial application of torture, or “the question,” as it Avas termed by a delicate euphemism, comes doAvn from the Homan code of laws. Count Verri quotes from the writings of many jurists as to the rights of the accused, and the power of the judges, in cases Avhere it was necessary to extract the truth. The late Dr. AVelling, of Washington, delivered an address on the laAV of torture, giving the codification of Guazzini, a famous Italian jurisconsult, which Avas published in 1612. There is a Avonderful resemblance in the provisions of all these laAVS as described by Guazzini, Verri, and the later codification of Maria 'Pheresa. Great discretion was given to the judges, but they Avere forbidden to ap])ly the torture in any case more then three times. If the accused, appropriately named Vaff- litfo, the sufferer, bore these three administrations without confessing, then he Avas to be held guiltless as by Divine deci- sion. In the “ Ancient customs of Brittany,” a very curious compilation made in 1330 and 1340, the same limitation was made, and if the accused bore it all without yielding, then he Avas to be, in the language of the compiler, “ Safe and free, because it Avas evident that God exhibited miracles for him.” Another provision of the laAV regulating the application of torture, Avhich Avas violated in the case in question, Avas that Avhich forbids its use for the discovery of the corpus delicti, Avhich must appear aliunde—from other sources—but only for the purpose of discovering the author and accomplices of the crime. Here there Avas certainly neither dead body nor injured person. The preparation of the accused for the torture Avas ceremoni- ous. It Avas a general belief of the times that an amulet or compact with the evil one which Avould enable him to endure the cruelest suffering and thus evade the desired confession, might be concealed in his clothes, hair, or even in his stomach or boAvels. His clothing Avas therefore changed, every par-](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b22330100_0014.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
