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109-547: The Saxon pfennigs ( Sachsenpfennige ) minted in eastern Saxony are also included, as described in Walther Haupt's Sächsischer Münzkunde ("Saxon Coinage"). They were minted on the basis of the Carolingian monetary reform , on which the oldest Meissen coinage is based. The different names of these pfennig types indicate a still unclear position within medieval numismatics . The 10th and 11th century pfennig type known as

218-471: A global moratorium on executions , with support for eventual abolition. Execution of criminals and dissidents has been used by nearly all societies since the beginning of civilisations on Earth. Until the nineteenth century, without developed prison systems, there was frequently no workable alternative to ensure deterrence and incapacitation of criminals. In pre-modern times the executions themselves often involved torture with painful methods, such as

327-614: A gulden or a guldengroschen , and was the silver equivalent of the Rhenish gulden . On the Locumtenenstaler minted by Elector Frederick the Wise of Saxony, his status as an Imperial Vicar appears for the first time in 1507, inscribed in the form "Imperique locumtenens generalis" (Latin = Imperial Governor General). These are the first vicariate coins in Saxony. The other Schautaler of Frederick

436-546: A basic right in its Poljica Statute of 1440. Sir Thomas More 's Utopia , published in 1516, debated the benefits of the death penalty in dialogue form, coming to no firm conclusion. More was himself executed for treason in 1535. More recent opposition to the death penalty stemmed from the book of the Italian Cesare Beccaria Dei Delitti e Delle Pene (" On Crimes and Punishments "), published in 1764. In this book, Beccaria aimed to demonstrate not only

545-530: A cherry tree in an orchard. In 1820, there were 160, including crimes such as shoplifting, petty theft or stealing cattle. The severity of the so-called Bloody Code was often tempered by juries who refused to convict, or judges, in the case of petty theft, who arbitrarily set the value stolen at below the statutory level for a capital crime. In Nazi Germany , there were three types of capital punishment; hanging, decapitation, and death by shooting. Also, modern military organisations employed capital punishment as

654-491: A coffin while desecrating a tomb. Decapitation was the method of execution prescribed for more serious crimes such as treason and sedition. Despite the great discomfort involved, most of the Tang Chinese preferred strangulation to decapitation, as a result of the traditional Tang Chinese belief that the body is a gift from the parents and that it is, therefore, disrespectful to one's ancestors to die without returning one's body to

763-579: A few actively retain it; less than half of countries in Africa retain it; and the majority of countries in Asia retain it, for example, China , Japan and India . Abolition was often adopted due to political change, as when countries shifted from authoritarianism to democracy, or when it became an entry condition for the EU. The United States is a notable exception: some states have had bans on capital punishment for decades,

872-439: A form of deterrence as opposed to retribution, can be traced back to Cesare Beccaria , whose influential treatise On Crimes and Punishments (1764) was the first detailed analysis of capital punishment to demand the abolition of the death penalty. In England, Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832), the founder of modern utilitarianism, called for the abolition of the death penalty. Beccaria, and later Charles Dickens and Karl Marx noted

981-610: A large crutch cross and usually an inscription of the name as an unmistakable mark. Because of their consistent and high quality silver, they were popular and even re-stamped. Restrikes are known for the Burgraves of Meissen , the Vogts of Pegau Abbey, Margrave Theodoric , the Count of Brehna and Archbishops of Magdeburg . The chronology of the Meissen bracteates is difficult. Except in the early days,

1090-407: A means of maintaining military discipline. In the past, cowardice , absence without leave, desertion , insubordination , shirking under enemy fire and disobeying orders were often crimes punishable by death (see decimation and running the gauntlet ). One method of execution, since firearms came into common use, has also been firing squad, although some countries use execution with a single shot to

1199-418: A means of protection of the latter vis-à-vis criminals. In the last several centuries, with the emergence of modern nation states , justice came to be increasingly associated with the concept of natural and legal rights . The period saw an increase in standing police forces and permanent penitential institutions. Rational choice theory , a utilitarian approach to criminology which justifies punishment as

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1308-417: A more unified system of justice which formalized the relation between the different "social classes" rather than "tribes". The earliest and most famous example is Code of Hammurabi which set the different punishment and compensation, according to the different class or group of victims and perpetrators. The Torah/Old Testament lays down the death penalty for murder, kidnapping, practicing magic, violation of

1417-423: A person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in such a manner is known as a death sentence , and the act of carrying out the sentence is known as an execution . A prisoner who has been sentenced to death and awaits execution is condemned and is commonly referred to as being "on death row ". Etymologically, the term capital ( lit.   ' of

1526-649: A person, such as murder , assassination , mass murder , child murder , aggravated rape , terrorism , aircraft hijacking , war crimes , crimes against humanity , and genocide , along with crimes against the state such as attempting to overthrow government , treason , espionage , sedition , and piracy . Also, in some cases, acts of recidivism , aggravated robbery, and kidnapping , in addition to drug trafficking, drug dealing, and drug possession, are capital crimes or enhancements. However, states have also imposed punitive executions, for an expansive range of conduct, for political or religious beliefs and practices, for

