Constitutio Criminalis Carolina

Under the terms of the Constitutio Criminalis Carolina, actions such as murder, manslaughter, robbery, arson, homosexual relations, and witchcraft were henceforth defined as severe crimes.

In particular, the Carolina specified that those found guilty of causing harm through witchcraft should be executed with fire, laying the foundation for the mass witch trials between 1580 and 1680.

Nevertheless, the severability clause did not detract from the Carolina's unification of the legal system and its reformatory effect on criminal law was indisputable.

Further historical importance of the Constitutio Criminalis Carolina arises from the fact that this was the first adoption of the canonical Italian legal institute of the inquisition.

The inquisition gave the court the chance to examine a case on its own accord and to find a judgement basing only on facts without being restricted by the interests of the parties.