Bartłomiej Groicki (ca. 1534?-1605)
This Deed has been extracted from Imperial Laws which the Emperor Karolus V ordered to be published in all his lands. It gives directives for the courts and concerns matters connected with punishment to be inflicted to the throat or on well-being of the guilty. Also on how the Judges and every Office should behave and act with the fear of God, fairly, piously, wisely and not hastily
This Deed ... by Bartłomiej Groicki is a work in the field of criminal law and was first published in 1559. It is an adaptation of the criminal codification of emperor Charles V (Karol V, 1500-1558) from 1532, the so-called Constitutio Criminalis Carolina. The author did not limit himself to only translating the fragments of the German codification, but through numerous modifications and additions, tried to adjust the regulations to a Polish reality. Special attention should be paid to the author’s tendency to temper the cruel punishment and interrogation methods. Bartłomiej Groicki was an advocate of the humanitarian treatment of defendants. According to the author, in the case of capital punishment, the execution should be carried out without unnecessary delay and the convict should be secured spiritual consolation by a priest, since it is a praiseworthy and Christian thing, even if the body suffers, to do our best so that the soul may be redeemed.
1582 (actually: after 1587), Krakow
Printing House of Łazarz Andrysowicz (died 1572) (actually: Printing House Łazarzowa)
Print, paper binding
Historical Museum of the City of Krakow, ref. no S.I.13