When Vesalius published his landmark book on anatomy, De Humani Corporis Fabrica (On the Fabric of the Human Body), in 1543 he dedicated it to the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, whose reign also saw another landmark in forensic medicine. For the first time in the history of the Holy Roman Empire, rules of criminal procedure were enacted. They regulated which crimes should be regarded as serious, allowed for the burning of witches and, for the first time, gave the courts the power to order investigations and inquisitions into serious crime. Known collectively as the Carolina Code, crucially for
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