Crime and Forgiveness: Christianizing Execution in Medieval Europe.

AuthorTomaselli, Michael

Adriano Prosperi. Crime and Forgiveness: Christianizing Execution in Medieval Europe. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2020. 657 pages. Hardcover, $39.95.

Crime and Forgiveness, the latest work in English translation by the prolific Italian historian, Adriano Prosperi, shatters academic paradigms surrounding the connected nature of law and religion. Prosperi's work is a carefully crafted narrative that allows the reader to understand the wide range of ramifications that spring from religious legitimization of capital punishment on a deeper level than previously accepted. Prosperi argues that "the religious legitimization of violence" had more consequences than just the death penalty (p.vii). From the outset, the author is clear that his analysis does not represent an exhaustive examination of capital punishment. Instead, he asserts that his work will, "wait until the whole of humankind has turned its back on the death penalty" (p.xi). By establishing Crime and Forgiveness as a necessary survey of the subject, Prosperi has built a defense into his framework, allowing omission of niche materials to not render his argument invalid.

Prosperi sets the stage for his work, mentioning the wide-ranging reactions to former U.S. President, Barack Obama's, announcement of the death of Osama Bin Laden in 2011 (p.1). The author uses this example to highlight the core of his argument, that the religious legitimization of violence has done more than unilaterally create the death penalty; indeed, individual cultures have manifested the bond between blood and justice in many ways, and to different degrees.

To support his argument, Prosperi carefully begins his narrative by demonstrating the theoretical framework for the reader. He notes the differing rationalizations the Catholic Church used to support violence, while at the same time preaching, "Thou Shalt Not Kill." (p.11-12). From that point, Prosperi expertly weaves together examples, starting with Cesare Beccaria's On Crimes and Punishments as one of the first works to criticize the death penalty, then moving on to the idea of comforting the condemned in Medieval Europe. The author continues his narrative by providing examples of these different concepts while tracing their path over time, resulting in the "Slow Epilogue of Comforting in Nineteenth Century Italy" (p.514). By crafting such a narrative, Prosperi has provided a...

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