European Legal History Research Papers (original) (raw)

After describing the academic career of Professor Antonio Pérez Martín, this article describes his main lines of research. In doing so, it starts with his Proles aegediana, and then gives an account of the critical edition of several... more

After describing the academic career of Professor Antonio Pérez Martín, this article describes his main lines of research. In doing so, it starts with his Proles aegediana, and then gives an account of the critical edition of several legal sources of different Spanish traditions (particularly from Aragón, Castile and Catalonia), as well as the ius commune and its reception in the Iberian Peninsula. It also explains the current projects on which Prof. Pérez Martín is working. The paper ends up with a deserved tribute of gratitude for his scholarly contribution to the Spanish and European legal historiography.

Historia del Derecho moderno occidental.

This paper argues that the Treaties of Rome and the process of European integration they heralded had a lasting impact on the development of international law. However, their significance is usually misattributed. While European law has... more

This paper argues that the Treaties of Rome and the process of European integration they heralded had a lasting impact on the development of international law. However, their significance
is usually misattributed. While European law has had little impact on international legal doctrine, and while European integration has remained unique as a political project, European law and the process of European integration have served international law as an important progress narrative. In this respect, they have had an influence on important background understandings characterizing international law since the postwar era, including on the perception of international law as universal, autonomous, pluralistic, and economically liberal. The progress narrative culminates in the view that international law is in a normatively ambitious process of constitutionalization, an idea imported from European law. This progress narrative is now under threat as European integration faces existential difficulties. The crisis of European integration might therefore anticipate a crisis of international law.

La querela inofficiosi testamenti no conocía del litisconsorcio. Cuando había más de un coheredero forzoso, cada uno de ellos interponía su acción independientemente de los otros, con el objetivo de conseguir la cuota hereditaria que le... more

La querela inofficiosi testamenti no conocía del litisconsorcio. Cuando había más de un coheredero forzoso, cada uno de ellos interponía su acción independientemente de los otros, con el objetivo de conseguir la cuota hereditaria que le correspondía en virtud de la sucesión intestada. Normalmente cada querelante ejercía su derecho de acción, por la propia cuota hereditaria. Nos preguntamos aquí si el querellante que accionaba podía acrecer su cuota si era así notorio el repudio de la querela por parte de uno o más coherederos. Los pasajes del Digesto parecen dar respuestas contradictorias y la doctrina moderna sospecha que existía una controversia en el derecho (ius controversum). Sobre la base de dos escolios de los Basílicos se intenta demostrar que las divergentes conclusiones de los juristas estaban referidas a distintos casos. La exégesis de los textos sugiere finalmente algunas reflexiones sobre la acción de los compiladores de Justiniano.

Muurling, S. (2020). Women, Violence and the Uses of Justice Before the Criminal Court of Early Modern Bologna. In M. van der Heijden, M. Pluskota & S. Muurling (Eds.), Women's criminality in Europe, 1600-1914 (pp. 49-71). Cambridge, UK:... more

Muurling, S. (2020). Women, Violence and the Uses of Justice Before the Criminal Court of Early Modern Bologna. In M. van der Heijden, M. Pluskota & S. Muurling (Eds.), Women's criminality in Europe, 1600-1914 (pp. 49-71). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press

The study of prize cases in which English and Netherlandish subjects were involved, and which were adjudicated at first instance by prize courts as the Admiralty (and on appeal by the Great Council) are of particular interest for the... more

The study of prize cases in which English and Netherlandish subjects were involved, and which were adjudicated at first instance by prize courts as the Admiralty (and on appeal by the Great Council) are of particular interest for the study of the role of prize law in the development of international law. They allow us to study examples of a ‘precedents’ of what later was laid down in later maritime treaties, such as those between Great Britain and the Dutch Republic in the seventeenth century.

