BOOK: Peter SEIBERT, Die Niederschlagung des Bauernkriegs 1525. Beginn einer deutschen Gewaltgeschichte (Bonn: Dietz, 2025), 304 p. ISBN 978-3-8012-0691-8, € 26

 

(image source: Dietz)

Abstract:

Die brutale Niederschlagung des Bauernkriegs war der Anfang einer langen Geschichte rücksichtsloser Gewalt der deutschen Obrigkeiten: von den autoritären Feudalstaaten der frühen Neuzeit über Preußen bis in die NS-Diktatur. 1525 begann Deutschlands Weg in die Untertanengesellschaft, woran auch Martin Luther seinen Anteil hatte. Die entfesselte Gewalt deutscher Herren gegen ihre Untertanen und gegen frühe Forderungen demokratischer Teilhabe legte den Keim für eine Tradition der Unfreiheit und Unterdrückung. Mehr erfahren. Der Volksaufstand im Jahr 1525 wollte einer gerechteren und freieren Gesellschaft den Weg bereiten. In »Zwölf Artikeln« formulierten Angehörige der unteren Schichten, was sie von ihrer Herrschaft erwarteten. Die Antwort war blutig. Massaker, Straf- und Rachefeldzüge des Adels beendeten jede Hoffnung auf Veränderung der gesellschaftlichen Verhältnisse und löschten die Aufständischen und ihre Familien regelrecht aus. Peter Seibert, Literaturhistoriker und Medienwissenschaftler, rückt erstmals auch die Rolle der Frauen in diesem Krieg in den Fokus und schildert das bedrückende Ausmaß der ersten Erfahrung von Flucht und Exil in der deutschen Geschichte.

 On the author:

geb. 1948, war Professor für Sozialgeschichte der Literatur an der Universität Siegen und ist Emeritus für Mediengeschichte der Literatur an der Universität Kassel. Er publizierte u. a. zur Literatur der Bauernaufstände. Zuletzt von ihm erschienen: »Demontage der Erinnerung. Der Umgang mit dem jüdischen Kulturerbe nach 1945«. Seibert lebt in Bonn.

 Read more here.

 

BOOK: Nicoletta GIOVE' MARCHIOLI, Paola LAMBRINI, Mattia MILANI (eds.), Il Digesto, il Codice di Giustiniano e la loro tradizione manoscritta. I mss. 688 e 941 della Biblioteca Universitaria di Padova (Roma: Viella, 2024)

(Image source: Viella editore)

About the book

Il volume raccoglie gli atti di un convegno patavino svoltosi nel 2021 nell’ambito del progetto di ricerca For.Ma. - The Forgotten Manuscripts. Il progetto, avviato dall’Università di Padova, aveva tra i suoi obiettivi quello di riportare al centro dell’attenzione due codici del XII secolo che custodiscono alcune parti del Codice e del Digesto di Giustiniano.

Si tratta di materiali di fondamentale importanza, non solo per lo studio del diritto del nostro passato, ma anche per la ricostruzione della storia della città di Padova e della sua Università, in quanto testimoni diretti e tangibili dell’attività di docenti e discepoli nei primi tempi dello Studium generale. I contributi qui raccolti li esaminano in una pluralità di prospettive differenti, a seconda delle competenze e delle sensibilità dei diversi autori, o percorrono sentieri di indagine che da quei codici si irradiano, rivelando così la ricchezza di informazioni e di spunti che essi sono tuttora in grado di offrire.

