Saturday, June 09, 2012
RANDOM ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA
FEDERICI, CAMILLO (1749-1802- italian dramatist/actor. b in piedmont. real name giovanni battista viassolo. FC Nname from the title of 1 of his 1st plays-camillo e federico/ educated in turin + at a young age fond of literature + theater. early praise, he pursued it + obtained engagemets as actor + writer, married in 1777 + left the stage + mainly wrote. reputation foe comedies. german influences. 1802 undertook to do a collection edition when he became ill + died. pub of his works completed in 1818.
FEHMIC COURTS( FEHMGERICHTE/VEHMGERICHTE)- celebrated secret tribunals w/ flourished in germany fron end of the 12th c to middle of the 16th c + w/ FROM THE EXTENT OF THEIR ORGANIZATION + the MYSTERY w/ surrounded their proceedings, inspired a feeling of dread in all who came w/in their jurisdiction. their origin uncertain. the traditional account is that they were instituted by charlemagne + pope leo III to prevent saxons from relapsing into paganism. more likely arose from relics of an ancient teutonic free courts. their immediate cause however, is to be found in utter lawlessness + disregard of authority then prevelent in germany, obliging the weak + peace-loving to band together for protection against the outrages of the princes + nobles. the birthplace of the fehmic courts was westphalia, where they appeared after the deposition of henry the lion in 1179. the duchy annexed to cologne, + the archbishops appear to have a lot to do w/ it. fehmic courts subsequently made it to other parts of germany. but not firm footed as in westphalia or red land. soon immense power + at 1st beneficial + upright, but in the end, converted into tyrrany until rule of law returned + they died- last in 1568. abolished in 1811 by order of jerome bonparte.
a candidate for the court had to be b in wedlock, a xtian, + neither excommunicated nor outlairded, + not be involved in either side before a fehmic court. originally only matters of westphalia admitted. at the candidate swore an oath to support w/ all his powers the holy fehm, to conceal its proceeding "from wife + child, father + mother, sister + brother, fire + wind, from all that the sun shines on or the rain wets, + from every being between heaven + earth, " + to bring before the tribunal everything within his knowledge that fell under its jurisdiction.
he was then initiated into the signs by w/ members recognized each other + was presented w/ a rope + a knife, upon w/ were engraved the mystic letters S.S G.G. whose signification is still in doubt, but are supposed to mean stick, steine, gras grein(stone, rope, grass, green). the emperor was the nominal head of the fehmic courts. under him, the supreme president was the arch-bishop of cologne as duke of westphalia. the whole coutry over w/ the jurisdiction of the fehmic courts extended was divided into districts, in each of which there was at least 1 court, presided over by a judge called a freigraf, or free court. along w/ him sat an indefinite number of assessors, but never less than 7, called freischoffen/freischoppen, in latin scabini. these freischoffen had the duty of bringing complaints before the courts, + of carrying out execution the sentences w/ were pronounced. there were 2 distinct sorts of fehmic courts-1 w/ held its sittings openly,
+ another whose proceedings conducted in secret. the open court, in one of its branches, exercized a jurisdiction i civil suits, + over offencesof a (judge judy) description, in w. cases it was unnecessary that a member of the fehm be uninvolved. the other branch of the open court took cognizance of all crimes of an ordinary nature. the accusor was always one of the freischoffen. the accused was cited by nailing summons during the night to the door of his house, or if his abode unknown, by fixing 4 copies upon a post at crossroads near where his supposed abode was. if the accused appeared, the accuser stated the case, + the investigation proceeded by examination of witnesses. the judgement was put into execution on the spot if possible. the secret court, fro whose procedure the whole institution has acquired its evil character, was closed to all but the initiated; anyone not a member on being discovered was instantly killed, + the members present bound under the same penalty not to tell, crimes of serious nature, + especially those that were deemed unfit for ordinary judicial investigation- such as heresy or witchcraft-fell w/in its jurisdiction, as also did appeals by persons condemned in the open courts. the accused if a member could clear himself by his own oath, unless he revealed the fehm secrets(fight club). if he were one of the uninitiated it was necessary for him to bring forward witnesses to his innocence from among the initiated, whose # varied according to the # on the side of the accuser, but 21 in favor of innocence was usually good to acquit.
the only punishment w/ the secret court could inflict was death. if the accused appeared, the sentence carried out at once: if he did not, it was made to the whole body, + the 1st to meet the condemned, put him to death. a knife w/ the cabalistic letters left by the corpse to show it was not murder.
