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13 February 2025

CALL FOR PAPERS: Compromis à la belge - The Role of Compromise in Legal History [29th Annual Forum for Young Legal Historians] (Ghent: UGent, 17-19 SEP 2025); DEADLINE 18 APR 2025

(Aula Academica, Ghent)

The Ghent Legal History Institute hosts the 29th edition of the Annual Forum for Young Legal Historians from 17 to 19 September 2025

If you wish to present a paper at the conference, please submit a proposal including an abstract of no more than 250 words and your CV to aylhforum2025@gmail.com by April 18, 2025.

Read more here.

BOOK: Luca LOSCHIAVO (ed.), The Civilian Legacy of the Roman Army. Military Models in the Post-Roman World (Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2024). ISBN: 9789004698017

(Image source: Brill)


ABOUT THE BOOK

The Roman army represented an important social and organizational reference model for the Romano-Barbarian societies, which progressively replaced the Western Empire in the transition from Late Antiquity to Early Middle Ages. The great flexibility of the decision-making and organizational solutions used by the Roman army allowed the ‘new lords’ to readapt them and thus maintain power in early medieval Europe for a long time. From a perspective ranging from political, social and economic history to law, anthropology, and linguistic, this book demonstrates how interesting and fruitful the investigation of this specific cultural imprint can be in order to gain a better understanding of the origins of the civilization that arouse after the fall of the Roman world.

Contributors are Francesco Borri, Fabio Botta, Francesco Castagnino, Stefan Esders, Carla Falluomin, Stefano Gasparri, Wolfgang Haubrichs, Soazick Kerneis, Luca Loschiavo, Valerio Marotta, Esperanza Osaba, Walter Pohl, Jean-Pierre Poly, Pierfrancesco Porena, Iolanda Ruggiero, Andrea Trisciuoglio, Andrea A. Verardi, and Ian Wood.


ABOUT THE EDITOR

Luca Loschiavo, Ph.D. (1994) is full Professor of Medieval and Modern Legal History at the University of Teramo (Italy). He has published 3 books as author (the last one is L’età del passaggio. All’alba del diritto commune europeo (secoli III – VII), 2019); 8 as coeditor; and 80 essays on medieval legal history.


TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Transformation of the Military in the Late Antique West (Ian Wood)
1: The Words of the Soldiers
2. Hospitalitas (I.): The Munus Hospitalitatis and Its limits (Andrea Trisciuoglio)
3. Hospitalitas (II.): The Changing Meaning of Hospitalitas (Pierfrancesco Porena)
4. Warrior Names and Military Language of the Westgermanic Peoples: Franks and Langobards (Wolfgang Haubrichs)
5. The Gothic Language of Warfare (Carla Falluomini)
2: Social and Juridical Structures
6 Militia and Civitas between Third and Sixth Century CE (Valerio Marotta)
7 Persecuting Latrones, Maintaining Disciplina, Enforcing the Velox Supplicium: The Frankish Centena Accordind to Childebert II’s Decree (Stefan Esders)
8 Soldiers’ Marriages: Before and after the Fall of the Empire (Francesco Castagnino)
9 Soldiers’ Inheritance: The Testamentum Militis and other Privileges from the Imperial Constitutions to the Leges Barbarorum (Iolanda Ruggiero)
3: Symbols, Rituals and Identity Models
10 The Cingulum Militiae in the Early Middle Ages: Between Status and Function (Andrea A. Verardi)
11 Answering the Call to Arms: Lex Visigothorum 9.2 (Esperanza Osaba)
12 ‘Traditionskern’, ‘Gefolgschaft’: More Questions Than Answers (Francesco Borri)
13 The Lombard Army Between Myth and Reality: Farae, Arimanniae, Arimanni (Stefano Gasparri)
4: Geometries of the Power and Military Justice
14 Laeti and Gentiles: Military Germanic Settlements in Roman Gaul (Jean-Pierre Poly)
15 Personality of Law or Ius Speciale Militum? Around the Origins of the Leges Barbarorum (Luca Loschiavo)
16 Late Roman Military Justice and the Birth of Ordeal (Soazick Kerneis)
17 Collective Criminal Responsibility and Comrades’ Solidarity: From Roman Military Formations to Barbarian Armed Bands (Fabio Botta)
18 From the Roman Army to the Laws of the Kingdoms: Concluding Remarks (Walter Pohl)

More information can be found here.

12 February 2025

BOOK: Mathieu TILLIER, Naïm VANTHIEGHEM, Mariages et séparations en Égypte au Moyen Âge. Actes inédits sur papyrus, papier, parchemin et tissu [Archiv für Papyrusforschung; Beihefte] (Berlin: De Gruyter 2024). ISBN: 9783111450339

(Image source: De Gruyter)


One day of December 875, the weaver ʿUmar b. Mūsā, married Ḥalīma bint Nafīs before illustrious witnesses from Fusṭāṭ. Some six centuries later, in the spring of 1411, Lady Fāṭima bint Fatḥ al-Dīn celebrated a second wedding with Ṭūġān, a promising Mamluk officer, and hosted him with her retinue in her Cairene palace. Present-day historians would know nothing of them had their marriage contract not withstood the ravages of time, as have the hundred or so documents that Mathieu Tillier and Naïm Vanthieghem are publishing, translating and studying for the first time in this volume. Rich or poor, free or enslaved, the men and women of Medieval Egypt adopted the habit, from at least the eighth century CE onwards, of having their unions recorded in order to lay down the terms and conditions of their marriage. Dissolution by repudiation (ṭalāq) or amicable divorce (ḫulʿ) were also entrusted to the care of notaries. The hitherto unpublished documents collected here, which span across the Abbasid, Fatimid, Ayyubid and Mamluk periods, provide a unique insight into matrimonial strategies among commoners as well as elite members, and into marital relationships and legal practices, both in the capital and in the Egyptian countryside. After a first part devoted to the editing of marriage contracts and divorces deed as well as a few related documents, the authors offer a detailed study of matrimonial practices in medieval Egypt based on Arabic documents.