Table of contents

• Paola Lambrini, Per un rinnovato studio della tradizione manoscritta del Corpus iuris civilis: il progetto For.Ma.;
• Nicoletta Giovè Marchioli, A proposito dei due manoscritti: altri occhi per le stesse cose;
• Mattia Milani, Ancora sulla tradizione del Digesto e sui primi testimoni della Vulgata: alcune riflessioni a partire dal ms. 941 della Biblioteca Universitaria di Padova;
• Lucio De Giovanni, Giustiniano e la compilazione del Digesto;
• Bernard H. Stolte, La prima circolazione del Digesto. Le testimonianze greche e il loro significato per la critica del testo latino;
• Charles M. Radding, The Place of the Digest in Eleventh-Century Legal Culture;
• Antonio Ciaralli, La trasmissione del Digesto tra tardo antico e medioevo;
• Lavinia Prosdocimi, La nota dell’arcidiacono: nuovi spunti di ricerca per la storia del ms. 941 della Biblioteca Universitaria di Padova;
• Raffaele Volante, Patti e contratti nelle glosse del ms. 941 della Biblioteca Universitaria di Padova: un tentativo di lettura dogmatica;
• Gero R. Dolezalek, Glosses Even Before Irnerius in Ms. Padova, Biblioteca Universitaria, 941;
• Pierpaolo Bonacini, Problemi compositivi e tracce d’uso del ms. 941 della Biblioteca Universitaria di Padova: aspetti testuali e iconografici;
• Alberto Zini, Il Digesto e le origini dello Studium patavino;
• Salvatore Puliatti, Il Codice di Giustiniano: profili di tradizione testuale;
• Carmen Tort-Martorell, Consideraciones en torno a la tradición manuscrita del Codex Iustinianus;
• Anna Maria Giomaro, Momenti e immagini della tradizione manoscritta del Codex Iustinianus;
• Mario Varvaro, Le prime fasi dell’edizione del Codex Iustinianus in alcune lettere inedite di Paul Krüger;
• Gianluca del Monaco, Per la decorazione del diritto giustinianeo nel XII secolo: le miniature dei mss. 688 e 941 della Biblioteca Universitaria di Padova;

More information can be found here.

PODCAST: Negotium vs. otium : que faire de son temps ? [Avec Philosophie] (France Culture, 28 MAR 2025)

 

Abstact:

L'otium est un terme latin souvent traduit par temps libre. Le negotium, qui est la négation de l'otium, renvoie quant à lui à la vie politique et aux affaires. Quel regard la philosophie a-t-elle porté sur ces deux notions ? L'otium et le negotium n'ont cessé de changer de sens au fil des siècles, selon les contextes et les auteurs. Chacun peut revêtir un sens positif ou négatif : l'otium oscille entre oisiveté vaine et loisir studieux, le negotium entre activité civique au service de la communauté et affairement intéressé.

Interviewees:

Jean-Louis Fournel, historien de la pensée politique italienne de la renaissance, traducteur, professeur à l'Université Paris 8 Sophie Van der Meeren, professeur de langue et littératures grecques à l'Université Rennes 2 Fosca Mariani, professeur de philosophie du Moyen Âge et de la Renaissance à l’Université de Tours

Read more here. 

BOOK: Melodie H. EICHBAUER, Law in a Culture of Theology. The Use of Canon Law by Parisian Theologians, ca. 1120–ca. 1220 (London: Routledge, 2025), 278 p., ISBN: 9781032736082

(Image source: Routledge)

About the book

Law in a Culture of Theology: The Use of Canon Law by Parisian Theologians, ca. 1120–ca. 1220 considers the study of law within its intellectual environment. It demonstrates that theologians associated with the schools of Paris in the twelfth century, particularly Peter the Chanter and his circle, had a working knowledge of Romano-canonical tradition and thought about the human context of the law, which, in turn, reflected the environment in which each master worked. It begins by showing the extent to which law was woven into the fabric of the schools of Paris, and follows with individual case studies.

These case studies—marriage in Hugh of St. Victor’s De Sacramentis and Peter Lombard’s Sententiae, excommunication in Peter the Chanter’s Summa de sacramentis et animae consiliis, crusade activity and heresy in Robert of Couçon’s Summa penitentiae, homicide in Robert of Flamborough’s Liber poenitentialis, and the faces of greed in Thomas of Chobham’s Summa confessorum—demonstrate how each theologian drew upon legal thought, for what end he was using it, and how his use of law fit into contemporary legal thinking. A competency in law proved valuable to, and was tailored for, different types of ecclesiastical  roles: teachers showing students how to analytically navigate complex questions of pastoral care, papal judge-delegate on the cusp of full-time administration on behalf of the papacy, penitentiarius of St. Victor and the students at the University of Paris, or diocesan management.

This book will be a useful resource for all students and researchers interested in medieval canon law, medieval theology and pre-modern law.

About the author

Melodie H. Eichbauer is Professor of Medieval History at Florida Gulf Coast University, U.S.A. Her research focuses on the dissemination of legal knowledge; the interpretation of law; and the ways in which social, political, and intellectual developments and trends shaped both between c.1000 and c.1500. She authored the second edition of Medieval Canon Law, an expanded and revised version of the first edition by James A. Brundage (2023). She is the editor of A Cultural History of Genocide, Vol. 2: The Middle Ages (2021), the co-editor with Danica Summerlin of The Use of Canon Law in Ecclesiastical Administration, 1000–1250 (2018); and the co-editor with Kenneth Pennington of Law as Profession and Practice in Medieval Europe: Essays in Honor of James A. Brundage (2011).