1635-484: A religious context and compensation system. Compensation was based on the principle of substitution which might include material (for example, cattle, slaves, land) compensation, exchange of brides or grooms, or payment of the blood debt. Settlement rules could allow for animal blood to replace human blood, or transfers of property or blood money or in some case an offer of a person for execution. The person offered for execution did not have to be an original perpetrator of

1744-427: A result, tens of thousands of women were prosecuted for witchcraft and executed through the witch trials of the early modern period (between the 15th and 18th centuries). The death penalty also targeted sexual offences such as sodomy . In the early history of Islam (7th–11th centuries), there is a number of "purported (but mutually inconsistent) reports" ( athar ) regarding the punishments of sodomy ordered by some of

1853-548: A significant proportion of income to the Islamic states while conversely reducing many Christians to poverty, and these financial and social hardships forced many Christians to convert to Islam. Christians unable to pay these taxes were forced to surrender their children to the Muslim rulers as payment who would sell them as slaves to Muslim households where they were forced to convert to Islam . Many Christian martyrs were executed under

1962-675: A single mint. The new Dresden Mint became the central mint for the entire Electorate. On Augustus's accession to the Imperial Minting Ordinance of 1571, the second phase of the thaler currency began. In 1571, Elector Augustus and the estates of the Upper Saxon Circle and Lower Saxon Circle joined the Augsburg Reichsmünzordnung of 1559. The 10 Imperial Circles , into which the Holy Roman Empire of

2071-567: A six-year moratorium on executions after the Peshawar school massacre during which 132 students and 9 members of staff of the Army Public School and Degree College Peshawar were killed by Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan terrorists, a group distinct from the Afghan Taliban , who condemned the attack. Since then, Pakistan has executed over 400 convicts. In 2017, two major countries, Turkey and

2180-453: A sovereign collectivity, identifies itself with positive or the law in force of the city. In fact, it finds its guarantee in the death penalty which threatens all those who do not respect it." Plato saw the death penalty as a means of purification, because crimes are a "defilement". Thus, in the Laws , he considered necessary the execution of the animal or the destruction of the object which caused

2289-850: A status beyond one's control, or without employing any significant due process procedures. Judicial murder is the intentional and premeditated killing of an innocent person by means of capital punishment. For example, the executions following the show trials in the Soviet Union during the Great Purge of 1936–1938 were an instrument of political repression. The top 3 countries by the number of executions are China , Iran and Saudi Arabia . As of 2021, 56 countries retain capital punishment , 111 countries have completely abolished it de jure for all crimes, seven have abolished it for ordinary crimes (while maintaining it for special circumstances such as war crimes), and 24 are abolitionist in practice. Although

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2398-473: A thousand cuts, was used from the close of the Tang dynasty (around 900) to its abolition in 1905. When a minister of the fifth grade or above received a death sentence the emperor might grant him a special dispensation allowing him to commit suicide in lieu of execution. Even when this privilege was not granted, the law required that the condemned minister be provided with food and ale by his keepers and transported to

2507-480: A trend toward abolishing capital punishment. Capital punishment has been completely abolished by 108 countries, a further seven have done so for all offences except under special circumstances and 26 more have abolished it in practice because they have not used it for at least 10 years and are believed to have a policy or established practice against carrying out executions. In the United States between 1972 and 1976

2616-519: Is a minted coin of account. The electors of Saxony, who were rich in silver, could afford to produce extensive commemorative coins in addition to circulation coins. The Saxon vicariate coins minted from 1612 are commemorative coins of the Electors of Saxony , whom they portray as representatives of the Emperor in imperial territories under Saxon law coined during the time of the imperial throne. They shared

2725-495: Is better and more satisfactory to acquit a thousand guilty persons than to put a single innocent man to death." He argued that executing an accused criminal on anything less than absolute certainty would lead to a slippery slope of decreasing burdens of proof , until we would be convicting merely "according to the judge's caprice". Maimonides's concern was maintaining popular respect for law, and he saw errors of commission as much more threatening than errors of omission. While during

2834-496: Is controversial, with many people, organisations, and religious groups holding differing views on whether it is ethically permissible. Amnesty International declares that the death penalty breaches human rights, specifically "the right to life and the right to live free from torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment." These rights are protected under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights , adopted by

2943-466: Is non-existent. This form of justice was common before the emergence of an arbitration system based on state or organized religion. It may result from crime, land disputes or a code of honour. "Acts of retaliation underscore the ability of the social collective to defend itself and demonstrate to enemies (as well as potential allies) that injury to property, rights, or the person will not go unpunished." In most countries that practice capital punishment, it

3052-483: Is now reserved for murder, terrorism, war crimes, espionage, treason, or as part of military justice. In some countries, sexual crimes , such as rape, fornication , adultery , incest , sodomy , and bestiality carry the death penalty, as do religious crimes such as Hudud , Zina , and Qisas crimes, such as apostasy (formal renunciation of the state religion ), blasphemy , moharebeh , hirabah , Fasad , Mofsed-e-filarz and witchcraft. In many countries that use