FEDERICI, CAMILLO (1749-1802- italian dramatist/actor. b in piedmont. real name giovanni battista viassolo. FC Nname from the title of 1 of his 1st plays-camillo e federico/ educated in turin + at a young age fond of literature + theater. early praise, he pursued it + obtained engagemets as actor + writer, married in 1777 + left the stage + mainly wrote. reputation foe comedies. german influences. 1802 undertook to do a collection edition when he became ill + died. pub of his works completed in 1818.
FEHMIC COURTS( FEHMGERICHTE/VEHMGERICHTE)- celebrated secret tribunals w/ flourished in germany fron end of the 12th c to middle of the 16th c + w/ FROM THE EXTENT OF THEIR ORGANIZATION + the MYSTERY w/ surrounded their proceedings, inspired a feeling of dread in all who came w/in their jurisdiction. their origin uncertain. the traditional account is that they were instituted by charlemagne + pope leo III to prevent saxons from relapsing into paganism. more likely arose from relics of an ancient teutonic free courts. their immediate cause however, is to be found in utter lawlessness + disregard of authority then prevelent in germany, obliging the weak + peace-loving to band together for protection against the outrages of the princes + nobles. the birthplace of the fehmic courts was westphalia, where they appeared after the deposition of henry the lion in 1179. the duchy annexed to cologne, + the archbishops appear to have a lot to do w/ it. fehmic courts subsequently made it to other parts of germany. but not firm footed as in westphalia or red land. soon immense power + at 1st beneficial + upright, but in the end, converted into tyrrany until rule of law returned + they died- last in 1568. abolished in 1811 by order of jerome bonparte.
a candidate for the court had to be b in wedlock, a xtian, + neither excommunicated nor outlairded, + not be involved in either side before a fehmic court. originally only matters of westphalia admitted. at the candidate swore an oath to support w/ all his powers the holy fehm, to conceal its proceeding "from wife + child, father + mother, sister + brother, fire + wind, from all that the sun shines on or the rain wets, + from every being between heaven + earth, " + to bring before the tribunal everything within his knowledge that fell under its jurisdiction.
+ another whose proceedings conducted in secret. the open court, in one of its branches, exercized a jurisdiction i civil suits, + over offencesof a (judge judy) description, in w. cases it was unnecessary that a member of the fehm be uninvolved. the other branch of the open court took cognizance of all crimes of an ordinary nature. the accusor was always one of the freischoffen. the accused was cited by nailing summons during the night to the door of his house, or if his abode unknown, by fixing 4 copies upon a post at crossroads near where his supposed abode was. if the accused appeared, the accuser stated the case, + the investigation proceeded by examination of witnesses. the judgement was put into execution on the spot if possible. the secret court, fro whose procedure the whole institution has acquired its evil character, was closed to all but the initiated; anyone not a member on being discovered was instantly killed, + the members present bound under the same penalty not to tell, crimes of serious nature, + especially those that were deemed unfit for ordinary judicial investigation- such as heresy or witchcraft-fell w/in its jurisdiction, as also did appeals by persons condemned in the open courts. the accused if a member could clear himself by his own oath, unless he revealed the fehm secrets(fight club). if he were one of the uninitiated it was necessary for him to bring forward witnesses to his innocence from among the initiated, whose # varied according to the # on the side of the accuser, but 21 in favor of innocence was usually good to acquit.
the only punishment w/ the secret court could inflict was death. if the accused appeared, the sentence carried out at once: if he did not, it was made to the whole body, + the 1st to meet the condemned, put him to death. a knife w/ the cabalistic letters left by the corpse to show it was not murder.
