ABSTRACT

Traditionally, research into law and legal practice focuses on court records which are an obligatory, privileged or even exclusive source of information on crime, judicial opinion, criminals, victims and witnesses. 1 Criminal archives are thought to contain information on violence in urban and rural society and on various real-life situations that enliven dry court reporting and provide insight into the arguments behind the accusation and probable offences. But other resources can also contribute valuable information: notaries’ archives, for example, offer another view of what was considered ‘normal behaviour’ and how individuals made use of the courts. 2