3161-619: The Abbasid caliphs in Baghdad (most notably al-Mu'tadid ), were often cruel in their punishments. In early modern England, the Buggery Act 1533 stipulated hanging as punishment for " buggery ". James Pratt and John Smith were the last two Englishmen to be executed for sodomy in 1835. In 1636 the laws of Puritan governed Plymouth Colony included a sentence of death for sodomy and buggery. The Massachusetts Bay Colony followed in 1641. Throughout

3270-513: The Cultural Revolution (1966–1976). Partly as a response to such excesses, civil rights organisations started to place increasing emphasis on the concept of human rights and an abolition of the death penalty. By continent, all European countries but one have abolished capital punishment; many Oceanian countries have abolished it; most countries in the Americas have abolished its use, while

3379-913: The Philippines , saw their executives making moves to reinstate the death penalty. In the same year, passage of the law in the Philippines failed to obtain the Senate's approval. On 29 December 2021, after a 20-year moratorium, the Kazakhstan government enacted the 'On Amendments and Additions to Certain Legislative Acts of the Republic of Kazakhstan on the Abolition of the Death Penalty' signed by President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev as part of series of Omnibus reformations of

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3488-739: The Sabbath , blasphemy, and a wide range of sexual crimes, although evidence suggests that actual executions were exceedingly rare, if they occurred at all. A further example comes from Ancient Greece , where the Athenian legal system replacing customary oral law was first written down by Draco in about 621 BC: the death penalty was applied for a particularly wide range of crimes, though Solon later repealed Draco's code and published new laws, retaining capital punishment only for intentional homicide, and only with victim's family permission. The word draconian derives from Draco's laws. The Romans also used

3597-634: The Sachsenpfennig because it was minted in eastern Saxony. The older name Wendenpfennig ("Wend pfennig ") is inappropriate as a pfennig that the Wends minted, since they still regarded the coins as ingots or so-called hacksilver and did not mint any coins themselves. According to Menadier, the use of hacksilver and coins are mutually exclusive. East of the Elbe among the Slavs (Wends) and Scandinavians ( Vikings ),

3706-602: The Schreckenberger prepared the way for the new silver gulden currency introduced from 1500 on the lines of the Tyrolean model and which were the first Saxon thaler coins. With the beginning of the thaler period in 1500, all mintmaster marks are known. These mints were at: At the end of the 15th century, new technical and economic methods in Saxon mining led to an unusually high silver yield. This led Elector Frederick III

3815-482: The Tang dynasty (618–907) when the death penalty was abolished. This was in the year 747, enacted by Emperor Xuanzong of Tang (r. 712–756). When abolishing the death penalty, Xuanzong ordered his officials to refer to the nearest regulation by analogy when sentencing those found guilty of crimes for which the prescribed punishment was execution. Thus, depending on the severity of the crime a punishment of severe scourging with

3924-688: The United Nations in 1948. In the European Union (EU), Article 2 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union prohibits the use of capital punishment. The Council of Europe , which has 46 member states, has worked to end the death penalty and no execution has taken place in its current member states since 1997. The United Nations General Assembly has adopted, throughout the years from 2007 to 2020, eight non-binding resolutions calling for

4033-488: The breaking wheel , keelhauling , sawing , hanging, drawing and quartering , burning at the stake , crucifixion , flaying , slow slicing , boiling alive , impalement , mazzatello , blowing from a gun , schwedentrunk , and scaphism . Other methods which appear only in legend include the blood eagle and brazen bull . The use of formal execution extends to the beginning of recorded history. Most historical records and various primitive tribal practices indicate that

4142-513: The early caliphs . Abu Bakr , the first caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate , apparently recommended toppling a wall on the culprit, or else burning him alive , while Ali ibn Abi Talib is said to have ordered death by stoning for one sodomite and had another thrown head-first from the top of the highest building in the town; according to Ibn Abbas , the latter punishment must be followed by stoning. Other medieval Muslim leaders, such as

4251-694: The pfennig weighed 1.5g, however, of the coins that have been found, the lightest were 0.95 g, the heaviest 1.90 g. From Roman antiquity, the talentum was adopted for the pound, solidus for the schilling and denarius for the pfennig . The mintmasters used mine-pure silver as the minting metal. In addition, circulating Roman denarii were melted down. Only pfennigs and 1 ⁄ 2 pfennigs were minted. The 1 ⁄ 2 pfennigs were called obole ( Hälblinge = "halflings"). 1 ⁄ 4 pfennigs ( fertones ) are mentioned, but they were only coins of account or were made by division, not by stamping. People were clearly happy to check

4360-510: The 10th and 11th centuries. It had an upturned perimeter and, next to the Otto Adelheid Pfennig was the most common pfennig type of its time. Sachsenpfennigs are the oldest coins minted in Saxony . Its different names represent a lack of clarity within mediaeval numismatics about the coin. Julius Menadier called the pfennig type of the 10th and 11th centuries with an upturned rim

4469-592: The 19th century, U.S. states repealed death sentences from their sodomy laws, with South Carolina being the last to do so in 1873. Historians recognise that during the Early Middle Ages , the Christian populations living in the lands invaded by the Arab Muslim armies between the 7th and 10th centuries suffered religious discrimination , religious persecution , religious violence , and martyrdom multiple times at