On the authors

Mathieu Tillier, Sorbonne Université, Paris, France
Naïm Vanthieghem, IRHT-CNRS, Paris, France.


More information can be found here.

11 February 2025

FELLOWSHIP: Brennan Center's Steven M. Polan Fellowship in Constitutional Law and History 2025-2026 (DEADLINE 15 FEB 2025)

(image source: Legal History Blog)

 Abstract:

The Brennan Center [for Justice] is inviting applications for the 2025-26 class of the Steven M. Polan Fellowship in Constitutional Law and History, a fellowship program aimed at enhancing public understanding and appreciation of the meaning and promise of the United States Constitution. The Fellowship is open to outstanding individuals from an array of professional backgrounds – including historians and other experts in constitutional law and history – working on projects to spur urgently needed debate over the proper understanding of our Constitution at this crucial moment, when new approaches to constitutional interpretation including originalism, incubated by the conservative legal movement over the past half century, have gained traction in the courts. These projects may include conducting legal and historical research, publishing original writing, crafting amicus briefs, organizing symposia and public events, spearheading public education projects, and other activities as appropriate.

Practical aspects:

Proposals are due by February 15, 2025. These nonresident, part-time fellowships will be one year in duration. Fellows will be awarded compensation in the form of a $40,000 stipend. The Fellowship is open both to experienced individuals with a proven track record of achievement and expertise and to people at earlier stages of their careers who demonstrate the potential to develop into leaders in their field. We’re looking for visionaries who are animated by the challenge of reclaiming our Constitution as an enduring plan of government suited to the needs of a changing country.

Read more here and here.

(source: Legal History Blog)

BOOK: Manuel BASTIAS SAAVEDRA (ed.), Beyond Property. Ownership Regimes in the Iberian World (1500-1850). The Normative Role of Kinship and Community (Leiden: Brill, 2025). ISBN: 9789004722712 [OPEN ACCESS]


ABOUT THE BOOK

Explore a new perspective on land relations with Ownership Regimes, which shifts focus from traditional legal views to socio-historical contexts. This book reveals how land holding was influenced by diverse practices, including doctrine, laws, customs, regional kinship, and community ties. By understanding these as components of a broader normative framework, scholars from different regions show how complex social, religious, and cultural norms shaped efficient and enduring land-use arrangements. It challenges historians and legal scholars to examine the interplay of these norms in the Iberian world, uncovering how they defined ownership, division, regulation, and conflict resolution in various regions.

Contributors are: Manuel Bastias Saavedra, Alessandro Buono, Thiago Mota, José Carlos De La Puente Luna, Íñigo Ena Sanjuán, Alcira Dueñas, Marta Martín Gabaldón, Carolina Jurado, Crislayne Alfagali, and Rosa Congost.


ABOUT THE EDITOR

Manuel Bastias Saavedra, Ph.D. (2012), is Associate Professor of Latin American History at Leibniz University Hannover. His research focuses on the legal and institutional history of the Spanish and Portuguese empires. He currently leads the IberLAND project, funded by the European Research Council.


TABLE OF CONTENTS

  1. Manuel Bastias Saavedra, Beyond Private and Common. Ownership Regimes in the Iberian World (1500–1800) 
  2. Alessandro Buono, The Rights of Things and the Obligations of the Owner. Exploring the Deep Normative Grammars of the Early Modern Ownership Regime
  3. Thiago Henrique Mota, Guests in Foreign Lands. Land Control and Ownership in Greater Senegambia in the Face of the Portuguese Presence (16th and 17th Centuries)
  4. José Carlos de la Puente Luna, A Widow’s Tale. Shifting Land Regimes and the Interplay of Household and Community in Colonial Peru
  5. Marta Martín Gabaldón, Ownership and Seigniorial Relationships. Land and Territory in Colonial Tlaxiaco (the Mixteca, Mexico)
  6. Carolina Jurado, Domestic Rights in Indigenous Communal Lands and the Expression “Menester” during the Execution of the 1591 Royal Decrees in Charcas, Viceroyalty of Peru
  7. Íñigo Ena Sanjuán, Concordias, Sentencias Arbitrales, and Vistas. Ownership and Possession of Grassland in the Valleys of Ansó and Hecho (17th–19th Centuries)
  8. Alcira Dueñas, Amparos and Mapas. Communal Land Possession and Dispossession in the Late Colonial Andes
  9. Crislayne Gloss Marão Alfagali, Sobas, Ilamba, and Residents. On the Diverse Meanings of Land in Angola’s Hinterland in the 18th century
  10. Rosa Congost, Epilogue: The Necessary De-Westernisation of the Models of Land Ownership. Reflections on the Idea of Feudal Remnants in Core Western Countries


More information can be found here.


BOOK: Peter JACKSON, William MULLIGAN & Glenda SLUGA (eds.), Peacemaking and International Order after the First World War (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2025), ISBN 9781108827348, 29,99 GBP

 

(image source: CUP)

Abstract:

The Paris peace settlements following the First World War remain amongst the most controversial treaties in history. Bringing together leading inter-national historians, this volume assesses the extent to which a new international order, combining old and new political forms, emerged from the peace negotiations and settlements after 1918. Taking account of new historiographical perspectives and methodological approaches to the study of peacemaking after the First World War, it views the peace negotia-tions and settlements after 1918 as a site of remarkable innovations in the practice of international politics. The contributors address how a wide range of actors set out new ways of thinking about international order, established innovative institutions and revolutionised the conduct of inter-national relations. They illustrate the ways in which these innovations were layered upon existing practices, institutions and concepts to shape the emerging international order after 1918.

