How big were the petty thefts of Matevž Kavčič

The importance of judicial protocols for understanding the life of an individual and for creating the public image of a criminal in the eighteenth century

Abstract

In the 18th century, judicial protocols evolved in accordance with precisely defined rules of criminal law and were strongly influenced by the interrogators. A critical reading of the historical source discussed in this article, in which all rules and elements of material and formal criminal law are taken into consideration, enables us to follow the life of Matevž Kaučič. In his youth, Matevž played numerous roles: his family renounced him, he was a beggar and a herdsman, a cheerful fellow and a drunkard, and occasionally a thief and idler, and a man who travelled great distances. Short descriptions of his thefts reveal the numerous skills he used to survive and to circumvent the various formal and informal means (established by patents and ordinances) of supervising individuals and the community in effect in his time.