Coinage of Saxony - Misplaced Pages Continue

4578-682: The Duchy of Saxony or the Saxon-Ernestine family covers the period from 1547 to 1572 in the remaining Thuringian possessions of the Ernestines. This is the time after the Battle of Mühlberg up to the partition of the Ernestine duchy into Saxe-Coburg-Eisenach and Saxe-Weimar (Saxe-Old-Weimar) in 1572. The Albertine Elector Augustus (1553–1586) centralized coinage by combining all state coin production into

4687-614: The German Nation was divided, was responsible for monitoring compliance with the imperial coinage system. All coins come from the Dresden Mint. Thalers after accession to the Reichsmünzordnung of 1571 : The golden guldens and double guldens , which were minted after Electoral Saxony joined the imperial coinage system, are not part of the Saxon denominations of the imperial coinage system. The Reichsgulden at 21 Groschen (1584)

4796-692: The Great (1123–1156). The name 'bracteate' first appeared at the end of the 17th century and is derived from the Latin word bractea ("tin"). At first it only occurs in the term nummus bracteatus , "tin coin". Perhaps the German expression blechen instead of bezahlen ("to pay") goes back to the days of tin money. Old documents, on the other hand, speak of Pfennige or Pfund Pfennige ("pound pfennigs"), in Latin, denarius or talentum denariorum . The largest quantity of Meissen bracteates were minted between 1170 and 1300 by

4905-621: The Imperial Vicariate with the Rhineland . Between 1571 and 1667, the Upper Saxon Circle tried to comply with the imperial monetary standard. The decline in silver mining and high cost of minting small change and the consequent shortages led to the Kipper and Wipper inflation of 1619 to 1623, combined with the establishment of numerous Kipper mints. The monopoly of the Dresden Mint

5014-410: The Islamic death penalty for defending their Christian faith through dramatic acts of resistance such as refusing to convert to Islam, repudiation of the Islamic religion and subsequent reconversion to Christianity , and blasphemy towards Muslim beliefs . Despite the wide use of the death penalty, calls for reform were not unknown. The 12th-century Jewish legal scholar Moses Maimonides wrote: "It

5123-519: The Kazak legal system 'Listening State' initiative. In 724 AD in Japan, the death penalty was banned during the reign of Emperor Shōmu but the abolition only lasted a few years. In 818, Emperor Saga abolished the death penalty under the influence of Shinto and it lasted until 1156. In China, the death penalty was banned by Emperor Xuanzong of Tang in 747 , replacing it with exile or scourging . However,

5232-541: The Middle Ages the expiatory aspect of the death penalty was taken into account, this is no longer the case under the Lumières . These define the place of man within society no longer according to a divine rule, but as a contract established at birth between the citizen and the society, it is the social contract . From that moment on, capital punishment should be seen as useful to society through its dissuasive effect, but also as

5341-513: The Saxon pfennig ( Sachsenpfennig ) with a raised edge is the most common pfennig type of this time, along with the Otto Adelheid pfennig . Saxon pfennigs are the oldest coins minted in Saxony. The pfennigs of the Saxon imperial period with the inscription OTTO or ODDO in the portal of a church were presumably minted under Emperor Otto I (936–973) or soon afterwards in Magdeburg and belong to

5450-556: The Wettin region were given the imperial regale of minting rights . These included: The increasing power of the Meissen margraves in the 14th century led, with a few exceptions, to the end of minting by imperial ministeriales . The Bishops of Naumburg exercised their right to mint coins in Strehla on the Elbe in conjunction with the Margrave of Meissen. The Bishops of Meissen were also

5559-567: The Wise (1486–1525) and his brother John the Constant (1486/1525–1532), in agreement with George the Bearded (1500–1539), as representative of his father Albert the Bold (1464/85–1500) to promulgate the so-called Leipzig Coinage Act of 1500. According to this, a groschen ( Guldengroschen ) was to be struck and equated for a (Rhenish) gulden . The thaler (so-called Klappmützentaler ), was initially called

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5668-609: The Wise (1522) was attributed to Martin Luther 's honorary memory and could also be a medal. During the time of the Saxon currency separation, the common coinage agreed between the Ernestines and Albertines under the partition of Leipzig in 1485 was temporarily lifted from 1530 to the end of 1533. When the Ernestines lost their electoral dignity to the Albertines in 1547, the coinage that had been previously minted in brotherly cooperation

5777-506: The announcement that there were now 7 Schreckenbergers or 21 Zinsgroschen to a full Rhenish gold gulden , the Meissen-Saxon groschen was superseded after 262 years. The Meissen gulden , used as a coin of account up to the 19th century, goes back to the Saxon coinage regulations of 9 August 1490, according to which the gold gulden in Saxony was set at a value of 21 groschen. The Zinsgroschen minted from Schneeberg silver and

5886-415: The authenticity of a coin by biting it, as numerous deformed coins from this period show: if the metal gave way, the coin was genuine, if the tooth gave way, iron had been bitten. Capital offence Note: Varies by jurisdiction Note: Varies by jurisdiction Capital punishment , also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide , is the state-sanctioned killing of