About the editors:

Peter Jackson, University of Glasgow Peter Jackson is Chair in Global Security at the University of Glasgow. He is the author of France and the Nazi Menace (2000), Beyond the Balance of Power (2014) and La France et la menace nazi (2017). He has taught, held fellowships and visiting appointments at Carleton University, Yale University, Aberystwyth University, the Institut d'études politiques (Paris) and the University of Paris Panthéon-Sorbonne. William Mulligan, University College Dublin William Mulligan is Professor of History at University College Dublin. He has written widely about the First World War, including The Origins of the First World War (2017) and The Great War for Peace (2014). He has held visiting fellowships at the Institutes for Advanced Study in Princeton and Berlin. Glenda Sluga, European University Institute, Florence Glenda Sluga researches and teaches at the European University Institute in Florence. She is a fellow of the Australian Humanities Academy, and of the Royal Society of New South Wales. Her previous publications include The Invention of International Order: Remaking Europe after Napoleon (2021), and Internationalism in the Age of Nationalism (2013). 

Table of contents:

1. Introduction Peter Jackson, William Mulligan, and Glenda Sluga
Part I. Ordering Concepts:
2. Vocabularies of self-determination in 1919: the co-constitution of race and gender in international law Sarah C. Dunstan
3. Recasting the 'fabric of civilization': the Paris Peace Settlement and international law, Marcus M. Payk
4. State sovereignty Leonard V. Smith
5. The crisis of power politics Peter Jackson and William Mulligan
6. The challenge of an absent peace in the French and British Empires after 1919 Martin Thomas
Part II. Institutions:
7. A 'new diplomacy'?: the Big Four and peacemaking, 1919 Alan Sharp
8. The League of Nations: the creation and legitimisation of international civil service, Karen Gram-Skjoldager
9. The enforcement of German disarmament and the international order of the 1920s Andrew Webster
10. Planning for international financial order: the call for collective responsibility at the Paris Peace Conference Jennifer Siegel
11. Raw materials and international order from the Great War to the crisis of 1920–1921 Jamie Martin
Part III. Actors and Networks:
12. The Great Conversation: a discussion on peace after the First World War Carl Bouchard
13. An alternative international relations: socialists, socialist internationalism and the postwar order Talbot Imlay
14. The Paris Peace Conference and the origins of global feminism Mona L. Siegel
15. Colonial nationalists and the making of a new international order Erez Manela
Part IV. Counterpoint:
16. The persistence of old diplomacy: the Paris Peace Settlement in perspective T. G. Otte

Afterword: new histories of international order Glenda Sluga.

Read more here (DOI 10.1017/9781108907750) 

10 February 2025

BOOK: Gianmarco PALMIERI, Le prigioni del Papa. Cultura, legislazione e pratiche penitenziarie nello Stato pontificio (1831-1870) (Rome: Historia et ius, 2025), 440 p. ISBN: 979-12-81621-09-1 [OPEN ACCESS]

 

(Source: Historia et ius)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Indice 
Introduzione 1 
CAPITOLO I - IL CARCERE PENALE 
1. Ad continendos homines, non ad puniendos: la parabola di un brocardo 15 
2. Una storia parallela: il carcere nel diritto canonico 24 
3. Carcere e Illuminismo penale 36 4. La “questione penitenziaria” e i “prison reformers” 46

CAPITOLO II CARCERE E PENA NELLA RESTAURAZIONE PONTIFICIA 
1. La rete carceraria e i primi interventi normativi 61 
2. L’ordinamento penale 75 
3. La scienza giuridica tradizionale e la teoria della pena 83 
4. L’influenza di Romagnosi e Carmignani sulla criminalistica pontificia 89 
5. Funzioni complementari del carcere 105 5.1. Il carcere ad correctionem patris 105 5.2. Il carcere per debiti 117 

CAPITOLO III IL PONTIFICATO DI GREGORIO XVI 
1. I regolamenti gregoriani 133 
2. L’attenzione per la condizione degli internati: la “visita ai carcerati” 140 
3. La commissione “Rufini” del 1833 150 
4. Immediate esigenze di riforma 165 5. La recrudescenza della criminalità 174 

CAPITOLO IV IL PONTIFICATO DI PIO IX: PARTE I 
1. Nuovi e vecchi indirizzi dottrinari 179 
2. Gli ideologi di Pio IX 191 
2.1. Carlo Luigi Morichini e l’apologia del “primato pontificio” 191 
2.2. Luigi Pianciani: un “vecchio partigiano” del carcere cellulare 201 
2.3. Pellegrino Rossi penitenziarista 210 
3. La genesi di un “mito” 221 
4. La riforma dei codici 229 
5. Il riassetto amministrativo 238 
6. I tentativi di riforma nel periodo statutario 242 

CAPITOLO V IL PONTIFICATO DI PIO IX: PARTE II 
1. La Repubblica Romana e l’emergenza carceraria 257 
2. Il programma riformistico di De Merode: carceri minorili e femminili 266 
3. L’appalto per la fornitura carceraria del 1856: un’occasione di riforma 279 
4. Una riforma “in via amministrativa”: epilogo 291

 CAPITOLO VI LA RECLUSIONE POLITICA 
1. La giustizia politica nello Stato pontificio 305 
2. Spazi e pratiche della reclusione politica 315 
3. I “Quaderni dal Forte” di Marcello Tedeschini 327 
4. Considerazioni conclusive sulla reclusione politica 332 

Considerazioni conclusive 335 
Appendice documentale 343 
Fonti e bibliografia 375 
Indici dei nomi 425

The volume's PDF is available here.

