History 495: Trials and History

Description: Over the course of history men and women have been charged with and brought to trial for a wide variety of criminal offenses, from heresy and treason to murder, arson, rape, obscenity‐‐the list is virtually inexhaustible. These alleged offenses have been adjudicated under different legal traditions, notions of justice, and systems of jurisprudence, with varying standards and burdens of proof, and before one type of tribunal or another. The drama in the courtroom frequently crystallizes certain social, cultural, and/or political issues of the period. The study of trials, including the legal reasoning and storytelling they often entail and the way in which they were constructed and covered in public discussion at the time, can offer a window into the community in which they took place and shed light on all sorts of otherwise hidden facets of a society's fundamental beliefs, customs, and cultural values as well as prevailing social relations and economic conditions.