Il saggio intende dimostrare che, subito dopo la pubblicazione, da parte di Alberico Gentili, dei De iuris interpretibus Dialogi sex (1582) e delle Lectiones et Epistolae (1583-1584) i rapporti fra Jean Hotman e il giurista di San Ginesio... more

Il saggio intende dimostrare che, subito dopo la pubblicazione, da parte di Alberico Gentili, dei De iuris interpretibus Dialogi sex (1582) e delle Lectiones et Epistolae (1583-1584) i rapporti fra Jean Hotman e il giurista di San Ginesio divennero molto difficili e burrascosi. Lo dimostrano alcune epistole scritte da Hotman ad autorevoli giuristi (ad es. Bodin), e ad alcuni umanisti (Bergmann, Payne, Cuffe, Th. Savile) contenenti critiche molto dure e severe ai Dialogi gentiliani. Malgrado ciò, e malgrado le opposizioni dei puritani, Gentili riuscirà ad ottenere la cattedra di Civil Law a Oxford.Il saggio contiene anche notizie circa il tentativo compiuto, dal Gentili, di ottenere un insegnamento a Tubinga nel 1580.

In his Lex Castrensis, the twelfth-century Danish writer Sven Aggesen tells the story of the creation of a law that he attributes to Knútr inn ríki (Cnut the Great) as a means of governing his substantial military following of retainers,... more

In his Lex Castrensis, the twelfth-century Danish writer Sven Aggesen tells the story of the creation of a law that he attributes to Knútr inn ríki (Cnut the Great) as a means of governing his substantial military following of retainers, known as the hirð. As unlikely as it is for Sven to claim that he preserves the law exactly as it was in Knútr's own time, the text's focus on process and punishment raises an intriguing question: can evidence be seen for shifting punitive attitudes and legal exchange in the late Viking-Age period of intense contact, interaction, and accommodation between Scandinavia and the British Isles? This chapter will offer a first step in considering the possibility for the exchange of legal practices and concepts in this context, and present a newly refined picture of England and its Scandinavian neighbours – one which points to sophisticated legal interchange happening much earlier than usually thought.

This is a biography of a politician-bureaucrat-judge whose achievements-and indeed heroism-during the French Revolution have been relegated to the footnotes of history. He was not one of the Revolution's great thinkers, orators or writers... more

This is a biography of a politician-bureaucrat-judge whose achievements-and indeed heroism-during the French Revolution have been relegated to the footnotes of history. He was not one of the Revolution's great thinkers, orators or writers but he was one of the unsung fonctionnaires who organised and administered the Revolution. He did have his moments of fame and notoriety but much of his work took place behind the scenes.

Se ofrece una nueva reimpresión con una nota inicial de la reconstruction del Edicto Perpetuo propuesta por el gran romanista alemán Adolf August Friedrich Rudorff. Aunque superada por la reconstrucción de Otto Lenel, esta de Rudorff... more

Se ofrece una nueva reimpresión con una nota inicial de la reconstruction del Edicto Perpetuo propuesta por el gran romanista alemán Adolf August Friedrich Rudorff. Aunque superada por la reconstrucción de Otto Lenel, esta de Rudorff todavía tiene vigencia, por ser mas intuitiva y a veces mas acertada que la propuesta por Lenel. Es, pues, de consulta obligada para todos los estudiosos del edicto del Pretor.

El presente estudio, elaborado en clave histórica —pues persigue la evolución de una institución—, se divide, en tres apartados. El primero recoge a grandes rasgos las principales fuentes normativas y doctrinales que permiten reconstruir... more

El presente estudio, elaborado en clave histórica —pues persigue la evolución de una institución—, se divide, en tres apartados. El primero recoge a grandes rasgos las principales fuentes normativas y doctrinales que permiten reconstruir la evolución del régimen de inmisiones en el territorio peninsular, desde la época romana hasta la Codificación. En el segundo, siguiendo el estudio evolutivo de la institución, nos ocupamos de reconstruir su régimen jurídico desde la Codificación hasta la actualidad. Y en el tercero se recogen una serie de consideraciones que, a modo de conclusión, pretenden no sólo resumir los aspectos más relevantes del vigente régimen de inmisiones, sino también presentar algunos de los derroteros por los que, a nuestro juicio, puede marchar este instituto en el futuro Derecho español y europeo.