LECTURE SERIES: Spring 2025 History of International Law Speaker Series (Boston: Boston University, JAN-MAR 2025)


(image source: BU)

Abstract:

The Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future [at Boston University] is pleased to announce the International History Institute’s (IHI) Spring 2025 “History of International Law” speaker series. All three events will be held in the Pardee School of Global Studies’ Riverside Room at 121 Bay State Road. The series is open to the public

Line-up:

Thursday, January 30 | 5:00-6:30 pm
Keynote Lecture: “The Law of International Society: Remarks on a Domesticated Notion”

Martti Koskenniemi, Professor Emeritus of International Law, University of Helsinki

Wednesday, February 26 | 4:00-5:30 pm
Book Talk: “Odious Debt: Bankruptcy, International Law & the Making of Latin America”

Edward Jones Corredera, Senior Research Fellow, Max Planck Institute for
Comparative Public Law and International Law

Discussant: Felipe Ford Cole, Assistant Professor, Boston College Law School

Wednesday, March 26 | 4:00-5:30 pm
Book Talk: “Arbitrating Empire: United States Expansion & the Transformation of International Law”

Allison Powers Useche, Assistant Professor of History, University of Wisconsin–Madison

Discussant: Andrei Mamolea, Assistant Professor of International Relations, Pardee School of Global Studies, Boston University

Registration here

 (source: Legal History Blog)

BOOK: H.E. CHEHABI & David MOTADEL (eds.), Unconquered States: Non-European Powers in the Imperial Age (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2024), ISBN 9780198863298

 

(image source: twitter)


Abstract:
In the heyday of empire, most of the world was ruled, directly or indirectly, by the European powers. Unconquered States explores the struggles for sovereignty of the few nominally independent non-Western states in the imperial age. It examines the ways in which countries such as China, Ethiopia, Japan, the Ottoman Empire, Persia (Iran), and Siam (Thailand) managed to keep European imperialism at bay, whereas others, such as Hawai‘i, Korea, Madagascar, Morocco, and Tonga, long struggled, but ultimately failed, to maintain their sovereignty. Its chapters address four major aspects of the relations these countries had with the Western imperial powers: armed conflict and military reform, unequal treaties and capitulations, diplomatic encounters, and royal diplomacy. Bringing together scholars from five continents, the book provides the first comprehensive global history of the engagement of the independent non-European states with the European empires, reshaping our understanding of sovereignty, territoriality, and hierarchy in the modern world order.

Read more here: DOI 10.1093/oso/9780198863298.001.0001.



07 February 2025

JOURNAL: Tijdschrift voor Rechtsgeschiedenis/The Legal History Review/Revue d'Histoire du Droit XCII (2024), nr. 3-4

(image source: Brill)

Articles
Revisiting possessio naturalis and possessio civilis in Roman law: a new perspective emerges? (João Costa-Neto)
DOI 10.1163/15718190-20243411
Abstract:
This is a brief critical assessment of the distinction between possessio naturalis and possessio civilis in Roman law. The text provides a concise historical outline of the distinction. Costa-Neto re-examines conventional perspectives concerning possession, including those proposed by Savigny, Jhering and Riccobono. It also examines the notion of possessio naturalis as proposed by D’Angelo and Klinck in recently published works. Costa-Neto underscores the differences from possessio civilis and mere detention and concludes that, even if a ‘quite dominant’ view basically reduces naturalis possessio to mere detention, a new trend is gradually emerging: naturalis possessio as an independent and separate institution, distinct from detention.

The Libri feudorum Review of a new edition of the Latin text and a new translation into English, with a survey of the formation of the Libri feudorum and their Glossa ordinaria, of manuscripts, printed editions and previous translations (Jeroen M.J. Chorus)
DOI 10.1163/15718190-20243412
Abstract:

This article mainly reviews Attilio Stella’s new edition of the Latin text of the Libri feudorum and his new English translation thereof. Additionally, it seemed useful to recall and summarize Peter Weimar’s authoritative and convincing views regarding the notoriously complicated history of the formation of the Libri feudorum and their Glossa ordinaria. Moreover, some remarks are made on the surviving medieval manuscripts and the printed editions (1472–1896) of the Latin text. Previous translations into various languages (1493–2016) are discussed. Stella’s new translation is then addressed. It may be called sound and solid. It is but rarely that some nuance does not return in the translation. If the choice of Lehmann’s Latin text (1896) is debatable, its inconvenience has been compensated by references to Osenbrüggen’s standard edition (1840). Stella’s annotation to the translation is rich and ingenious and gives delightful explanations of many unclear or ambiguous passages.

Book reviews 

  • J.D. Ford, The emergence of privateering. [Legal history library, 62; Studies in the history of international law, 24]. Brill / Nijhoff, Leiden – Boston 2023. X + 416 p. (Alain Wijffels)
  • S. Longfield Karr, Jus Gentium in humanist jurisprudence, On justice and right. [History of European political and constitutional thought, 9]. Brill, Leiden – Boston [2022]. 400 p. (Gaëlle Demelestre)
Kroniek / Chronique / Chronicle

Articles
In memoriam Liesbeth Josephina van Soest-Zuurdeeg, 1939–2024 (Marguerite Duynstee)
DOI 10.1163/15718190-20243401
First paragraph:
Op 30 mei 2024 overleed te Leiden Dr Liesbeth van Soest-Zuurdeeg, de ‘stille kracht’ achter het Tijdschrift voor Rechtsgeschiedenis, die zich 60 jaar lang met zeer veel toewijding voor het Tijdschrift heeft ingezet. Geboren op 15 februari 1939 te Amsterdam, heeft zij een groot deel van haar jeugd in Utrecht doorgebracht waar zij het Stedelijk Gymnasium bezocht en in 1957 het diploma Gymnasium α behaalde.

