“Two Souls Lost”: Infanticide in the Republic of Dubrovnik (1667-1808)

Social, anthropological and legal aspects of infanticide in the Republic of Dubrovnik are discussed on the basis of court records from 1667 to 1808 which are compared with the research results elsewhere in Europe. An attempt is made to reconstruct the social control network over the moral behaviour of individuals and the reaction of social groups (family, fraternity, village etc.) to extramarital pregnancy and infanticide. The characteristics of the trials in a court of law, especially the rules of evidence and the penal policy, are analyzed