Medieval Prison

Erscheinungsjahr 2008
ISBN: 978-0-691-13533-5
Verlag: Princeton University Press

Buch, Englisch, 224 Seiten, Format (B × H): 155 mm x 234 mm, Gewicht: 454 g

The modern prison is commonly thought to be the fruit of an Enlightenment penology that stressed man's ability to reform his soul. The Medieval Prison challenges this view by tracing the institution's emergence to a much earlier period beginning in the late thirteenth century, and in doing so provides a unique view of medieval prison life. G. Geltner carefully reconstructs life inside the walls of prisons in medieval Venice, Florence, Bologna, and elsewhere in Europe. He argues that many enduring features of the modern prison--including administration, finance, and the classification of inmates--were already developed by the end of the fourteenth century, and that incarceration as a formal punishment was far more widespread in this period than is often realized. Geltner likewise shows that inmates in medieval prisons, unlike their modern counterparts, enjoyed frequent contact with society at large. The prison typically stood in the heart of the medieval city, and inmates were not locked away but, rather, subjected to a more coercive version of ordinary life. Geltner explores every facet of this remarkable prison experience--from the terror of an inmate's arrest to the moment of his release, escape, or death--and the ways it was viewed by contemporary observers. The Medieval Prison rewrites penal history and reveals that medieval society did not have a "persecuting mentality" but in fact was more nuanced in defining and dealing with its marginal elements than is commonly recognized.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Geltner, G.

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Alte Geschichte & Archäologie Mittelalterliche, neuzeitliche Archäologie (Europa)
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Spezielle Soziologie Kriminalsoziologie
• Rechtswissenschaften Strafrecht Kriminologie, Strafverfolgung
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Europäische Geschichte

Inhaltsverzeichnis

List of Illustrations ix

Acknowledgments xi

A Note on Dates and Money xiii

Prologue xv

Introduction 1

Chapter One: Italian Prisons: Three Profi les 11

Venice 12

Florence 17

Bologna 21

Conclusions 27

Chapter Two: Aspects of Imprisonment 28

Urban Development 28

Administration and Bureaucracy 33

Finance and Economy 38

Punitive Imprisonment: Jurisprudence, Legislation, and Practice 44

Conclusions 54

Chapter Three: Prison Life 57

The Terror of Arrest 58

First Nights 61

Familiar Order: The Wards 63

Daily Life: Order and Dissidence 67

The World Outside 71

The Journey's End: Death, Escape, Release 74

Conclusions 80

Chapter Four: The Prison as Place and Metaphor 82

Early Imaginaries: Martyrdom, Monasticism, and Purgation 83

Excursus: Jail-Breaking Saints 86

From Purgation to Purgatory: God's Great Prison 88

This World and the Next: The Urban Prison 89

Conclusions 98

Conclusion: "Marginalizing" Institutions, Instituting Marginality 100

Appendix One: A Prison Inventory from Bologna, 1305 110

Appendix Two: Poems from the Prison 112

Appendix Three: Le Stinche, a Reconstruction 122

Abbreviations and Archives 125

Notes 131

Bibliography 171

Index 195