Die Gottesmutter als Schiedsrichterin Michael Psellos, Rede auf das in den Blachernen geschehene Wunder (Dieter R. Simon & Diether R. Reinsch)
DOI 10.1163/15718190-20243402
Abstract:

Among the numerous writings that Psellos left behind, there is small but significant number of legal works. In the speech edited here, which was written und delivered on behalf of Emperor Michael vii Doukas, the focus is on a private arbitration procedure. The unusual and novel aspect lies on the fact that the Virgin Mary herself was appointed as the arbitrator. Psellos provides a detailed description of the approach, course and outgoing of this unique process.

Salvation and the Roman empire: Eusebius of Caesarea on pastoral peace and the martial shepherd (Francesco Rotiroti)
DOI 10.1163/15718190-20243403
Abstract:

The present article is the first in a diptych looking at the pastoral characterisation of Constantine in the works of Eusebius of Caesarea through the lens of institutional theory. Through pastoral discourse, I argue, Eusebius systematises key elements of the policy and functions of the first Christian emperor, thus contributing to the institutional construction of the early Christian basileiā. Central to this construction are pastoral narratives of peace and warfare, drawn from earlier traditions but revisited and remodelled. By identifying the so-called pax Constantiniana with the pastoral peace preannounced by the prophets, Eusebius’ panegyric at Tyre, in particular, repositions the Roman empire within the conceptual framework of Christian soteriology. The perceived peace of the empire becomes a juncture of salvation history, brought about by the divine shepherd through the agency of the pious emperors. Eusebius’ later works reiterate the association of the pastoral metaphor with warfare already articulated in the panegyric at Tyre, but also innovate it significantly, as the soteriological underpinning of the shepherd’s military engagement becomes increasingly blurred.

A Biscayan jurist in the Renaissance Fortún García de Ercilla (ca. 1486–1534) and the echo of his homeland’s legal and political culture on De pactis (1514) (Mikel Mancisidor)
DOI 10.1163/15718190-20243404
Abstract:
Fortún García de Ercilla (Fortunius) was a quite known jurist in his century, quoted and discussed by some significative authors of his time. He was also a politician with relevant mandates in the service of Emperor Charles v. However, his name faded away in the following centuries. It is only very recently that his contributions to different areas of law, as well as to Castilian and Navarrese politics, have been vindicated. This article a) begins with a brief outline of his hitherto insufficiently well-known biography; b) proposes an updated list of his written works, including news of two recent findings, and places him as an actor in the communicative process that sixteenth century law was; and c) defends the hypothesis that the political and legal culture of his homeland, and the specific position of his lineage, allows a better understanding of some of the implications the topic of his first work, De Pactis (1514), had for him.

Struggling for legal primacy in the Zwin: Bruges and Sluys, 1492–1520 (Femke Gordijn)
DOI  10.1163/15718190-20243405
Abstract:

This article examines a series of conflicts between the city of Bruges and its main outport Sluys brought before the Council of Flanders and the Great Council of Malines around the turn of the sixteenth century. Although Bruges’ commercial successes declined during this period, the previously consolidated hierarchical relationships with Sluys persisted as the courts continuously judged in Bruges’ favour. This contribution attempts to expose the underlying legal dynamics that determined Bruges’ continued primacy over its outport.

Co-ratification in practice The Treaty of the More and the city of Rouen (1525) (Daniel Bökenkamp)
DOI 10.1163/15718190-20243406
Abstract:

This contribution examines the role of the city of Rouen in the co-ratification of the Treaty of the More in 1525. On looking into the deliberations of Rouen’s city council, this article provides a local perspective into the participation of cities in treaty processes, challenging the traditional view that such affairs were solely the domain of monarchs and their courts. This contribution analyses the correspondence of the Regent of France, Louise of Savoy, and the council of Rouen. The findings reveal how Rouen’s City Council balanced loyalty to the French crown with efforts to preserve local interests, using diplomatic channels and delaying tactics. This case-study illustrates the complexity of power politics in 16th-century France, where cities like Rouen played a significant, yet often overlooked, role in shaping international agreements. The article contributes to broader historiographical debates on the development of modern diplomacy and the agency of cities.

Droit au coeur de la science politique Le ‘Trésor’ de Jean de Chokier, canoniste liégeois (1571–1656) (Wim Decock)
DOI 10.1163/15718190-20243407
Abstract:

This article serves as a prolegomenon to further studies on the political and legal thought of Jean de Chokier (1571–1656). Trained in Roman law and canon law at the University of Orléans, he became one of the most prominent canon lawyers, political thinkers and humanist scholar of the Principality of Liège, an Imperial State situated in the Western part of the Holy Roman Empire. Author of major works in canon law, history and political science, he became vicar general of the Diocese of Liège under Prince-Bishops Ferdinand and Maximilian-Henri of Bavaria, successively. He belonged to the Neo-Stoic network around Justus Lipsius (1547–1606), the humanist jurist from Overijse. Inspired by this intellectual movement, Chokier published legal, political, historical and literary treatises next to performing his duties as an ecclesiastical administrator. His life and writings reflect the osmosis between humanist erudition, political commitment and legal knowledge that characterized the careers of many of the great jurists of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Considering that Chokier was foremostly trained as a canon lawyer and also professionally active in this domain, this article invites readers to take a fresh look at Chokier’s political and juridical oeuvre from a canon law perspective. 

Courts and judicial transformation in modern China The architecture of the late Qing dynasty Daliyuan and local courts (Tao Han and Li Chen)
DOI 10.1163/15718190-20240301
Abstract:

The Daliyuan and the local courts in the late Qing dynasty served as the loci of judicial power in the early days of modern China. Following the doctrine of separation of powers, these judicial organs emerged during the preparation for constitutionalism and the quest for judicial independence in the late Qing dynasty. The government brushed aside the standard design of the government office, drawing inspiration from the designs of the highest courts in constitutional states in the East and West. Despite the financial constraints, significant funding was allocated to the construction of the Daliyuan premises. The grand and majestic Western-style structure was designed for high purposes. In addition to its customary functions, it was also entrusted with a political mission – impressing the world writ large with the successes of judicial reform and the image of China’s new-fangled judiciary. Due to a lack of funding, the local courts had downsized architecture, yet they still incorporated Western styles, mirroring the design of the Daliyuan. The transformed style of these courts offers insight into the prevailing philosophy of the reform and the new regime. It also illuminates the tension and fusion of legal culture that contributed to the modernization of the Chinese legal system.