5995-580: The ban only lasted 12 years. Following his conversion to Christianity in 988, Vladimir the Great abolished the death penalty in Kievan Rus' , along with torture and mutilation; corporal punishment was also seldom used. In England, a public statement of opposition was included in The Twelve Conclusions of the Lollards , written in 1395. In the post-classical Republic of Poljica , life was ensured as

6104-470: The crime because the social system was based on tribes and clans, not individuals. Blood feuds could be regulated at meetings, such as the Norsemen things . Systems deriving from blood feuds may survive alongside more advanced legal systems or be given recognition by courts (for example, trial by combat or blood money). One of the more modern refinements of the blood feud is the duel . In certain parts of

6213-409: The crime committed. It inspired Western criminal law until the 17th century, a time when the first reflections on the abolition of the death penalty appeared. The Twelve Tables , the body of laws handed down from archaic Rome, prescribe the death penalty for a variety of crimes including libel, arson and theft. During the Late Republic , there was consensus among the public and legislators to reduce

6322-429: The death of a man by accident. For the murderers, he considered that the act of homicide is not natural and is not fully consented by the criminal. Homicide is thus a disease of the soul , which must be reeducated as much as possible, and, as a last resort, sentence to death if no rehabilitation is possible. According to Aristotle , for whom free will is proper to man, a person is responsible for their actions. If there

6431-453: The death penalty , drug trafficking and often drug possession is also a capital offence. In China, human trafficking and serious cases of corruption and financial crimes are punished by the death penalty. In militaries around the world, courts-martial have imposed death sentences for offences such as cowardice, desertion , insubordination , and mutiny . Elaborations of tribal arbitration of feuds included peace settlements often done in

6540-448: The death penalty for a wide range of offences. Protagoras (whose thought is reported by Plato ) criticised the principle of revenge, because once the damage is done it cannot be cancelled by any action. So, if the death penalty is to be imposed by society, it is only to protect the latter against the criminal or for a dissuasive purpose. "The only right that Protagoras knows is therefore human right, which, established and sanctioned by

6649-577: The death penalty was a part of their justice system. Communal punishments for wrongdoing generally included blood money compensation by the wrongdoer, corporal punishment, shunning , banishment and execution. In tribal societies, compensation and shunning were often considered enough as a form of justice. The response to crimes committed by neighbouring tribes, clans or communities included a formal apology, compensation, blood feuds, and tribal warfare . A blood feud or vendetta occurs when arbitration between families or tribes fails, or an arbitration system

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6758-633: The death penalty was abolished in 1867. The last execution in Brazil was 1876; from then on all the condemnations were commuted by the Emperor Pedro II until its abolition for civil offences and military offences in peacetime in 1891. The penalty for crimes committed in peacetime was then reinstated and abolished again twice (1938–1953 and 1969–1978), but on those occasions it was restricted to acts of terrorism or subversion considered "internal warfare" and all sentences were commuted and not carried out. Many countries have abolished capital punishment either in law or in practice. Since World War II , there has been

6867-434: The death penalty was declared unconstitutional based on the Furman v. Georgia case, but the 1976 Gregg v. Georgia case once again permitted the death penalty under certain circumstances. Further limitations were placed on the death penalty in Atkins v. Virginia (2002; death penalty unconstitutional for people with an intellectual disability ) and Roper v. Simmons (2005; death penalty unconstitutional if defendant

6976-403: The death penalty. In abolitionist countries, the debate is sometimes revived by particularly brutal murders, though few countries have brought it back after abolishing it. However, a spike in serious, violent crimes, such as murders or terrorist attacks, has prompted some countries to effectively end the moratorium on the death penalty. One notable example is Pakistan which in December 2014 lifted

7085-411: The development of modern prison systems, the death penalty was also used as a generalised form of punishment for even minor offences. In early modern Europe, a mass panic regarding witchcraft swept across Europe and later the European colonies in North America . During this period, there were widespread claims that malevolent Satanic witches were operating as an organised threat to Christendom . As

7194-409: The earliest being Michigan , where it was abolished in 1846, while other states still actively use it today. The death penalty in the United States remains a contentious issue which is hotly debated . In retentionist countries, the debate is sometimes revived when a miscarriage of justice has occurred though this tends to cause legislative efforts to improve the judicial process rather than to abolish

7303-435: The execution ground in a cart rather than having to walk there. Nearly all executions under the Tang dynasty took place in public as a warning to the population. The heads of the executed were displayed on poles or spears. When local authorities decapitated a convicted criminal, the head was boxed and sent to the capital as proof of identity and that the execution had taken place. In medieval and early modern Europe, before

7412-432: The first Meissen mint , the Freiberg Mint. From the 13th century it was the main state mint for the House of Wettin . In addition to pfennigs, halflings ( Hälblinge ) and quarters ( Viertelchen ) were also issued. Large payments were made in silver ingots . The bracteates from all Meissen and Upper Lusatian mints were struck according to a uniform embossing style and monetary standard . The master minter at Freiberg

