The Nuremberg Chronica: Recording Serious Crime and Capital Punishment in the Sixteenth Century

MS.MR.15 is a unique manuscript codex that is on deposit in the collection of The Ohio State University's Rare Books and Manuscripts Library. Its full descriptive title takes up most of the title page, though on the outside it is simply labelled "Nuremberg Chronica." Encased within its original binding, the manuscript inside is a typical early modern history chronicle, which covers events in and around the free imperial city of Nuremberg, from 42 B.C. up until the first few months of 1579, though the entries from the sixteenth century, particularly those that must have been contemporary with the unnamed author who wrote them, contain far more detail than any of the earlier events. In this thesis I will first describe the physical manuscript and its contents, before closely examining more of what makes this codex so unique. Then I will provide some context regarding the sixteenth-century Nuremberg environment in which it was produced, and how this plays a role in the contents of the work, particularly when it comes to crime and the legal systems that were in place or being developed over the course of the century in question. Finally, the aspect of capital punishment that receives a great deal of attention in the manuscript will be dealt with in more detail, relating back to Nuremberg and what constituted early modern Germany as a whole.No embargoAcademic Major: GermanAcademic Major: HistoryAcademic Major: Medieval and Renaissance Studie