Table of Contents

Introduction
1. Setting the Stage: Sharing and Producing Legal Collections in Northern France, ca. 1050–ca. 1130
2. Twelfth-Century Paris Theologians and their Engagement with Legal Knowledge
3. Hugh of St. Victor, Peter Lombard, and Northern French Canonical Collections: Intellectual Interplay on Marriage at the Dawn of the University of Paris
4. Peter the Chanter: Using Excommunication to Teach the Pragmatics of Pastoral Care
5. Robert of Courçon: Administering Crusading Activity and the Fight Against Heresy
6. Robert of Flamborough: Penitentiarius to the Students of Paris and Homicide
7. Thomas of Chobham: The Deadly Sin of Greed
Conclusion

More information can be found here.

BOOK: Felix MÜLLER, Die sog. Generalklauseln des BGB in der Rechtsprechung des Reichsarbeitsgerichts (1927-1945) [Schriften zur Rechtsgeschichte; 226] (Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, 2025), 518 p., ISBN 978-3-428-19238-0, € 109,9

Book abstract:

Die Arbeit untersucht die Rechtsprechung des Reichsarbeitsgerichts anhand der sog. Generalklauseln des BGB. Im Vordergrund steht hierbei die Frage, welchen gesellschaftlichen und politischen Einfluss das damals höchste deutsche Arbeitsgericht während der Zeit seines Bestehens (1927–1945) hatte, oder ob es selbst solchen Einflüssen unterworfen war. Für die umfassende Analyse boten sich die in den Generalklauseln enthaltenen unbestimmten Rechtsbegriffe wie »Treu und Glauben« oder die »guten Sitten« an, da gerade sie der Auslegung durch die Rechtsprechung bedürfen und grundsätzlich wertungsoffen sind. Die Arbeit zeigt auf, dass die Rechtsprechung des Reichsarbeitsgerichts ein soziales Ideal verwirklichte. Ferner legt sie dar, ob und in welchem Umfang die Begriffe wie Treu und Glauben, gute Sitten, etc. Einfallstore für die NS-Ideologie in die Rechtsprechung des Reichsarbeitsgerichts nach der sog. Machtergreifung durch die Nationalsozialisten im Jahr 1933 waren.

Table of contents:

A. Einleitung

B. Entstehung der Arbeitsgerichtsbarkeit

C. Die Rechtsprechung des Reichsarbeitsgerichts zu § 826 BGB

D. Die Rechtsprechung des Reichsarbeitsgerichts zu § 134 BGB

E. Die Rechtsprechung des Reichsarbeitsgerichts zu § 138 BGB

F. Die Rechtsprechung des Reichsarbeitsgerichts zu § 133 BGB

G. Die Rechtsprechung des Reichsarbeitsgerichts zu § 157 BGB

Read more here.

YOUTUBE: Laury RENARD, Réglementer les drogues et médicaments (19e-20e) [Les Lois de l'Histoire, Paul CHAUVIN-MADEIRA]

 

Abstract:

La frontière entre les drogues et les médicaments est aussi nécessaire que difficile à établir : les premières peuvent en effet provenir des mêmes substances et produire les mêmes effets que les seconds. Il est donc important d’en contrôler la production et la vente : c’est ce que s’efforce de faire le droit français depuis le début du XIXe siècle avec l’aide des médecins et des pharmaciens, mais aussi l’appui du droit international depuis le début du XXe siècle. Pourquoi ces règles se développent à cette époque ?  Que disent-elles ? Comment furent-elles appliquées aux praticiens, aux consommateurs ou encore aux trafiquants ? Voilà quelques-unes des questions posées à l’historien du droit Laury RENARD que j’ai eu le plaisir de recevoir le vendredi 21 février 2025 dans les studios Lois de l’Histoire.

Bibliography:

Le commerce des drogues et ses effets juridiques : entre droit interne et coopération internationale (1803–1939), Thèse dactylographiée d’histoire du droit, Université de Lille, 2023. 

Watch here above or on Youtube. 

