Foss —Ancient Decree of the Council of Nuremberg. 351 
Virgin, or whoever speaks other similar words which directly 
tend to detract or take away from the Virgin Mary the honor 
with which she has been endowed according to the Holy Script¬ 
ures, shall as said above, be punished in body, life, limb or 
property, according to the blasphemy and the extent of the law. 
And as unfortunately a common wicked habit has taken root 
with young and old, with men and women, to swear frivolously, 
blasphemously, and wickedly by the strength and power of God, 
and likewise by the body, limbs, wounds, sufferings, death and 
sacraments of our beloved Master, Redeemer and Saviour Jesus 
Christ, and to take in vain the name of God, in whom all our 
salvation rests, to curse and wish each other all kinds of misfor¬ 
tune and other evil things, in an unchristian manner and con¬ 
trary to the love of God and our neighbors, through all of 
which the wrath of God is provoked against us, the honorable 
Council, in order that every person may know the better how 
to guard against such things, has ordered the following degrees 
of punishment. 
To wit: If any person, be it a citizen or a client, or inhab¬ 
itant of the city of Nuremberg or of any other city, castle, mar- 
kettown, village or territory under the jurisdiction of the Coun¬ 
cil, man or woman, swears maliciously by the power and 
strength of God, or by the body, limbs, wounds, sufferings and 
sacraments of our beloved Master, Redeemer, and Saviour, 
Jesus Christ in a frivolous, sacrilegious, intentional and wicked 
manner, the said person or persons, as before mentioned, shall 
in accordance with their malicious, sacrilegious, frivolous and 
persistent swearing, be punished severely and irremissibly on 
their body, life, or property. 
But if any person, not intentionally, sacrilegiously, and friv¬ 
olously as said above, but in the heat of anger, or from similar 
causes or from bad habit, pronounces such an oath as that de¬ 
scribed above, or otherwise takes the name of God in vain and 
utters evil curses, be he a citizen of Nurembrg or an inhabitant, 
or whatsoever of a town or castle under the jurisdiction of the 
Council, he shall inevitably be fined for every oath uttered in 
the territory of the Council one “Batzen,” and this shall be de- 
