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Posted by: Nathan Dorn
Nathan discusses trial by ordeal and the dangers of too much judicial combat in the works of Friedrich Majer
Posted in: Collections, Law Library
Posted by: Anna Price
A summary of a Connecticut resolution absolving individuals convicted of witchcraft and related crimes during the 17th century.
Posted in: Guest Post, Law Library
Posted by: Nathan Dorn
Last Halloween, a post on this blog introduced the subject of witch trials in France from the 15th through the 18th centuries. In this post, I would like to take a look at one of the most important French works on the crime of witchcraft and its prosecution, a book that gave considerable encouragement to …
Posted in: Collections, Law Library
Posted by: Kelly Goles
This past year, we published more than 240 new posts on this blog, In Custodia Legis. These posts come from many authors, both on the blog team and guest bloggers, as well as intern bloggers, from across different parts of the Law Library and the Library of Congress. The blog team features representatives from our team of reference librarians, …
Posted in: Law Library
Posted by: Kelly Goles
We celebrate many commemorative days, weeks, and holidays at the Law Library of Congress, from Public Service Recognition Week to Constitution Day. One week that is particularly dear to our hearts is National Library Week. Each April, libraries across America celebrate the important work of libraries and librarians, and the countless ways in which they …
Posted in: Collections, Law Library
Posted by: Elin Hofverberg
Sunday, February 6, marks the Sámi National Day. The Sámi people are indigenous to Sápmi, an area that spans across northern parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia. The holiday inspired me to write a post about the recent return of a Sámi Drum to Norway. Last month, the Danish government transferred the legal ownership …
Posted in: Global Law, In the News
Posted by: Elin Hofverberg
This week, 501 years ago, between November 7 and 10, 1520, about one hundred people were executed in the town square in Stockholm, Sweden, in what became known as the Stockholm Bloodbath. A few days earlier, on November 4, 1520, King Christian II of Denmark, was crowned king of Sweden in Stockholm Cathedral. He was …
Posted in: Global Law
Posted by: Elin Hofverberg
The following is a guest post by Clare Feikert-Ahalt, a senior foreign law specialist at the Law Library of Congress covering the United Kingdom and several other jurisdictions. Clare has written numerous posts for In Custodia Legis, including Revealing the Presences of Ghosts; Weird Laws, or Urban Legends?; FALQs: Brexit Referendum; and The UK’s Legal Response to the London Bombings …
Posted in: Global Law, Guest Post
Posted by: Nathan Dorn
Recently, I posted on this blog a piece about the use of “spectral evidence” during the Salem witch trials, in which I mentioned that 19 people died by hanging, and one person died from being crushed to death. The victim of this latter cause of death was a farmer named Giles Corey. Corey, an 81-year-old …
Posted in: Law Library