7521-522: The grave intact. Some further forms of capital punishment were practiced in the Tang dynasty, of which the first two that follow at least were extralegal. The first of these was scourging to death with the thick rod which was common throughout the Tang dynasty especially in cases of gross corruption. The second was truncation, in which the convicted person was cut in two at the waist with a fodder knife and then left to bleed to death. A further form of execution called Ling Chi ( slow slicing ), or death by/of

7630-436: The hands of Arab Muslim officials and rulers. As People of the Book , Christians under Muslim rule were subjected to dhimmi status (along with Jews , Samaritans , Gnostics , Mandeans , and Zoroastrians), which was inferior to the status of Muslims. Christians and other religious minorities thus faced religious discrimination and religious persecution in that they were banned from proselytising (for Christians, it

7739-460: The head ' , derived via the Latin capitalis from caput , "head") refers to execution by beheading , but executions are carried out by many methods , including hanging , shooting , lethal injection , stoning , electrocution , and gassing . Crimes that are punishable by death are known as capital crimes , capital offences , or capital felonies , and vary depending on the jurisdiction, but commonly include serious crimes against

7848-450: The head or neck. Various authoritarian states employed the death penalty as a potent means of political oppression . Anti-Soviet author Robert Conquest claimed that more than one million Soviet citizens were executed during the Great Purge of 1936 to 1938, almost all by a bullet to the back of the head. Mao Zedong publicly stated that "800,000" people had been executed in China during

7957-634: The imperial coinage regulations. The smallest coins, which were one-sided copper pfennigs, were produced by the Grünthal Hammer Mill. Sachsenpfennig The Sachsenpfennig ("Saxon pfennig "), sometimes called the Wendenpfennig or the Hochrandpfennig ("high rim pfennig "), was a well-known coin of the pfennig type minted in the eastern part of the Stem Duchy of Saxony during

8066-522: The incidence of capital punishment. This opinion led to voluntary exile being prescribed in place of the death penalty, whereby a convict could either choose to leave in exile or face execution. A historic debate, followed by a vote, took place in the Roman Senate to decide the fate of Catiline 's allies when he attempted to seize power in December, 63 BC. Cicero, then Roman consul , argued in support of

8175-410: The incidence of increased violent criminality at the times and places of executions. Official recognition of this phenomenon led to executions being carried out inside prisons, away from public view. In England in the 18th century, when there was no police force, Parliament drastically increased the number of capital offences to more than 200. These were mainly property offences, for example cutting down

8284-470: The injustice, but even the futility from the point of view of social welfare , of torture and the death penalty. Influenced by the book, Grand Duke Leopold II of Habsburg, the future emperor of the Holy Roman Empire , abolished the death penalty in the then-independent Grand Duchy of Tuscany , the first abolition in modern times. On 30 November 1786, after having de facto blocked executions (the last

8393-518: The inscription testify to these coins. As a result of the high spending policy of Margrave William I the One-Eyed (1382–1407), the country and its population were heavily burdened. Foreign towns countered the increasing debasement of coins with countermarks of Meissen groschen that were still in good condition. It was not until 1412 that Frederick the Quarrelsome (1381–1428) succeeded in stabilizing

8502-614: The island was independent) was the first legislative assembly in the world to abolish the death penalty in 1824. Tahiti commuted the death penalty to banishment. In the United States, Michigan was the first state to ban the death penalty, on 18 May 1846. The short-lived revolutionary Roman Republic banned capital punishment in 1849. Venezuela followed suit and abolished the death penalty in 1863 and San Marino did so in 1865. The last execution in San Marino had taken place in 1468. In Portugal, after legislative proposals in 1852 and 1863,

8611-401: The killing of conspirators without judgment by decision of the Senate ( Senatus consultum ultimum ) and was supported by the majority of senators; among the minority voices opposed to the execution, the most notable was Julius Caesar . The custom was different for foreigners who did not hold rights as Roman citizens , and especially for slaves, who were transferrable property. Crucifixion

8720-567: The lords of miners and mints and had bracteates issued. At the end of the 12th century, mines were driven into the Scharfenberg on the Elbe . Later, the two episcopal castles, Wurzen and Stolpen became potential places for minting. The last episcopal bracteates were minted towards the end of the 13th century. As an abbey authorized to issue coins, Pegau Abbey in Pegau also minted bracteates. These have

8829-456: The majority of countries have abolished capital punishment, over half of the world's population live in countries where the death penalty is retained, including India, the U.S., Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Japan, Vietnam, Egypt, Nigeria, Ethiopia and DR Congo. As of 2023, only 2 out of 38 OECD member countries (the United States and Japan ) allow capital punishment. Capital punishment

8938-519: The merchants had developed a so-called bullion economy. When paying, silver was cut into the form of ingots , jewellery and coins and weighed with scales and weights. Across the whole of the Slavic lands, hoards of silver weighing several kilogrammes have occasionally survived; they comprise German and West European denarii , Oriental dirhems and Scandinavian jewellery. The pieces were mostly chopped up, broken or cut up. In Polish and English texts,