 

BOOK: Benjamin STRAUMANN, The Just State: Greek and Roman Theories of Justice and Their Legacy in Western Thought (Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, 2025), ISBN 978-1-118-63468-4, 288 p., 85 USD

 

(image source: Wiley)

Abstract:

The Just State explores influential Greek and Roman ideas about justice and their institutional context, and discusses their legacy in later political thought. Bringing Greco-Roman and modern ideas into conversation with each other, Benjamin Straumann traces the history of ancient political thought by focusing on classical ideas about justice. With a readable narrative style, Straumann places Greek and Roman theories of justice in their historical context, starting from Homer and the pre-Socratic period through to the later Roman Empire, and outlines the respective contribution of the Greek and Roman traditions of thinking about justice to early modern and Enlightenment political thought. Concise chapters address Athenian democracy, the Sophist movement, the political philosophies of Plato and Aristotle, the origins of constitutionalism in the Roman Republic, classical influences on the American and French revolutions, and more.

Table of contents:

Preface and Acknowledgments x

Maps and Figures xi

Abbreviations and Text Editions xii

Introduction: Why Greeks and Romans? Why Ideas? 1

The Gradual Encroachment of Ideas 2

Why Greeks and Romans? 5

The Use and Energy of Ideas and Concepts 10

The Cult of Contingency, or: Is Everything Constructed? 12

Overview of Contents 13

Part I The Greek Debate 15

1 The Polis, Equality, and the Growth of Political Thought 17

The World of Homer’s Poems and the Emergence of Greek Political Life 17

Hesiod’s Justice 23

The Ancient Near Eastern Context 25

The Polis and Greek Colonization 27

A Mere Spider’s Web? Solon and the Rise of Written Law 31

2 Athenian Democracy, Early Antidemocratic and Democratic Thought, and the Sophist Movement 38

The Historical Background: Athenian Democracy in Practice in the Fifth Century 42

Antidemocratic Sentiment and Early Elements of Democratic Theory 45

Accountability 47

The Sophists 50

3 Knowledge, Paternalistic Justice, and Law: Plato 56

The Republic, a Theory of Justice? 56

The Ideal State: Women, Communism, Rule of Reason 59

Plato and Democracy 64

Plato, the Law and the Laws 70

4 The State as Teacher: Aristotle 78

The Unity of Politics and Ethics 78

Aristotle’s Criticism of Plato and His Views on Women and Slavery 80

Justice and the Classification of Constitutions 85

Is Aristotle’s Best State Just? 91

The Second-Best: Democracy, Law, and Rights in Aristotle’s Politics 93

Aristotle and Liberalism 101

5 The Epicurean Contract and Stoic Natural Law 103

Epicurean Ideas about Justice as Contract 103

The Stoics on Ethics and Politics 108

What Goods Are Relevant? 109

Stoic Antipolitics? 110

Egalitarianism and Cosmopolitanism 111

A New Idea: Natural Law 113

Did the Stoics Have the Concept of Rights? 115

Conclusion 116

Part II The Roman Contribution 119

6 The Roman Republic and the Origins of Constitutionalism 121

Institutional Background: The Popular Assemblies 122

Institutional Background: The Magistrates and the Right of Appeal 126

Institutional Background: The Senate 130

Criminal Courts 131

Constitutional Conflict and the Emergence of Constitutionalism 132

Polybius on Rome’s Well-Balanced Constitution 137

An Ambassador Conception of Representation 141

The Constitutional Machine Runs Itself (Until It Does Not) 142

Appendix: The Achaean League, an Early Model of Federalism 143

7 Justice, Not Happiness: Cicero’s Roman Political Thought 145

Does this Egalitarian Anthropology Imply the Equality of Women? 147

Cicero’s Theory of the State 148

Cicero’s Constitutionalism 149

A New Theory of Justice? Cicero on the Just State 150

Controlling the State: The State as a Guarantor of Rights 152

Controlling the State: Property Rights and Justice in the Strict Sense 155

Magistrates as Representatives and Fiduciaries 158

Cicero’s Use of the Idea of Natural Law 160

Natural Law and Natural (Even Human?) Rights Outside the State 163

8 The Principate, the Rise of Christianity, and Augustine’s Peace 166

Augustus and the Principate: Autocracy or Legal Order? 166

The Rise of Christianity 174

Lactantius 177

Ambrose 180

The Tranquility of Order: Augustine 182

Just War and Religious Toleration 184

Part III Ancient and Modern Justice: Virtue, Peace, or Rights? 187

9 Greek Justice: Virtue and the Common Good 189

Thomas Aquinas and Aristotelian Theory 191

Property and the Common Good 195

Does the Common Good Imply Justice or Justice the Common Good? 198

The Legacy of Perfectionism 199

10 Roman Justice: Law and Rights 203

The Rediscovery of Roman Law 204

The State of Nature 207

A New Natural Law for the State of Nature 210

Sovereignty and Government 214

The Roman Tradition in the Eighteenth Century 217

Conclusion: Natural Law and Roman Law 219

11 Ideas in Action: The Atlantic Revolutions 220

The “Real American Revolution” 220

Ancient Founders and American Constitution-Making 228

The French Experience 236

Rousseau, Sparta, and Rome 236

Rights Declarations and Constitutions 240

Implications and Consequences: Slavery, Women, Property 241

Conclusion: The Three Traditions of Virtue, Peace, and Justice 244

Bibliography 250

Index 260

 

