ABSTRACT
The Marian laws, enacted in 1554 and 1555, created a unified pre-trial procedure of investigation for all serious crimes, including witchcraft. John H. Langbein, Prosecuting Crime in the Renaissance: England, Germany, France, Studies in Legal History. The initiation of a criminal proceeding against a defendant required legal tools to secure the physical presence of the suspect for investigation and trial. Some believed that the bringing or even a mere threat of legal proceedings could have served as a remedy for witchcraft. Figures or images of the human body were considered tools of witchcraft, as it was believed that witches could inflict harm by molesting the bodily parts represented. Passing criminal adjudication into human hands is the best explanation for these transformations. Despite the criminal and civil sanctions, the tests were often used, and not only by the common and ignorant, but also by some justice of the peace.