Le travail forcé au Congo (1960–2001): entre décolonisation du droit et vestiges du joug du droit colonial belge (Christian Via Balole)
DOI 10.1163/15718190-20243409
Abstract:

This article examines the enduring influence of Belgian colonial law on forced labour in the Congo, particularly in the context of the process of decolonising Congolese law. It demonstrates two key points: first, that remnants of colonial law persisted beyond colonisation, and second, that these remnants shaped the development of new legal frameworks by an independent Congo to perpetuate the exploitations of the Congolese population. The analyses reveal a stark contrast between the pro-independence rhetoric advocating freedom of labour by repealing colonial law and the post-colonial law that continues the subjugation of the Congolese people. Ultimately, the article highlights the damaging influence of the former coloniser, which impeded the new Congolese state’s ability to implement a truly sovereign policy. Conversely, this enduring influence provided a pathway for President Mobutu to seize power and further advance the exploitative economic of the Congo and its people rooted in Belgian colonial law.

Not Feuerbach: the origin of the adage Nulla poena sine lege in the Ancien Régime (François Pierrard)
DOI 10.1163/15718190-20243410
Abstract:

The expression Nulla poena sine lege is one of the most widely used Latin legal adages in the world. It is one of the formulas of the principle of the legality of offences and penalties. Lawyers and legal historians unanimously date its invention from 1801 and attribute it to Paul Johann Anselm von Feuerbach (1775–1833), the promoter of the Bavarian Criminal Code of 1813, which served to disseminate it. However, a consultation of the archives held at the Haus-, Hof- und Staatsarchiv in Vienna has forced us to revise this conclusion. The first occurrence found dates back to 1777, but the adage appears to be even older, as it was already considered a maxim in the Austrian Netherlands. Originally, the adage Nulla poena sine lege does not seem to have had the positivist and legicentrist connotation that it has had since the 19th century. 

 Read the full issue here.

06 February 2025

CALL FOR PAPERS: War and Peace (in legal history) [Sixth student conference on legal history/IUSTORIA 2025] (25-27 MAR 2025); DEADLINE 15 FEB 2025

 


(click on image to enlarge)

Iustoria 2025

 

Правни факултет Универзитета у Београду отвара позив за учешће на Шестој студентској конференцији из правне историје – Iustoria 2025, која ће се одржати од 25. до 27. марта 2025. године, са темом „Рат и мир (у правној историји)“.

У 2025. години навршиће се 80 година од завршетка Другог светског рата. Овај крвави сукоб донео је незапамћена разарања, патњу и огромне људске жртве (преко 70 милиона), али и пораз нацистичке Немачке, фашистичке Италије, империјалног Јапана и осталих чланица Сила осовине. Након његовог завршетка, Савезници, државе победнице, решиле су да успоставе систем међународног организовања, у оквиру нове Организације уједињених нација, како би се кроз вишестрану дипломатију, утврђене процедуре, као и механизме међусобног обуздавања све више блоковски супротстављених великих и регионалних сила, обезбедио трајни(ји) мир. Нажалост, многобројни регионални (често „прокси”) ратови, који су уследили у наредним деценијама, неки од којих трају и дан-данас, показали границе оваквог система.

Ратови су, наравно, тамни део људске историје, без кога се не може разумети ни правна историја. Већ први мировни уговор, склопљен пре 3300 година, између Хетитске државе и Египатског новог краљевства, показује да овакво прекидање непријатељстава често подразумева и значајне правне последице: утврђивање граница, размену талаца… Неки од мировних уговора су читави трактати, док други, рецимо онај којим је пре скоро 140 година окончан Српско-бугарски рат, садрже свега једну реченицу.

Вековима се један на други настављају два тока: обичаја ратовања – данас најчешће утврђени међународним конвенцијама – и мировне одредбе, које утврђују куда даље након завршетка истог ратовања. Темама рата и мира бавили су се многобројни научници, махом из области друштвено-хуманистичких наука, особито историјске и правне. Дело Хуга Гроција „О праву рата и мира” поставља корене међународног јавног права; „Вештачење о кривици за рат 1914.” Хермана Канторовича, три касније помера границе теоријскоправног разумевања одговорности држава у изазивању, отпочињању и вођењу рата.

Поред међународног права, међутим, питања рата и мира релевантна су и у многим гранама националних права. Правно уређење војних снага, њиховог регрутовања и накнаде релевантно је у свим правима, од римских легионара и античких плаћеника, преко бројних војничких земљишних поседа старог и средњег века, до питања служења војног рока и приговора савести у новом веку. Ту су и питања попут таквих може ли било ко да ступи у сваки род војске, какво оружје и опрему има право да носи, на који начин држава финансира војне подухвате, те каква ограничења поставља војницима и официрима, од могућности учешћа у политичком животу до тога да ли им је потребна дозвола да би се оженили. А, наравно, питање учешћа жена у ратовању (и улога које су им на бојном пољу доступне) представља широко поље тема за себе.

Казненоправни прописи садрже различите санкције за понашање војника и учесника у рату, од малих прекршаја војне дисциплине у мирно време, до тешких казни за издају или ратне злочине. У грађанском праву, могу се поставити бројна питања, од тога како ратно стање утиче на рокове и услове испуњења у миру уговорених облигација, преко тога ко је и на који начин одговоран за штету причињену ратним дејствима, до питања када ће се лице нестало у ратним сукобима сматрати умрлим, и шта ће бити последице ако се ипак врати живо. Још клинописни зборници садрже прописе о томе шта ће се десити ако се војникова супруга преуда мислећи да је он пао у борби, док су за време Другог светског рата били дозвољени чак и постхумни бракови! А велика смртност мушкараца у ратовима доводила је до многих правних мера, од обавезе старих германских краљева да се старају о удовицама и сирочићима својих ратника, до олакшавања борбе за женско право гласа после великих светских ратова ХХ века.

