Johann of Schwarzenberg (December 25, 1463 – October 21, 1528) (also Johann, Baron of Schwarzenberg and Hohenlandsberg) was a German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 moralist and reformer who, as judge of the episcopal court at Bamberg

Bamberg

Bamberg is a city in Bavaria, Germany. It is located in Upper Franconia on the river Regnitz, close to its confluence with the river Main. Bamberg is one of the few cities in Germany that was not destroyed by World War II bombings because of a nearby Artillery Factory that prevented planes from...

, introduced a new code of evidence which amended the procedure then prevalent in Europe by securing for the accused a more impartial hearing.

In 1507, at the direction of the Prince-Bishop of Bamberg

Prince-Bishopric of Bamberg

The Bishopric of Bamberg was established in 1007, to further expand the spread of Christianity in Germany. The ecclesiastical state was a member of the Holy Roman Empire from about 1245 until it was subsumed to the Electorate of Bavaria in 1802...

, Georg Schenk von Limpurg

Georg Schenk von Limpurg

Georg Schenk von Limpurg was the Prince-Bishop of Bamberg from 1505 to 1522.-Biography:Georg Schenk von Limpurg was born in Obersontheim in 1470....

, Schwarzenberg drew up the Halsgerichtsordnung (Procedure for the judgment of capital crimes) of Bamberg (also known as the Bambergensis). It was based on the humanistic

Humanism

Humanism is an approach in study, philosophy, world view or practice that focuses on human values and concerns. In philosophy and social science, humanism is a perspective which affirms some notion of human nature, and is contrasted with anti-humanism....

 school of Roman law

Roman law

Roman law is the legal system of ancient Rome, and the legal developments which occurred before the 7th century AD — when the Roman–Byzantine state adopted Greek as the language of government. The development of Roman law comprises more than a thousand years of jurisprudence — from the Twelve...

, and it was in turn the basis for the Constitutio Criminalis Carolina

Constitutio Criminalis Carolina

The Constitutio Criminalis Carolina is recognised as the first body of German criminal law...

, drafted in 1530 and ratified in 1532.

In 1507, Schwarzenberg was a leader of the knights of Franconia

Franconia

Franconia is a region of Germany comprising the northern parts of the modern state of Bavaria, a small part of southern Thuringia, and a region in northeastern Baden-Württemberg called Tauberfranken...

. From 1522 to 1524, he was a member of the Reichsregiment (Imperial regiment), a body formed for the government of the Holy Roman Empire

Holy Roman Empire

The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...

, and in the absence of Charles V

Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor

Charles V was ruler of the Holy Roman Empire from 1519 and, as Charles I, of the Spanish Empire from 1516 until his voluntary retirement and abdication in favor of his younger brother Ferdinand I and his son Philip II in 1556.As...

 even the governor of the Empire.

He composed moral and satirical poems and works regarding the Reformation

Protestant Reformation

The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...

. He also did translations, mainly of Cicero

Cicero

Marcus Tullius Cicero , was a Roman philosopher, statesman, lawyer, political theorist, and Roman constitutionalist. He came from a wealthy municipal family of the equestrian order, and is widely considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists.He introduced the Romans to the chief...

. He was an early adherent and friend of Martin Luther

Martin Luther

Martin Luther was a German priest, professor of theology and iconic figure of the Protestant Reformation. He strongly disputed the claim that freedom from God's punishment for sin could be purchased with money. He confronted indulgence salesman Johann Tetzel with his Ninety-Five Theses in 1517...

.