Becoming and being a republic in the Late Middle Ages: Venice between practice and theory (original) (raw)
Related papers
Much debate has centred on the Elias Norbert's concept of the civilizing process, the transformation of Early Modern Europe from an uncontrolled society, in which people could not govern their impulses, to a "civilized" society. This process, aided by the imposition of new social and religious norms. However, Natalie Zemon Davis has remarked that, in order to achieve a well-rounded knowledge on the construction of personal identity, scholars must investigate more than the processes of «réinscription du pouvoir», as suggested by Foucault, but also observe people's oppositions to the power. Using judicial records, which demonstrate the resistance to governmental authority and rebellion against repression, the aim of this paper is to show how, in late Sixteenth-century, Romans reacted to the progressive criminalization of behaviours. This is attested by the increasing number of trials for attacks against the sbirri, the constables of the Governor's Court, Rome's main judicial authority.
Limited Government in Medieval Thought – A Whirlwind Tour
It is conventional to say that our familiar political doctrine of constitutionalism and limited government has its origins in Enlightenment thought. This is, at best, an oversimplification; the ideational and practical roots of limited government stretch back well into the medieval period. At least as early as the twelfth century, scholars of canon law were reinterpreting traditional theological and legal mores in order to articulate sophisticated models of limited government. Roman law and its medieval interpreters also made space for a variety of moral and procedural restrictions on the license of rulers. In this paper I want to sample a wide
A Cultural History of Law in the Middle Ages. Edited by Emanuele Conte and Laurent Mayali
2019
This is the second volume of a series of six, published by Bloomsbury in 2019. The contributions included in this volume cast new light on the cultural significance of law in the Middle Ages. As it evolved from a combination of religious norms, local customs, secular legislations and Roman jurisprudence, medieval law defined a normative order that was more than the sum of its parts. It promoted new forms of individual and social representation. It fostered the political renewal that heralded the transition from feudalism to the early modern state and contributed to the diffusion of a common legal language with the emergence of the ius commune.
Krakowskie Studia z Historii Państwa i Prawa
The author endeavored to enliven the universal discourse on the perfect system of government applicable to human society, which to many luminaries constitutes a certain paradigm of the science on the state and the law. While adopting a classical, chronological convention of the narrative herein commenced, the author made the time of Antiquity the point of departure, selected the Enlightenment as a form of a modern counterpoint thereto, and then finalized the deliberations carried out here against the reality of contemporary times. The intent of the exploration here was to place the research subject within the interdisciplinary framework, which was undoubtedly supported by the multifaceted nature of the problem at issue and by subsidiary utilization of the advantages of the comparative approach. The intention to present the issue through a broad perspective, transcending the boundaries of academic discourse, was naturally convergent therewith. As a result, the author did not shy from...
Alfonso el Sabio y la conceptualización jurídica de la monarquía en las ‘Siete Partidas’, 2021
This study aims to provide a thorough examination on how the ‘Siete Partidas’ played a part in process of the normalization of power during the Middle Ages. I will combine both theoretical considerations and textual analysis, and offer a review of some concepts used by contemporary scholars in order to contrast its conclusions with my interpretation of how the ‘Partidas’ worked. Here I will analyse the Castilian legal compilation as a discursive device. Thus, I will show how this text must be seen not as a functioning code, which admittedly it was, but also as a conceptual source for monarchy. Furthermore, this investigation will explore why the ‘Siete Partidas’ constituted one of the most important legal codes of Europe in the Middle Ages and why it was able to influence other monarchies and European theories of kingship. Thus, in my opinion, during the Middle Ages, the normalization of power was enabled by the lawmaking process. That normative process was developed in the ‘Partidas’ as the cornerstone of the king’s task as legislator. Therefore, their discourse was the main source from where medieval monarchies in general derived stable authority.