Itineraries and Languages of Madness in the Early Modern World by Mariana Labarca

Author:Mariana Labarca [Labarca, Mariana]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, General
ISBN: 9781000405316
Google: oeQsEAAAQBAJ
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2021-07-05T01:40:42+00:00

The magistrates, therefore, considered him to be an ordinary man who gave motive neither to be laughed at nor to be admired. They conceded, nonetheless, that “maybe” he occasionally manifested some “inconsistences in his speech” and sometimes walked decidedly toward a certain destination only to suddenly change his course for no reason, “which gave motive to those watching him to call him pazzo.” However, the fact that after the crime he fled from the paternal residence stood against him, for it was taken to reveal his awareness of the significance of his actions. Consequently, on account of the evidence gathered, the magistrates considered that “such a foolishness” (melensaggine), which showed that he was only partially estranged from reason, could “excuse him” to a certain extent but not completely. As a consequence, although he was spared the death sentence, he was sentenced to the arbitrary penalty (pena arbitraria) of 10 years in the galleys plus a fine for illegal possession of weapons.50

The assessment of liability, motivation, and criminal intent considered not only mental impairment and madness as exculpatory, but also other circumstances such as drunkenness and justified angry reactions. Crimes committed while heavily inebriated or seriously influenced by a strong and justified rage were considered attenuating circumstances and thus deserving a lenient sentence, provided the accused had appeared before court. If the accused were contumacious, on the contrary, any attenuating circumstance was insufficient argument against the presumption of guilt derived from being a fugitive.

Drunkenness constituted a common line of defense in criminal prosecution and in petitions for a reduction of sentence, demonstrating the new concern aroused by the effects of inebriation we saw in the records of the Magistrato dei Pupilli.51 Drunkenness appears particularly connected to crimes of violence and assault committed by men, but it surpasses violent crimes to become a sort of immanent presence in male criminal behavior generally. Although it is possible to find inebriated women involved in criminal acts, it was mostly tied to prostitution and to raving madness.52 Alleging drunkenness at the moment of the crime served both to demonstrate that the crime had been unintentional and to diminish liability. Crimes committed while “altered by wine” (alterato dal vino) or while “not being in a perfect cognition” (non era in perfetta cognizione) by reason of drunkenness could be taken to deserve mitigated sentences, provided this state could be corroborated and had been so evident as to give recognizable signs.53 Supplicants would explain that their crime had been committed while they were “overheated with wine” (riscaldati dal vino), “drunk and out of himself,” “not in a rational state,” or so “drunk” that he “staggered due to the wine he had consumed.”54 Additionally, it helped the cause if the accused could prove that the crime had been unpremeditated and fortuitous, so that motive and wrongful intent could be set aside.

The frequent presence of this argument both in the criminal proceedings and in supplications for reduction of sentences suggests that the effects of alcohol and the instrumental use of the plea of drunkenness were known throughout all segments of society.

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