No, it's "viehische Sünde" in the pamphlet itself. Hm. BTW, after introducing Andreas Lepsch, 50 years old sinner who sired eight children (of whom four are still alive) before being caught at this terrible sin and justly condemned to death by fire, our author adds a snarky footnote that one recently hears more and more "of such completely inhumane deeds", ESPECIALLY among the aristocracy, whereas "geringe Leute tuns zwar auch, aber nicht so häuffig" (i.e. "lowly people do it, too, but not as often"). Now, this being right at the start of the pamphlet (after the introduction), and in the same year 1730 where, as we know, across the border in the Netherlands you have a big, big scandal and literally hundreds of men put on trial for, so say the Hervey/FoW article authors, sodomy - Lepsch was near the end of September, so the Dutch scandal preceded this -, and given the Hervey/FoW article also points out the Dutch were indignant that the aristocrats among the accused were granted a private execution instead of a public spectacle, I did take this to be an allusion to the Dutch goings on, of which Prussian subjects given the close ties between the countries would certainly have been aware. Now, I have no idea about what the Dutch guys were accused of was all gay sex, a mixture of gay sex and bestiality, or all bestiality. (Though given the sheer number of accusations, I doubt the last one.) I also don't know what term was used in Dutch, whether there is more than one meaning of "sodomy" there, and whether or not the article writers had a source able differentiate here.
But given the sheer timing, I'm hard pressed to believe in a coincidence. I mean, if the British papers across the channel reported on the Dutch scandal (and in a way so Hervey's enemy who fought the duel with him could make a pointed allusion to it in his insult that caused Hervey to challenge him), I bet the Brandenburg preachers and their pamphlet reading audience had heard about it, too. And they might really put all in the same category, i.e. Lepsch and his non-specified animal in the same class as whatever the Dutch had gotten up to.
Also in September: Katte (still held at his regiment's house) gets interrogated repeatedly and FW urges to show him the instruments (of torture).
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Re: Torture and capital punishment in 18th Century Prussia
Date: 2021-03-21 10:04 am (UTC)No, it's "viehische Sünde" in the pamphlet itself. Hm. BTW, after introducing Andreas Lepsch, 50 years old sinner who sired eight children (of whom four are still alive) before being caught at this terrible sin and justly condemned to death by fire, our author adds a snarky footnote that one recently hears more and more "of such completely inhumane deeds", ESPECIALLY among the aristocracy, whereas "geringe Leute tuns zwar auch, aber nicht so häuffig" (i.e. "lowly people do it, too, but not as often"). Now, this being right at the start of the pamphlet (after the introduction), and in the same year 1730 where, as we know, across the border in the Netherlands you have a big, big scandal and literally hundreds of men put on trial for, so say the Hervey/FoW article authors, sodomy - Lepsch was near the end of September, so the Dutch scandal preceded this -, and given the Hervey/FoW article also points out the Dutch were indignant that the aristocrats among the accused were granted a private execution instead of a public spectacle, I did take this to be an allusion to the Dutch goings on, of which Prussian subjects given the close ties between the countries would certainly have been aware. Now, I have no idea about what the Dutch guys were accused of was all gay sex, a mixture of gay sex and bestiality, or all bestiality. (Though given the sheer number of accusations, I doubt the last one.) I also don't know what term was used in Dutch, whether there is more than one meaning of "sodomy" there, and whether or not the article writers had a source able differentiate here.
But given the sheer timing, I'm hard pressed to believe in a coincidence. I mean, if the British papers across the channel reported on the Dutch scandal (and in a way so Hervey's enemy who fought the duel with him could make a pointed allusion to it in his insult that caused Hervey to challenge him), I bet the Brandenburg preachers and their pamphlet reading audience had heard about it, too. And they might really put all in the same category, i.e. Lepsch and his non-specified animal in the same class as whatever the Dutch had gotten up to.
Also in September: Katte (still held at his regiment's house) gets interrogated repeatedly and FW urges to show him the instruments (of torture).