Blood court

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article does not cite any references or sources. (June 2007)
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

Blood Court (German: Blutgericht) or high justice in the Holy Roman Empire referred to the right of a Vogt (a reeve) to hold a criminal court inflicting bodily punishment, including the death penalty.

Not every Vogt held the Blutgericht. Up to the 18th century, for example, the Blutgericht of much of what is now the Canton of Zurich lay with Kyburg, even in the territory ruled by the counts of Greifensee. The self-administration of the Blutgericht was an important factor of Reichsfreiheit.