9047-439: The names of the mint lords are only exceptionally found on the pfennigs. A rough classification was made by Haupt: For the export trade, the regional pfennig with its limited scope and obligation to exchange it every year was a major obstacle. A unified currency across larger areas was required. Higher denominations were needed, not just pfennigs. The regional pfennig period ended under Margrave Frederick II (1323–1349). After

9156-408: The normal imperial coinage. The oldest Sachsenpfennigs were based on the minting standard of the Carolingian monetary reform under which 240 pfennigs were minted from the Carolingian pound of silver weighing 367 g. Twelve pfennigs made one schilling . At that time, the schilling was not an actual coin, but the name of a dozen pfennigs , so it was just a unit of account . In theory,

9265-494: The oldest group of Saxon high-rimmed pfennigs. The Margraves of Meissen continued to mint as ministeriales on behalf of the Roman-German Empire . Margrave Eckard I of Meissen (985–1002) had pfennigs minted in the imperial mint at Meissen . The denarius with the inscriptions EKKINHARD and MISSNI is the oldest known Meissen coin. . The conversion of Charlemagne's pound into a monetary pound ( Zählpfund ) during

9374-449: The pfennig currency on the basis of 20 Schildgroschen to a Rhenish gulden. Saxony had to recognize the Rhenish gold gulden in order to support long-distance trade . From 1456 it was at last minted in the large commercial metropolis of Leipzig . The discovery of new, rich silver deposits in the upper Ore Mountains at Schneeberg and Annaberg led to another mining period in Saxony in

9483-594: The primary state mint until it was eventually closed. The Colditz Mint was owned by the Electress Margaret , wife of Elector Friedrich II (1428–1464). An extraordinary event in the history of coins in Saxony is that the Elector paid his wife as compensation for the high life estate in 1456 set up a mint in Colditz and allowed her to mint her own coins there. The so-called Margarethengroschen with an additional "M" in

9592-426: The purpose of illegally procuring precious metals was a capital offence for which the penalty was cutting off the right hand. The pfennigs were only valid in their area of origin. The bracteate period is therefore also referred to as the period of the regional pfennig . Anyone who came from another currency area to trade had to exchange the currency they had brought with them for local coinage. The bill of exchange

9701-545: The reign of the Frankish Emperor, Henry IV , (1056–1106) resulted in the obsolescence of pfennigs minted on both sides. The pound weight ( Gewichtspfund ) of 367 grammes was converted into a monetary pound of 240 pfennigs, the weight of which decreased continuously. The lighter pfennigs became larger in diameter. The sheet metal used for minting eventually became so thin that it could no longer be struck with lower and upper punches simultaneously in one operation. When embossing

9810-503: The replacement of the pfennig by the broad groschen ( grossi lati ) introduced by Margrave Frederick II in 1338/39, the late medieval groschen period began. In Haupt's Sächsischer Münzkunde , the word Groschen is a popular term for the Latin grossus , which roughly means "fat". For larger amounts of money, the Schock , worth 60 small Schockgroschen or 20 new groschen, and the mark, worth 48 Schockgroschen were minted. The new groschen

9919-525: The second half of the 15th century. The newly established mine mints at Schneeberg , Zwickau (where minting had been shut down since 1449), Annaberg and Buchholz had to cover the state's increasing financial obligations by minting a huge number of coins. The almost identical coin mandates of the Ernestine and Albertines from May 1500, in which the planned transition to the large silver currency on 4 July with new silver gulden ( Guldengroschen ) With

10028-418: The so-called 'thin pfennigs' ( Dünnpfennige ), the blank had to be turned in order to emboss the opposite side. The stamp pressure on one side damaged the coin image on the other side. In order to achieve a good coin image, it made sense to dispense with the second punch and also to save the second work step. This phenomenon probably led to the minting of bracteates beginning around 1140 under Margrave Conrad

10137-399: The term cross denier (Polish: denary krzyzowe , German: Kreuzdenare ) appears. An indisputable modern name for these coins is Hochrandpfennig ("high rim pfennig ") or Randpfennig ("rim pfennig "). The different names indicate an unclear position in medieval numismatics. Their anonymity and their seemingly primitive coinage led to them being regarded as a separate coin group outside of

10246-528: The then emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, abolished in his immediate lands in 1787 capital punishment, which though only lasted until 1795, after both had died and Leopolds son Francis abolished it in his immediate lands. In Tuscany it was reintroduced in 1790 after Leopolds departure becoming emperor. Only after 1831 capital punishment was again at times stopped, though it took until 2007 to abolish capital punishment in Italy completely. The Kingdom of Tahiti (when

10355-461: The thick rod or of exile to the remote Lingnan region might take the place of capital punishment. However, the death penalty was restored only 12 years later in 759 in response to the An Lushan Rebellion . At this time in the Tang dynasty only the emperor had the authority to sentence criminals to execution. Under Xuanzong capital punishment was relatively infrequent, with only 24 executions in

10464-409: The weight was checked al marco . In medieval coinage, this was checking the total weight of a certain number of coins instead of checking the weight of an individual piece. Given the uneven weight of individual pfennigs, it was obvious to bring the overweight ones down to the average weight simply with scissors by cutting off the edge. The clipping of pfennigs by money changers or private individuals for

