Yeah, I was wondering about that, too. This particular case seems to be about sex with an animal indeed, which means that probably so is the whole cabinet order. That said, as far as I know, sodomy did still have a wider connotation back then and the narrowing of its German meaning was only in the process and happened a bit later, during the 19th century. So theoretically, "dergleichen Verbrechen" might include more than just sex with animals after all, but on the third hand, Fritz himself doesn't even use the word "sodomy" here, it's only in the title and I think that one might have been added by the publisher in 1894, so we would be back to the beginning regarding both the narrow meaning of the term and what Fritz is talking about.
The new law code from 1794, which wiki credits with actually abolishing the death penalty for homosexuality, says
"Sodomy [sodomiterey] and other such unnatural sins, which cannot be mentioned here because of their abomination, require a complete eradication of the memory. Therefore, after having endured a year or several years in prison with welcome and farewell [=corporal punishment], such a criminal should be banished forever from the place of his residence where his vice has become known, and a possibly abused animal should be killed, or secretly removed from the area."
remember a letter in his old age where he’s proud to having had to sign only a handful of death penalties in his entire reign
Annually! Letter to Voltaire in 1777:
I believed, following the sentiments of the wisest legislators, that it was better to prevent crimes than to punish them; that succeeded, and, to give you a clear idea of it, you must make yourself aware of our population, which only goes to five million two hundred thousand souls. If France has twenty million inhabitants, that makes about a quarter; therefore since our laws have been moderated, we have, in a common year, only fourteen, at most fifteen death sentences; I can answer you this all the more affirmatively, since no one can to be imprisoned without my signature, nor anybody justified [executed?], unless I have ratified the sentence. Of these offenders, most are girls who have killed their children; few murders, even less highway robbers. But among these creatures who behave so cruelly towards their offspring, it is only those whose murder has been proven who are executed. I did what I could to prevent these unfortunate women from killing their fruit. The masters are obliged give notice as soon as their maids are pregnant; in the past, these poor girls were made to do public penance in churches, I dispensed those; there are houses, in every province, where they can give birth, and where they are responsible for bringing up their children. Notwithstanding all these facilities, I have not yet been able to uproot from their minds the distorted prejudice which leads them to let go of their children. I am even now occupied with the idea of abolishing the shame formerly attached to those who married creatures who were mothers without being married; I don't know if maybe that will give me success.
(I have to say, not only was he invested, he had a better grasp of the connection between infaticide/abortion and shaming/punishing women instead of helping them than some modern-day right wing politicians.)
Re: Sodomy
The new law code from 1794, which wiki credits with actually abolishing the death penalty for homosexuality, says
"Sodomy [sodomiterey] and other such unnatural sins, which cannot be mentioned here because of their abomination, require a complete eradication of the memory. Therefore, after having endured a year or several years in prison with welcome and farewell [=corporal punishment], such a criminal should be banished forever from the place of his residence where his vice has become known, and a possibly abused animal should be killed, or secretly removed from the area."
remember a letter in his old age where he’s proud to having had to sign only a handful of death penalties in his entire reign
Annually! Letter to Voltaire in 1777:
I believed, following the sentiments of the wisest legislators, that it was better to prevent crimes than to punish them; that succeeded, and, to give you a clear idea of it, you must make yourself aware of our population, which only goes to five million two hundred thousand souls. If France has twenty million inhabitants, that makes about a quarter; therefore since our laws have been moderated, we have, in a common year, only fourteen, at most fifteen death sentences; I can answer you this all the more affirmatively, since no one can to be imprisoned without my signature, nor anybody justified [executed?], unless I have ratified the sentence. Of these offenders, most are girls who have killed their children; few murders, even less highway robbers. But among these creatures who behave so cruelly towards their offspring, it is only those whose murder has been proven who are executed. I did what I could to prevent these unfortunate women from killing their fruit. The masters are obliged give notice as soon as their maids are pregnant; in the past, these poor girls were made to do public penance in churches, I dispensed those; there are houses, in every province, where they can give birth, and where they are responsible for bringing up their children. Notwithstanding all these facilities, I have not yet been able to uproot from their minds the distorted prejudice which leads them to let go of their children. I am even now occupied with the idea of abolishing the shame formerly attached to those who married creatures who were mothers without being married; I don't know if maybe that will give me success.
(I have to say, not only was he invested, he had a better grasp of the connection between infaticide/abortion and shaming/punishing women instead of helping them than some modern-day right wing politicians.)