Benedikt Carpzov Jr.

Benedikt Carpzov the Younger (27 May 1595, Wittenberg - 30 August 1666, Leipzig) was a German criminal lawyer and a witchcraft theoretician who wrote extensively on witch processes.

Upon his return to Wittenberg in 1618, he participated in a dispute under guidance of Wolfgang Hirschbach on December 3 to obtain a licentiate degree, and then received his doctorate in law on February 16, 1619.

There he arrived in Rome via Venice, where he learned Italian, then traveled on to Naples, France, England and the Netherlands.

At the latter place he received a letter from his father, who told him that the Elector Johann Georg I of Saxony promised him a position at the Saxon Schöppenstuhl (judicial panel) in Leipzig.

His last great work, Processus juris in foro Saxonica, has long been a textbook valid in the development of procedural law.

As Carpzov was deeply rooted in the religiosity of his time, his views on criminal justice were under strong influence of the Catholic school of Salamanca, in particular Diego de Covarrubias y Leyva (even though he was a Protestant himself).

For Carpzov, the offender was not only a lawbreaker who violated a restriction imposed by the authorities, but also a sinner who had rebelled against God.

In addition to retribution, the punishment was meant to deter the general public from committing similar offences.