10573-430: The world, nations in the form of ancient republics, monarchies or tribal oligarchies emerged. These nations were often united by common linguistic, religious or family ties. Moreover, expansion of these nations often occurred by conquest of neighbouring tribes or nations. Consequently, various classes of royalty, nobility, various commoners and slaves emerged. Accordingly, the systems of tribal arbitration were submerged into

10682-423: The year 730 and 58 executions in the year 736. The two most common forms of execution in the Tang dynasty were strangulation and decapitation, which were the prescribed methods of execution for 144 and 89 offences respectively. Strangulation was the prescribed sentence for lodging an accusation against one's parents or grandparents with a magistrate, scheming to kidnap a person and sell them into slavery and opening

10791-413: Was a crime, a judge must define the penalty allowing the crime to be annulled by compensating it. This is how pecuniary compensation appeared for criminals the least recalcitrant and whose rehabilitation is deemed possible. However, for others, he argued, the death penalty is necessary. This philosophy aims on the one hand to protect society and on the other hand to compensate to cancel the consequences of

10900-509: Was a form of punishment first employed by the Romans against slaves who rebelled , and throughout the Republican era was reserved for slaves , bandits , and traitors . Intended to be a punishment, a humiliation, and a deterrent, the condemned could take up to a few days to die. Corpses of the crucified were typically left on the crosses to decompose and to be eaten by animals. There was a time in

11009-508: Was broken with the establishment of numerous Kipper mints. The great resemblance of the interim coins to the high-quality Schreckenberger or Engelsgroschen minted in Saxony and Thuringia between 1498 and 1571 probably made them coins popular in Electoral Saxony. The coins could not be objected to, because they were not thalers or their subdivisions, but groschen pieces, i.e. state coins ( Landesmünzen ), which did not have to conform to

11118-525: Was finally ended. The new Elector Maurice (1541–1547–1553) only minted coins in his own name. A new period began, a separate coinage history under the Albertine electoral line of the House of Saxony. The coinage of the Ernestine line and later and subsidiary lines in the remaining extensive Thuringian lands are also part of Saxon coin history, but can be treated separately in their diversity. The coinage history of

11227-561: Was forbidden to evangelise or spread Christianity ) in the lands invaded by the Arab Muslims on pain of death, they were banned from bearing arms, undertaking certain professions, and were obligated to dress differently in order to distinguish themselves from Arabs. Under sharia , Non-Muslims were obligated to pay jizya and kharaj taxes, together with periodic heavy ransom levied upon Christian communities by Muslim rulers in order to fund military campaigns, all of which contributed

11336-424: Was in 1769), Leopold promulgated the reform of the penal code that abolished the death penalty and ordered the destruction of all the instruments for capital execution in his land. In 2000, Tuscany's regional authorities instituted an annual holiday on 30 November to commemorate the event. The event is commemorated on this day by 300 cities around the world celebrating Cities for Life Day . Leopolds brother Joseph ,

11445-416: Was instructed not to strike more than 244 or 246 pfennigs from the (Prague) silver mark of 253 grammes. That corresponds to an average weight of a pfennig of a good 1 gramme. However, the highest average weight of Puschwitz bracteate finds from the early mintings around 1140 is only 0.811 grammes. At the end of the 13th and beginning of the 14th century, the average weight was 0.573 grammes. The testing of

11554-722: Was issued by the Freiberg mint based on the Prague groschen which had been minted in Bohemia since 1300. When changing over the currency in the Margraviate of Meissen , as in the Kingdom of Bohemia , Italian financial advisors were consulted. The currency changeover to the new, lighter Rhenish Gulden as the basis for Meissen's groschen coinage took place in stages from 1368 to 1369. In addition to groschen, pfennigs and hellers were minted. The groschen

11663-451: Was part of the income of the mintmasters . The cost of minting coins had to be covered by an annual fee-based exchange of the pfennigs: twelve old ones for nine or ten new ones. In Freiberg's city law it was determined that only the mint master or judge himself was allowed to devalue expired pfennigs. The fragile pfennigs were carried in tin cans. The following mints in Saxony produced bracteate coins: Numerous independent dynasties in

11772-498: Was under age 18 at the time the crime was committed). In the United States, 23 of the 50 states and Washington, D.C. ban capital punishment. In the United Kingdom, it was abolished for murder (leaving only treason, piracy with violence , arson in royal dockyards and a number of wartime military offences as capital crimes) for a five-year experiment in 1965 and permanently in 1969, the last execution having taken place in 1964. It

11881-625: Was worth 9 or 12 pfennigs, the pfennig, 2 hellers . Alongside the Prague groschen, the Meissen groschen became the leading monetary unit of Central Europe . At the end of the 14th and 15th centuries, the House of Wettin established, in addition to their main mint in Freiberg, other mints in Sangerhausen , Zwickau , Gotha , Leipzig , Weimar , Colditz , Wittenberg and Langensalza , some of which were only temporarily in operation. The Freiberg Mint remained

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