Abstract: Located at the crossroad between East and West, modern Bulgaria has always sought its identity by looking to the West. Liberated from Ottoman jurisdiction at the end of the XIX century, the young Bulgarian state faced an... more

Abstract: Located at the crossroad between East and West, modern Bulgaria has always sought its identity by looking to the West. Liberated from Ottoman jurisdiction at the end of the XIX century, the young Bulgarian state faced an important problem – how to organize its legal system in the matter of civil law. Apart the basic legal foundations laid during the Russian wartime administration after the Russo-Turkish war of 1878, the inexperienced Bulgarian statesmen were left alone to establish the legal system of the new state. The legislations of neighboring countries, liberated from the Ottoman Empire before Bulgaria, could not provide a good model. The only choice was therefore to move towards the legal systems, influenced by the Napoleonic Code, or towards the German system, which bore the spirit of innovation. Both systems were based on the legal tradition of Roman law and at the same time were so different.
The present article is focused on the evolution of Bulgarian civil law and the influence of Western legislation from the point of view of the Roman legal tradition. It seeks out the characteristic features of Bulgarian civil law and its Roman foundations, common to the great legal family of continental Europe.

This book was published on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the Ghent jailhouse "Nieuwewandeling". Chapter 1 describes the criminal justice system and the old jails of Ghent in the early modern period and the 19th century. Chapter... more

This book was published on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the Ghent jailhouse "Nieuwewandeling". Chapter 1 describes the criminal justice system and the old jails of Ghent in the early modern period and the 19th century. Chapter two concentrates on the new ideas on criminal justice in the 19th century, and their influence on prison architecture. Chapters 3 and 5 deal with daily prison life before and after the second world war. The use of the Ghent prison during the German occupation and the special circumstances of the repression are described in chapter 4. Chapter 6 is a purely photographic view on contemporary detention in Ghent. The book closes with a commented bibliography, pointing, for each of the chapters, at the most important published studies and archival material.

Proceedings of a conference on the (Belgian) 'juge de paix/vrederechter' ('justice of the peace'), with the following contributions: - De vele geschiedenissen van het vredegerecht (G. Martyn) - Verbaliser le juge (G. Rommel) - Les... more

Proceedings of a conference on the (Belgian) 'juge de paix/vrederechter' ('justice of the peace'), with the following contributions: - De vele geschiedenissen van het vredegerecht (G. Martyn) - Verbaliser le juge (G. Rommel) - Les antécédents anglais et la naissance de la justice de paix française (J.-P. Goffinon) - ‘Juges de paix avant la lettre’ in Midden- en noord-Limburg, voorafgaand aan de invoering van de vredegerechten in de Franse tijd (A.M.J.A. Berkvens) - Tweehonderd jaar ontwikkeling van de competentie van de vrederechter/kantonrechter in Nederland (1811-2011) (E. von Bóné) - La professionnalisation des justices de paix. De l’utopie à la rigueur (J.-P. Nandrin) - De vredegerechten in het arrondissement Kortrijk vanaf hun ontstaan tot en met de constitutie van het jaar VIII (A. Deceuninck) - Het vredegerecht van Hoogstraten in de late 19de eeuw (A. Van den Bossche) - Vive Lejeune! Het Tijdschrift van de vrederechters (1892-2011) (S. Vandenbogaerde) - Een ‘accident de parcours’? De bevoegdheid van de vrederechter voor arbeidsongevallen in de wet van 1903 (B. Debaenst) - De invloed van de Eerste Wereldoorlog op de rechtspraak van het vredegerecht te Ledeberg (W. Van Damme) - Le juge de paix et la question des loyers sous l’occupation allemande (1914-1918) (M. Bost) - De evolutie van de rechtspraak inzake dringende en voorlopige maatregelen in de periode 1976-2009 (E. Callebaut) - De invloed van het mens- en maatschappijbeeld van de vrederechter op de beslissingen inzake dringende en voorlopige maatregelen: een genderanalyse (E. Verdonck) - Enjeux contemporains de la justice de proximité en matière conjugale: le rôle de la justice de paix dans une société multiculturelle (B. Truffin) - De vrederechter in volle ontwikkeling. enkele bedreigingen en evenveel uitdagingen (E. Van den Eeden)