On the author:

ERC Professor of History at the University of Zurich and Research Professor of Classics at New York University. He is also Alberico Gentili Senior Fellow at New York University School of Law. His publications include Roman Law in the State of Nature: The Classical Foundations of Hugo Grotius’ Natural Law (Cambridge, 2015) and Crisis and Constitutionalism: Roman Political Thought from the Fall of the Republic to the Age of Revolution (Oxford, 2016).

 Read more here.

BOOK: Lindsay O'NEILL, The Two Princes of Mpfumo. An Early Eighteenth-Century Journey into and out of Slavery [The Early Modern Americas; ed. Peter C. MACALL] (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2025), 200 p. ISBN 9781512827200, 39,95 USD

 

(image source: Penn U Press)

Abstract:

A fascinating account of two eighteenth-century princes from East Africa, their travels, and their encounters with the British Empire and slavery In 1716 two princes from Mpfumo—what is today Maputo, the capital of Mozambique—boarded a ship licensed by the East India Company bound for England. Instead, their perfidious captain sold them into slavery in Jamaica. After two years of pleading their case, the princes—known in the historical record as Prince James and Prince John—convinced a lawyer to purchase them, free them, and travel with them to London. The lawyer perished when a hurricane wrecked their ship, but the princes survived and arrived in England in 1720. Even though the East India Company had initially thought that the princes might assist in their aspirations to develop a trade for gold in East Africa and for enslaved labor in Madagascar, its interest waned. The princes would need to look elsewhere to return home. It was at this point that members of the Royal African Company and the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge took up their cause, in the hope that profit and perhaps Christian souls would follow. John would make it home, but tragically, James would end his own life just before the ship sailed for Africa. In The Two Princes of Mpfumo, Lindsay O’Neill brings to life individuals caught up in the eighteenth-century slave trade. O’Neill also shows how the princes’ experiences reflect the fragmented, chaotic, and often deadly realities of the early British empire. A fascinating and deeply researched historical narrative, The Two Princes of Mpfumo blurs the boundaries between the Atlantic and Indian ocean worlds; reveals the intertwined networks, powerful individuals, and unstable knowledge that guided British attempts at imperial expansion; and illuminates the power of African polities, which decided who lived and who died on their coasts.

On the author:

Lindsay O’Neill is Associate Professor (Teaching) of History at the University of Southern California and author of The Opened Letter: Networking in the Early Modern British World, also available from the University of Pennsylvania Press. 

Read more here. 

CONFERENCE: La guerra civil a les terres de l´Ebre (Gandesa and Tortosa: Universitat Internacional de Catalunya 28-30 MAR 2025)

(image source: SEHD)

 

The III International Congress will feature 28 presentations delivered by some of the best specialists on the subject from across the national, state, and European arenas. There will also be a session for the presentation of papers that will be pre-selected by the Scientific Committee. Finally, several guided tours will be held at the historic sites of the Battle of the Ebro: the air-raid shelters in Flix; the Coll del Moro in Gandesa; and the Interpretation Center of the Historic Aviation Field in La Sénia.

The organization of the International Congress is managed by the Gandesa City Council, the Tortosa City Council, the International University of Catalonia, the Center for Studies on the Battle of the Ebro, and the Association and Research Group on Historical Memory and Reconciliation.

It also enjoys the support of the Department of Justice and Democratic Quality, the Tarragona Provincial Council, the Territorial Council of Terra Alta, the Territorial Council of Baix Ebre, the Territorial Council of the Ribera d’Ebre, the Territorial Council of Montsià, the City Council of Flix, the City Council of La Sénia, the Territorial Archive of Terra Alta, the Department of History and Archaeology of the University of Barcelona, the European IMF University (Andorra), the Catalan Society of Legal Studies (a branch of the Institute of Catalan Studies), the Ramon Muntaner Institute, the Center for Studies on the Ribera d’Ebre, the Senienc Studies Center, the Historic Aviation Center of La Sénia, the Terra Alta Designation of Origin, the Patronage pro Batea, the La Cana Cultural Association, and the Prisma Cultural Research, Intervention and Cultural Management Group.

