ZDRAVSTVENA KULTURA U SVJETLU ODREDABA RAPSKOG STATUTA IZ XIV. STOLJEĆA

Abstract

he 14 th century Code of Rab passed in 1326 dates from a pe riod under the Venetian rule. It is a huge volume written in Latin that addresses most of the town’s issues of the time. This paper is limited to regulations and issues related to the town’s health culture and is divided in three sections. R EGULATIONS ON THE PROTECTION OF PUBLIC HEALTH These regulations concern issues such as the ban from building lavatories inside houses divided between owners by wooden separation walls or the provisions not to move sick animals, not to skin animals outside slaughterhouses, not to sell smelly fish, provisions for innkeepers and greengrocers not to spin wool at workplace, provision not to keep swine outside sties, and the ban from making spurious wine. R EGULATIONS ON TORTURE , MUTILATION , BRANDING AND BURNING AT STAKE AS PUNISHMENT FOR CRIMES Torture was used in questioning suspects of theft; a hand was severed for inflicting a bleeding wound unless the indicted could afford to pay the fine. Whipping and branding was used for forced defloration and for harlotry. Eyes were plucked out for forced deflo- ration (in addition to whipping, branding and mutilation of the right hand). Burning at stake was the punishment for preparing harmful herb medicines and for sodomy.