The present paper starts with a discussion of the origins of two fundamental procedural principles: the Verhandlungsmaxime and the Untersuchungsmaxime , first distinguished by the Bavarian legal scholar Nikolaus Thaddäus (von) Gönner... more

The present paper starts with a discussion of the origins of two fundamental procedural principles: the Verhandlungsmaxime and the Untersuchungsmaxime , first distinguished by the Bavarian legal scholar Nikolaus Thaddäus (von) Gönner (1764-1827). Subsequently, as an example, an early-modern Dutch treatise on civil procedural law by the Flemish jurist Philips Wielant (1441/42-1520) is studied, focusing on the role of the judge and the parties in civil litigation. It is demonstrated that a model of civil litigation based on the learned Romano-canonical procedure (the ancestor of most systems of civil procedural law in Europe) took a balanced approach to the role of the judge and the parties in civil litigation, an approach that is present throughout the literature on civil procedure in the early-modern period. Next, a short overview of European developments as regards the role of the judge and the parties in civil litigation from the 19th until the early 21st century is provided. And finally, the current work of the European Law Institute and Unidroit in drafting European rules of civil procedure, more specifically on the rules governing the role of the judge and the parties (and their lawyers), is discussed. One of the aims of this paper is to show how the suggestions made by the working group responsible for drafting rules governing the judge and the parties fit well in European developments that may have started at the time of the introduction of the Romano-canonical model of litigation in the secular courts of the late medieval and early-modern period.

The transnational dimension of ius mercatorum, whose very name bears the hallmark of its juridical particularism, led some contemporary jurists to refer to lex mercatoria as an ‘a-national’ legal order. However, this... more

The transnational dimension of ius mercatorum, whose very name bears the hallmark of its juridical particularism, led some contemporary jurists to refer to lex mercatoria as an ‘a-national’ legal order. However, this negative definition overlooks the common cultural basis in Europe that has shaped commercial law, a cultural basis that goes beyond just its legal aspects. Indeed, if this deeply ‘proprium’ law sought consistency and harmonisation in Europe, accounting for this phenomenon cannot arguably merely rely on the unstoppable strength of the market. The Early-modern period offers a first-rate testing ground in order to establish whether that shared European legal culture, whatever its authority, has effectively proved a solid, deep-rooted and resilient bulwark against the abrupt changes of the time, whether as a result of the great discoveries overseas or the globalisation of trade

The analysis of the privileges contained in the book Privilegis de la vila de Sabadell has allowed us to consider a model of the development and consolidation of municipal institutions in Catalonia. These are unique provisions, granted... more

The analysis of the privileges contained in the book Privilegis de la vila de Sabadell has allowed us to consider a model of the
development and consolidation of municipal institutions in Catalonia. These are unique provisions, granted by sovereigns or jurisdictional lords in favour of a person, town or entities, with an exceptional or specialist nature, and with the aim of regulating specific aspects of the legal status of the person or institution and also of local or municipal life. Sometimes they comprise the exemption of tax charges or the donation, as a favour or grace of various powers, markets or immunities. They may also have contents of private, criminal or procedural law. Within the Catalan legislation of the late Middle Ages, the privilege is assimilated to the hierarchy of law.