The Scientific Committee is composed of Dr. Josep Serrano Daura (UIC), Ramon Gironès Blanch (Prisma Cultural), Dr. Queralt Solé Barjau (UB), Dr. Antonio Sánchez Aranda (University of Granada), Dr. Xavier Baró Queralt (UIC), Dr. Xavier Garí Barberà (UIC), Dr. Juan M. Jiménez Robles (National Health Services), and Dr. Francesc X. Fantova Ibánez (European IMF University of Andorra).

Programme

GANDESA
Friday, March 29, 2025
Assembly Hall of the Terra Alta County Council
(Center for Studies on the Battle of the Ebro)

10:00 AM – Opening of the event
Speakers:

• Carles Luz Muñoz, Mayor of Gandesa
• Neus Sanromà i Jordi, President of the Terra Alta County Council
• Oriol Querol, Director of the Center for Studies on the Battle of the Ebro
• Dr. Josep Serrano Daura, Director of the International Congress

10:15 AM – First Presentation
Moderator: Dr. Queralt Solé i Barjau (UB)

• Dr. Antoni Sánchez i Aranda (University of Granada)
  “The Civilian Population Trapped in the Siege of Gandesa”

10:45 AM – Second Presentation
Moderator: Dr. Xavier Baró i Queralt (UIC)

• Dr. Maria Jesús Ruiz i Llorente (UNED)
  “Bombings of the Civilian Population During the Battle of the Ebro: Assessments and Implications”

11:15 AM – Break – Coffee

11:30 AM – Third Presentation
Moderator: Dr. Xavier Garí i Barberà (UIC)

• Dr. Xavier Hernàndez i Cardona (University of Barcelona)
  “Total War: The Psychological and Logistical Impact on Great Britain (1939–1940)”

12:00 PM – Round Table
Moderator: Dr. Marta Solé i Sarait (Chair of History, University of Barcelona)

• “Current Challenges and the Legacy of the International Congress: Experiences and Future Perspectives”
• Dr. Francesc X. Fantova (European IMF University of Andorra)
• Ramon Gironès (Prisma Cultural)
• Ricard López (Center for Studies on the Battle of the Ebro)

12:40 PM – Official Reception
Gandesa City Council

---

FLIX
Saturday, March 29, 2025

10:00 AM – Meeting at the Flix City Hall (Ribera d’Ebre)
Guided Tour Departure:

• “The Air-Raid Shelters and the Town’s Fortification Line”

---

GANDESA
Sunday, March 30, 2025
Assembly Hall of the Terra Alta County Council
(Center for Studies on the Battle of the Ebro)

9:45 AM – Introduction
Moderator: Dr. Xavier Baró i Queralt (UIC)

10:00 AM – Fourth Presentation

• Sara Maria Pérez i Siscar (Prisma Pro Batea)
  “Internal Exile: The Silent Resistance of the Rural Population”

10:30 AM – Fifth Presentation

• Dr. Narcís J. Hernández (Center for Historical Studies)
  “The Impact of Displacements and Evacuations in the Ribera d’Ebre”

11:00 AM – Break – Coffee

11:15 AM – Sixth Presentation

• Dr. Dolors Pons i Uturri (Memory and Reconciliation)
  “The ‘Papers of Salamanca’ and the Recovery of Documentation: The Current Situation”

11:45 AM – Closing

• Tribute to Civil War veterans
• Recognition of community associations
• Presentation of certificates and Congress closing remarks

12:15 PM – Guided Tour

• Coll del Moro (Gandesa)
  “Archaeology and Memory: From the Iberian City to the Francoist Command During the Civil War in Terra Alta”

More information here. 

SYMPOSIUM: Justice(s) en archives dans un Grand Sud-Ouest, sous l’Ancien Régime (Paris: Paris 2 Panthéon-Assas, 4 APR 2025)

(image source: hypotheses)

Journée d’étude « Justice(s) en archives dans un Grand Sud-Ouest, sous l’Ancien Régime », avec le soutien des Archives nationales

Matinée : Présidence et modération de M. Michel Ollion (Archives nationales)

Agnès Vatican et Marion Lamy (Archives départementales de la Gironde), « Archives du Parlement et des justices d’Ancien Régime aux Archives départementales de la Gironde au défi des Humanités Numériques »