Подстичемо студенте да се баве свим темама у вези рата и мира, наравног, у оквиру правноисторијског контекста. Ратови и сукоби који и даље трају нису подобни за овакво проучавање, пошто се њихове последице (у најширем смислу) не могу још увек у потпуности докучити.

За учешће у конференцији могу се пријавити сви студенти основних и постдипломских студија правних факултета и других факултета друштвених наука. Пријаве треба да садрже основне личне податке (име и презиме, факултет, ниво, смер и годину студија) и проширени апстракт рада, дужине од 500 до 1000 речи. Могуће је излагање на српском или енглеском језику – охрабрујемо пријаве на енглеском ради лепше комуникације са учесницима из иностранства.

Пријаве се шаљу на адресу iustoria@ius.bg.ac.rs до 15. фебруара 2025. Студенти ће бити обавештени да ли је њихова пријава прихваћена до 20. фебруара. За све додатне информације можете се обратити на исту адресу, а крупније новости ћемо објављивати и на званичној Фејсбук страници конференције https://www.facebook.com/iustoria/

Као и на прошлим конференцијама, поред излагања својих колега, студенти ће на конференцији имати прилику да чују и неколико наставничких предавања од стране реномираних стручњака – више детаља ће бити у коначном програму.

Конференција ће се одржавати у хибридном формату, са могућношћу учешћа уживо или онлајн. Потрудићемо се да учесницима ван Београда који желе да учествују уживо обезбедимо смештај у студентском дому или у приватном аранжману код студената-домаћина из Београда, зависно од расположивости места. 

Коначне верзије радова излаганих на конференцији, уз финалне измене и исправке у разумном року после конференције, биће предате за објављивање у часопису „Весник правне историје / Herald of Legal History“ (http://epub.ius.bg.ac.rs/index.php/Vesnik/index). Рок за предају радова је 15. јул 2025. године.


   Iustoria 2025

The University of Belgrade Faculty of Law is now receiving paper proposals for the Sixth student conference on legal history – the Iustoria 2025, to be held on March 25th-27th, 2025, its topic being “War and peace (in legal history)”.

In 2025, we will mark 80 years since the end of World War II. This bloody conflict brought unprecedented destruction, suffering and enormous human casualties (over 70 million), as well as the defeat of Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, Imperial Japan and other members of the Axis Powers. After its end, the Allies, the victorious states, decided to establish a system of international organising, within the framework of the new United Nations, in order to secure a (more) lasting peace through multilateral diplomacy, established procedures, and mechanisms for the mutual restraint of increasingly opposing blocs of great and regional powers. Unfortunately, the numerous regional (often “proxy”) wars that followed in the following decades, some of which continue to this day, have shown the limits of such a system.

Wars are, of course, a dark part of human history, without which legal history cannot be understood. The very first peace treaty, concluded 3300 years ago, between the Hittite state and the Egyptian New Kingdom, shows that such a cessation of hostilities often implies significant legal consequences: the establishment of borders, the exchange of hostages, etc. Some of the peace treaties are entire treatises, while others, for example the one that ended the Serbo-Bulgarian War almost 140 years ago, contain only a single sentence.

For centuries, two types of institutes have been developing one after the other: the customs of warfare – today most often established by international conventions – and peace provisions, which determine what to do next after ending a war. The topics of war and peace have been studied by numerous scholars, mainly from the fields of social sciences and humanities, especially history and law. Hugo Grotius's work "On the Law of War and Peace" lays the foundations of public international law; Hermann Kantorowicz’s "Study on the Question of Guilt for the War of 1914", written three centuries later pushes the boundaries of understanding of the responsibility of states in provoking and waging war, in the field of legal theory.

In addition to international law, however, issues of war and peace are also relevant in many branches of national law. The legal regulation of military forces, their recruitment and compensation is relevant in all laws, from Roman legionaries and ancient mercenaries, through the numerous military landholdings of the ancient and medieval eras, to the issue of military service and conscientious objection in the modern times. There are also questions such as whether anyone can join each branch of the military, what weapons and equipment they are entitled to carry, how the state finances military ventures, and what restrictions it places on soldiers and officers, from the possibility of participating in political life to whether they need permission to marry. And, of course, the question of women's participation in warfare (and the roles available to them on the battlefield) is a wide field of topics in itself.

Criminal law regulations contain various sanctions for the behaviour of soldiers and participants in war, from minor violations of military discipline in peacetime to severe penalties for treason or war crimes. In civil law, numerous questions can be raised, from how a state of war affects the terms and conditions for fulfilling obligations contracted in peacetime, to who is responsible and in what way for damage caused by war actions, to the question of when a person missing in wartime will be considered dead, and what the consequences will be if he nevertheless returns alive. Even cuneiform codes contain regulations on what will happen if a soldier's wife marries thinking that he fell in battle, while during World War II even posthumous marriages were allowed! The high mortality of men in wars led to many legal measures, from the obligation of ancient Germanic kings to care for the widows and orphans of their warriors, to facilitating the fight for women's suffrage after both of the World Wars.

We encourage students to deal with all topics related to war and peace, of course, within the legal and historical context. Wars and conflicts that are still ongoing are not suitable for this type of study, since their consequences (in the broadest sense) cannot be yet fully analysed nor understood.

All students of undergraduate and post-graduate studies pertaining to law or other humanities are eligible to apply for the conference. The applications should contain basic personal information (name and surname, faculty, department, level and year of study), along with an extended abstract containing between 500 and 1000 words. Applications are accepted in either Serbian or English.