Cet article s'interroge sur la façon dont les non-juristes s'approprient le savoir juridique aux XIXe et XXe siècles, et propose deux voies à l'historien du droit pour travailler cette question : l'appropriation du savoir juridique par... more

Cet article s'interroge sur la façon dont les non-juristes s'approprient le savoir juridique aux XIXe et XXe siècles, et propose deux voies à l'historien du droit pour travailler cette question : l'appropriation du savoir juridique par l'enseignement d'une part; par la lecture d'ouvrages populaires de l'autre.

This roll, taken from King’s Bench 27 (KB27) at the National Archives, Kew, records a case of a counterfeiter of Torrington, Exeter, who, in 1421, turned King’s Approver but failed in this duty of bringing his appellees to justice. The... more

Alberico Gentili (San Ginesio, 1552 – Londra, 1608), uno dei maggiori giuristi della prima Età Moderna, è ritenuto uno dei padri fondatori del diritto internazionale moderno. Perseguitato in patria per la sua adesione alle dottrine... more

Alberico Gentili (San Ginesio, 1552 – Londra, 1608), uno dei maggiori giuristi della prima Età Moderna, è ritenuto uno dei padri fondatori del diritto internazionale moderno. Perseguitato in patria per la sua adesione alle dottrine riformate, esule in Inghilterra dove ottiene la nomina a regius professor di civil law presso l’Università di Oxford (1587-1608), il Gentili dedica la sua riflessione al ruolo del giurista, in un momento di passaggio fra la tradizione del Diritto Comune e l’affermarsi degli Stati nazionali, in un ambiente, quello dell’Inghilterra elisabettiana, dalla peculiare tradizione giuridica. La severa critica dell’intolleranza religiosa; l’individuazione di una linea di demarcazione fra lo spirituale e il temporale, e delle corrispondenti rispettive competenze del teologo e del giurista profondamente diversa da quella dell’Età medievale; il ricorso, attraverso un continuo sforzo interpretativo, ai principii del diritto naturale inteso come complesso di regole di giustizia e di valori etico-sociali universali, ora fondati sulla razionalità umana, senza ignorare il lascito di sapienza giuridica che deriva dai Corpora iuris (dei quali si occupa anche sotto il profilo filologico) e dal lavoro interpretativo della dottrina, ma anche dalla lettura delle fonti letterarie, storiche, filosofiche, teologiche e patristiche, costituiscono alcune delle basi teoriche sulle quali si inizia a costruire l’Europa moderna. E Gentili ne è pienamente partecipe da giurista totalmente immerso nelle vicende della storia, ed attento ai suoi continui e profondissimi mutamenti. Strenuo difensore della funzione insostituibile dell’interprete del diritto identificato nell’autentico precetto normativo – e questo lo caratterizza, pur nelle mutate condizioni politiche, come appartenente alla vecchia scuola – allo stesso tempo egli è attento e sensibilissimo protagonista della nuova metodologia umanistica protesa alla storicizzazione del diritto in quanto espressione nel tempo e nello spazio della razionalità che determina l’intelligente comprensione e applicazione delle norme e dell’intero ordinamento.

Publikace pocházející z autorské dílny renomovaných právních historiků je nejnovějším zpracováním národních právních dějin. Jedná se o doposud nejkomplexnější zpracování dané problematiky. Kniha obsahuje podrobné pojednání o státních a... more

Publikace pocházející z autorské dílny renomovaných právních historiků je nejnovějším zpracováním národních právních dějin. Jedná se o doposud nejkomplexnější zpracování dané problematiky. Kniha obsahuje podrobné pojednání o státních a právních dějinách na území České republiky od nejstarších dob do rozpadu Československa. Od publikací tohoto typu se liší jak svou strukturou, neboť vývoj státu a vývoj práva jsou sledovány odděleně, tak i svým časovým vymezením, neboť výklad je doveden až do současnosti. Jednotlivé kapitoly jsou průběžně doplňovány ukázkami dobových památek.