Adrien Pitor (Sorbonne Université), « Des pierres aux papiers : les lieux et les enjeux de l’archivage judiciaire au Parlement de Paris »

Pascal Plas et Pascal Texier (Université́ de Limoges), « La relation périphérie/centre ou le lien juridictionnel entre la province et le Parlement de Paris, sous Louis XIV : à la recherche du procès en appel d’un jugement de Magnac-Laval »

Répondant : Reynald Abad (Université Paris-Sorbonne)

Déjeuner libre

Après-midi : Présidence et modération du Pr. Olivier Descamps (Université Paris Panthéon Assas)

Dimitri Chaminade (Université́ de Toulouse), « Les arrêts de règlement au parlement de Toulouse : du gouvernement régional à la complexité́ nationale »

Virginie Lemonnier-Lesage (Université de Bourgogne), « Les arrêts de règlement du Parlement de Normandie »

Clôture vers 16h30

Contacter : Anne Dobigny-Reverso, Frédéric Gabriel, Olivier Descamps et Edith Isaac du Cabinet EXPERTISE@EDIT/H

Program here.

CALL FOR ASSISTANT REVIEWS EDITOR: Comparative Legal History [Deadline: 15 APR 2025]

   

 

 
The European Society for Comparative Legal History (ESCLH) is seeking applications for the position of an Assistant Reviews Editor of its flagship journal, Comparative Legal History. The position is appropriate for a student (undergraduate or postgraduate) or early career academic with an interest in legal history.
 
The Assistant Reviews Editor will contribute to the advancement of comparative legal history as part of a supportive and dedicated team. His or her primary responsibility will be to liaison between the journal's reviewers and book publishers. In addition, the Assistant Reviews Editor will contribute (to the extent of her or his interest) to identifying potential books for review and reviewers, and to publishing notices of CLH's book reviews in the ESCLH Blog and in other forums.
 
Comparative Legal History is an official academic forum of the ESCLH. Published since 2013, it aims to offer a space for the development of comparative legal history. Based in Europe, it welcomes contributions that explore law in different times and jurisdictions from across the globe.
 
Applications, with a brief cover letter and short CV (no more than 2 pages), should be sent to Matthew Dyson (President of the ESCLH), matthew dot dyson at law dot ox dot ac dot uk, by 15 April 2025.
 
The ESCLH particularly welcomes applications from people belonging to groups underrepresented in academia in general, and in the ESCLH and the journal in particular.
 
This position is not paid (as is the case for all the editorial positions in the journal).

BOOK: Amelie TSCHEU, Publizistischer Landesverrat in der Weimarer Republik [Beiträge zur Rechtsgeschichte des 20. Jahrhunderts] (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2024), 380 p., ISBN 978-3-16-163808-4

 

Book abstract:

Nach der Niederlage im 1. Weltkrieg verpflichtete der Versailler Friedensvertrag das Deutsche Reich zu einer weitreichenden militärischen Abrüstung. Pazifistischen Journalisten, die über illegale Rüstungsmaßnahmen der Reichswehr berichteten, drohte unter dem Vorwurf des publizistischen Landesverrats ein Verfahren vor dem Leipziger Reichsgericht. Dessen Urteile gegen Kritiker der illegalen Rüstung gelten in der bisherigen Forschung als exemplarischer Beleg der antirepublikanischen Weimarer Justiz. Demgegenüber zeigt Amelie Tscheu die kontinuierliche Wechselwirkung zwischen der Rechtsprechung des Reichsgerichts und der Außen- und Militärpolitik der Weimarer Regierungskabinette im Verlauf der 1920er- und frühen 30er-Jahre auf. Sie verbindet die Analyse klassisch rechtswissenschaftlicher und allgemein geschichtswissenschaftlicher Quellen, um den publizistischen Landesverrat als politische Straftat im Spannungsfeld von Recht und Politik zu begreifen.

Table of contents: 

Einleitung
A. Einführung in die Thematik des publizistischen Landesverrats in der Weimarer Republik

B. Vom Kaiserreich zur Republik

C. Die Verfahren wegen publizistischen Landesverrats im Kontext der militärpolitischen Entwicklungen

D. Der publizistische Landesverrat als politische Straftat und das Verhältnis der Judikative zum republikanischen Staatssystem

E. Der Fall Felix Fechenbach vor dem bayerischen Volksgericht 1922 und das Verfahren gegen Walter Oehme (Urteil vom 28.08.1923 - 7J69/23)

F. Der Ponton-Prozess gegen Friedrich Küster und Berthold Jacob (Urteil vom 14.03.1928 - 7J63/25, RGSt 62,65)

G. Der Weltbühne-Prozess gegen Carl von Ossietzky und Walter Kreiser (Urteil vom 23.11.1931 - 7J35/29)

Read more here.

