Kradzież w latach 1700–1730 na podstawie ksiąg kryminalnych Dobczyc i Wiśnicza
Theft in the years 1700–1730 on the basis of the criminal records of the towns of Dobczyce and Wiśnicz

Summary/Abstract: The aim of this article is to outline the problem of theft and related crimes, as well as to examine the profiles of the criminals who committed these acts in small urban centers of the former Kraków voivodeship – Dobczyce and Nowy Wiśnicz in the years 1700–1730. The analysis of the phenomenon was made on the basis of 27 court cases from the criminal records of the town of Dobczyce from the years 1699–1737 and the town of Nowy Wiśnicz from the years 1665–1785. On their basis, 189 people were identified – the perpetrators of the crimes and their helpers. Reading the surviving testimonies allowed to determine their lifestyle, the methods they used and the items they stole. The obtained data partially indicate the professional and social structure of these perpetrators, which differs from the structure of criminals operating in large Polish cities in the 16th and 17th centuries. The imposed penalties largely correlate with the jurisprudence of courts of large cities in similar cases from previous centu- ries and with the recommendations of old Polish law experts. These results make it possible to establish to some extent who the perpetrators of these crimes were and what their motives were.

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