Based on Samuel Scott's Digesta in English, published in 1932, I have translated it into 13 European languages with the deeple translator and made it available in the online legal theory journal of the Eötvös Lóránd University Faculty of... more

Based on Samuel Scott's Digesta in English, published in 1932, I have translated it into 13 European languages with the deeple translator and made it available in the online legal theory journal of the Eötvös Lóránd University Faculty of Law in Budapest, in the supplement of the Legal Theory Review. Although this makes Digesta just over 3,000 pages, the online format allows for this, so I have not separated the 50 books into separate volumes, but have put them together in a single structure. By publishing the translations on the online portal academia.edu, legal scholars will also have privileged access to the Digesta in all thirteen languages, published in a single structure.

Ce commentaire du Droit pur (1899) du juriste belge Edmond Picard, version éditée d'un cours de première année de droit dispensé à Bruxelles, entend souligner l'utilisation par l'auteur de l'anthropologie naturaliste pour fonder sa... more

Ce commentaire du Droit pur (1899) du juriste belge Edmond Picard, version éditée d'un cours de première année de droit dispensé à Bruxelles, entend souligner l'utilisation par l'auteur de l'anthropologie naturaliste pour fonder sa philosophie juridique. L'auteur utilise ainsi, même s'il la maîtrise mal, la « science des races » de son époque, et en particulier les écrits de Gustave Le Bon, pour refonder la science du droit dans son ensemble sur le concept de race « naturelle », et, au passage, justifier son antisémitisme. Ce texte constitue ainsi l'un des rares exemples de convocation explicite des sciences de l'homme au service de la réflexion juridique.

This article analyses the debates about mixed marriages held within the Roman Curia (and especially the Roman Inquisition) between the sixteenth and the eighteenth centuries, integrating these debates with the normative and prescriptive... more

This article analyses the debates about mixed marriages held within the Roman Curia (and especially the Roman Inquisition) between the sixteenth and the eighteenth centuries, integrating these debates with the normative and prescriptive literature. These authorities generally considered mixed marriages between Protestants and Catholics valid and even sacramental in virtue of the shared sacrament of the baptism, but at the same time constructed such unions as ‘carnal crimes’ to ‘abhor’. They believed that the most harmful effect of these polluting unions was that the Catholic partner might become tolerant of Protestantism, rendering the ‘heretic’ dangerously, contagiously familiar and abandoning future generations to heresy. Women were a particular concern for these authorities. Drawing upon traditional and somewhat contradictory ideas about women, they saw the wives in these marriages on one hand as particularly likely to be seduced by the ‘false faith’ because of their presumed weakness, but on the other hand they recognised women as a group with a special talent for beguiling men and so entrusted them with a missionary function towards their ‘heretical’ husbands. The role women could assume in mixed marriages therefore dynamised gender relations, but also caused social tension because of the challenge to patriarchal society, especially if they continued to practice their own faith and were entrusted with the religious education of the children.

European Journal of International Law, vol. 13 (2002), no. 2, pp. 479-512. -- This essay presents some reflections on what today is widely regarded as the standard book on the history of international law, and on its author, Wilhelm G.... more

European Journal of International Law, vol. 13 (2002), no. 2, pp. 479-512. -- This essay presents some reflections on what today is widely regarded as the standard book on the history of international law, and on its author, Wilhelm G. Grewe, who after 1945 was one of the architects of West Germany's international legal status and of its relations with the three Western Allied Powers. In particular, the essay discusses Grewe's principal and most influential idea, an interpretation of the history of modern international law as a sequence of epochs defined in each case by the then-dominant power in the states' system. Since Grewe developed and formulated this idea in the context of National Socialist political and legal thought, and particularly under the influence of Carl Schmitt's work, the essay leads back to the time of the Second World War and the ideological struggles of that time. In that respect, it is a study of the performance of international legal scholars under the conditions of a dictatorship, and of the intellectual legacy of the "Third Reich" in international law. Thus, in different ways the essay explores the larger questions of the origins, validity and future of the idea of a power-based international legal order.

Catholic Books Review (2013).