350 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters. 
before, and desist from such vices—yet it has come to onr notice 
in an official way that all this is ntterly disregarded by many 
of our subjects, young and old, including the inhabitants of 
the city of Nuremberg, as well as of hamlets and territories 
under its jurisdiction, and that our fatherly and earnest warn¬ 
ings remain unheeded. 
Therefore the Council has determined by virtue of its auth¬ 
ority, as far as God has conferred it, to inflict punishment for 
the aforesaid misdemeanors on all persons who do not wish to 
heed the word of God, and who lead a scandalous and godless 
life before their neighbors with such severity that they shall 
feel above all how God’s honor is upheld, and how such mis¬ 
demeanor is dealt with by the authorities. 
To wit: Any citizen, inhabitant, guest, subject and client, 
under the jurisdiction of the Council of the city of Nuremberg, 
or in the country in any hamlet and territory, who blasphemes 
God Almighty and speaks of Him in terms which are not be¬ 
fitting His Divine Majesty and power, or who tries to detract 
from that which is due Him as our S'aviour and Redeemer, as 
if God could not do everything or were not just, or who curses 
God’s holy humanity or His throne, or speaks similar wanton 
defamatory and blashemous words incessantly in the name of 
God or against His holy humanity or the holy divine Sacrament 
of the Altar, the body and blood of Christ, shall be arrested by 
the public authorities and after cause has been ascertained, shall 
be punished by the loss of life or according to the blasphemy 
committed and the rules of the law, if the blasphemer has con¬ 
fessed his guilt or has been lawfully and sufficiently convicted. 
These orders shall be carried out in the city of Nuremberg 
by the command of the then acting burgomaster, and in the 
country in any hamlet or territory under the jurisdiction of the 
Council, by its administrators, magistrates and officers when¬ 
ever the above mentioned or similar blasphemy has occurred, 
which God in His mercy may forbid. 
In the same way if any person blasphemes the Virgin Mary, 
the Mother of Christ our Saviour, as if she had not given birth 
to Christ, the Son of the Most High, that is of God, as a pure 