The applications should be e-mailed to iustoria@ius.bg.ac.rs before the 15th of February, 2025. The students will be informed by the 20th of February whether or not their application has been accepted. For any additional information you may enquire at the same e-mail address, and important news will also be published at the official Facebook page of the conference – https://www.facebook.com/iustoria

Just like on our previous conferences, apart from the presentations given by their colleagues, the students at the conference will have an opportunity to attend several lectures given by renowned experts – more details on this will be available in the final version of the programme.

The conference will be held in a hybrid format: both in-person and online participation will be possible. We'll do our best to secure accommodations either in student dorms or with student host families for participants who don’t reside in Belgrade and who wish to participate in person. These arrangements will depend on the number of available spots. 

The final versions of the papers presented at the conference, with final changes and corrections submitted within a reasonable time after the conference, will be submitted for publication in the journal „Vesnik pravne istorije / Herald of Legal History“ (http://epub.ius.bg.ac.rs/index.php/Vesnik/index). The deadline for the submission of papers is July 15th 2025.

CONFERENCE: Freedom of the seas and freedom of the individual: a historical appraisal (London: SOAS/University of London; 7 FEB 2025)

(Image source: Call for papers) 


The Workshop “Freedom of the seas and freedom of the individual: a historical appraisal” is part of the research project on “Freedom of the seas and human rights protection”, lead by Professor Irini Papanicolopulu at SOAS University of London. The Workshop marks the conclusion of the first stage of the research project, which had as its aim to trace and critically assess the interaction between the genesis and development of the principle of freedom of the seas and its impact on people, including legacy of colonial domination and the slave trade. The Workshop will bring together historians and lawyers to further explore and debate the relationship between freedom of the seas, as a concept and as a legal principle, and freedom of persons in a historical perspective, focusing on the XV-XIX centuries.

The Workshop is entirely funded by the British Academy and all participants take part in their personal capacity.


Structure

The Workshop will be a small, closed workshop, and will consist of two parts.

In the first part of the Workshop, we will discuss 6 draft papers by Stefano Cattelan, Ki-Won Hong, Abid Hussain, Andrea Longo, Mikki Stelder, and David Wilson. Each paper will be introduced and commented upon by a discussant. Discussants include Hassan Khalilieh, Renisa Mawani (TBC), Irini Papanicolopulu, Mark Somos, and Martine Van Ittersum.

The plan is to devote 30 minutes to each draft paper and, while we have some flexibility, this is a likely allocation of time:

  • Introduction of the paper and comments on its content by the Discussant (10 minutes)
  • Short reply by the author of the paper (5 minutes)
  • General discussion (15 minutes)

The second part of the Workshop will consist of a roundtable discussion of current trends and future prospects of historical research on freedom of the seas and its relationship to individual freedom, which will see the participation of all authors and discussants, as well as other colleagues from SOAS. To facilitate discussions, you will find hereunder a list of discussion prompts; please have a look at them in advance of the workshop and consider which one(s) you would like to address in the roundtable, keeping in mind that we will focus on the XV-XIX centuries.

  • Historically, who could benefit from the freedom of the seas? And to what purpose?
  • What consequences did this produce upon the determination of the rights (and the duties) that states, non-state entities, and individuals had at sea and over the sea?
  • What relationship, if any, did freedom of the seas, as a legal principle, have with the migration of populations from Europe to the Americas?
  • How does the freedom of the seas reflect the deeply entrenched patterns of domination that characterise much of early international law?
  • To what extent (if any) could freedom of the sea be considered to embody also different values?
  • Were there conceptualisations of the principle of freedom of the sea that were not based upon the European model?
  • What legal tools were developed to allow some actors to freely use the seas while limiting the freedom of others?
  • Which actors were most relevant at sea, and how does the private/public divide factor into this?
  • Why were some empires/State powers particularly proactive in attempting to legally defend their arguments? Why others were quite silent?
  • Why are all European authors from the XV-XVIII centuries were silent on the slave trade, which was taking place when they were writing?
  • Which aspects of the principle of freedom of the seas have received sufficient attention by scholars? Conversely, which aspects would benefit from further research?

Programme
  • 11.30-11.45: Welcome and introduction (Irini Papanicolopulu)
  • 11.45-12.15: ‘Regulating waterways and controlling maritime mobilities in the early modern world, c. 1500-1800’ by David Wilson. Discussant: Renisa Mawani (TBC)
  • 12.15-12.45: ‘Freedom of the Seas in the Age of Piracy: Exploring the Role of Piracy in Shaping and Challenging the Legal Principles of Maritime Freedom’ by Abid Hussain. Discussant: Hassan Khalilieh
  • 13.45-14.15: 'The freedom of the sea beyond Grotius’ Mare liberum: the case of the Austrian Law Countries and the Ostend Company (c. 1700-1731)’ by Stefano Cattelan. Discussant: Martine Van Ittersum
  • 14.15-14.45: ‘Understanding Freedom of the Seas before Grotius: an analysis of contributions by Rodrigo Suarez, Francisco de Vitoria, Vazquez de Menchaca and Alberico Gentili on Freedom of the Seas’ by Andrea Longo. Discussant: Mark Somos
  • 14.45-15.15: ‘Ocean as Perpetual Res Nullius’ by Mikki Stelder. Discussant: Irini Papanicolopulu
  • 15.15-15.45: ‘Fernando Vázquez de Menchaca’s Natural Law Theory on the Rights of the Individual and the Freedom of the Seas: Used by Spanish Monarchs for Imperialist Purposes’ by Ki- Won Hong. Discussant: TBC 15.45-16.15: Coffee break
16.15-17.45: Roundtable discussion
17.45-18.00: Conclusion


More information can be found here.