Vehmic court

The Vehmic courts, Vehmgericht, holy vehme, or simply Vehm, also spelled Feme, Vehmegericht, Fehmgericht, are names given to a tribunal system of Westphalia in Germany active during the Late Middle Ages, based on a fraternal organisation of lay judges called "free judges" (German: Freischöffen or French: francs-juges). The original seat of the courts was in Dortmund. Proceedings were sometimes secret, leading to the alternative titles of "secret courts" (German: heimliches Gericht), "silent courts" (German: Stillgericht), or "forbidden courts" (German: verbotene Gerichte). After the execution of a death sentence, the corpse could be hanged on a tree to advertise the fact and deter others.

The peak of activity of these courts was during the 14th to 15th centuries, with lesser activity attested for the 13th and 16th centuries, and scattered evidence establishing their continued existence during the 17th and 18th centuries. They were finally abolished by order of Jérôme Bonaparte, king of Westphalia, in 1811.

The Vehmic courts were the regional courts of Westphalia, which, in turn, were based on the county courts of Franconia. They received their jurisdiction from the Holy Roman Emperor, from whom they also received the capacity to pronounce capital punishment (German: Blutgericht) which they exercised in his name. Everywhere else the power of life and death, originally reserved to the Emperor alone, had been usurped by the territorial nobles; only in Westphalia, called "the Red Earth" because here the imperial Blutbann (jurisdiction over life and death) was still valid, were capital sentences passed and executed by the Vehmic courts in the Emperor's name alone.

Etymology

The term's origin is uncertain, but seems to enter Middle High German from Middle Low German.