History

Jurisdiction in Castello

The village of Castello was in the possession of the Tyrolean county. It had its own judge in town, which acted as court of first instance and depended from the tribunal in Egna. The so-called roman houses were subject to this jurisdiction too, no belonging to the bishop’s territory.

Procedures were similar to those of the bishop’s courts. The judge was assisted by a man (degano) who was elected yearly by the residents. The jury was composed of seven members, three of them were appointed by the people of Castello and the villages of Valfloriana, Capriana, Stramentizzo and the inhabitants of the roman houses elected one juror each.

In the Tyrolean jurisdiction, as it had happened in the bishop’s territory, local traditions were stronger than the power of the lord and so customs of unknown origins were acknowledged. The degano also collected taxes and kept the account book in the name of the Tyrolean counts.