Zur Diskussion über das Wismarer Verfestungsbuch 1353–1430
A Contribution to the Discussion on the Wismar Register of the Proscribed of 1353–1430

Summary/Abstract: The presented text is a contribution to the discussion on the latest edition of the Wismar register of the proscribed from 1353–1430, published in 2019, and a themati- cally related collection of studies entitled Verfestungen, Stadtverweisungen, Urfehden. Kriminalität und ihre Ahndung in mittelalterlichen Hansestädten am Beispiel Wismars. The paper draws attention to those research issues that have been omitted or insuf- ficiently highlighted in the mentioned studies. In this regard the article mentions the rules for freeing oneself from proscription, the erroneous equation of proscription and banishment, and the means of deleting entries in registers of the proscribed. It was also noted that deleted entries generally occur in the most recent sections of registers of the proscribed. Their absence usually signals the sections of records from more distant times that have lost their relevance and thus no longer needed to be edited on an on- going basis. Moreover, the article emphasises the need for research into such issues as the social composition of the proscribed who appeared in the Wismar register, as well as their victims, female criminality, cases of relapse into crime among the proscribed, and the subsequent fate of such ‘recidivists’, or the attitude of municipal authorities to crimes committed against the representatives of the broadly understood social mar- gin. When researching these issues, the comparative perspective should be broadened to include registers of the proscribed from late medieval towns in the Kingdom of Poland and the Teutonic Order state in Prussia.

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