CONFERENCE: Occupation ou autorité légitime ? Le comportement des gens de guerre en procès, XIVe-XVIe siècles (Bruxelles: UCLouvain Saint-Louis, 21 MAR 2025)

(Image source: Université Saint-Louis)

This research workshop, organised as part of the F.R.S.-FNRS Welchange Project À l’origine du crime de guerre/The Cradle of War Crimes, seeks to address a crucial question regarding the conduct of war: how could military personnel, active in territorial control missions or armed occupations, be legally sanctioned? Late medieval and early modern occupations provide particularly fertile ground for studying the various processes of regulation between soldiers and local populations. These processes involve not only local authorities, military justice systems, or sovereign jurisdictions, but also more informal methods of conflict resolution. While regions such as Normandy and English-occupied Calais have been extensively studied, recent research has also highlighted other areas, such as the Boulonnais region invaded by Henry VIII, as well as the military conquests of colonial empires. Examining the regulation of military violence within contexts of occupation requires particular focus on the distinctions between ordinary wartime violence and war crimes. This workshop aims, in particular, to explore how the often-blurred line between the two is influenced by both the necessity of maintaining order and the occupying power’s need to present itself as a legitimate authority. As such, the aim of this workshop is to facilitate a collective discussion on justice practices and the regulation of military violence in contexts of occupation. We seek to consider the long-term impact of these judicial practices on perceptions of armed violence, the customs of war, and ultimately, the development of international law.

Program

10:00: Welcoming coffee
10:30: Eric Bousmar (UCLouvain Saint-Louis Bruxelles) – Introduction
10:40: Christophe Masson (ULiège) & Quentin Verreycken (UCLouvain Saint-Louis Bruxelles) – Doing Historical Research with a Social Impact: The ‘Cradle of War Crimes’ Project
10:55: Michael Depreter (UCLouvain Saint-Louis Bruxelles) – The Political Trial of History's First War Criminal? Peter von Hagenbach Facing Historical and Historiographical Judgment
11:10: Perrine Stennier (ULiège) – A Journey Through the Archives of Communal Trials of the Papal Soldiers in Central Italy during the 15th Century
11:25: Discussions on the project
11:35: Coffee break
11:45: Anne Curry (University of Southampton) – English Military Disciplinary Ordinances, Late 14th-Early 16th Centuries
12:35: Lunch break
14:00: Rémy Ambühl (University of Southampton) – Recriminations Against English Captains After the Fall of Lancastrian Normandy (Around the Early 1450s)
14:50: Neil Murphy (Northumbria University) – Soldiers, Civilians and Henry VIII's Wars of Occupation
15:40: Coffee break
16:00-17:00: Final discussions

Practical information

• When: Friday, 21 March 2025
• Where: UCLouvain Saint-Louis Bruxelles (43 boulevard du Jardin botanique – 1000 Bruxelles) /Room P61 (Préfecture, 6th floor)
• Who: Eric Bousmar, Michael Depreter, Perrine Stennier, Christophe Masson) et Quentin Verreycken (Comité organisateur
• Contact: quentin.verreycken[at]uclouvain.be

More information can be found here

BOOK: Donal K. COFFEY & Stefan VOGENAUER (eds.), Legal Transfer and Legal Geography in the British Empire [Global Perspectives on Legal History; 25] (Frankfurt am Main: Max-Planck-Institut für Rechtsgeschichte und Rechtstheorie, 2025), XVII + 328 p. ISBN 978-3-944773-48-3, € 20,27 [OPEN ACCESS]

(image source: MPILHLT)

Presentation:

The legal history of the British Empire is in its infancy. The research field Legal Transfer in the Common Law World in the Max Planck Institute for Legal History and Legal Theory under the Directorship of Prof Stefan Vogenauer has been engaged in scientific examination and analysis of this field. In 2021, the Third Legal Histories of Empires Conference was held in the National University of Ireland, Maynooth. A stream looking at the state of the art in Legal Transfer in the Common Law World was organized by Stefan Vogenauer and Donal Coffey, who have co-edited this volume which flows from that stream. The book argues that a comparative approach can overcome jurisdictional and ahistorical biases still often present in the legal history of empires. In an imperial legal superstructure, such as the British Empire(s), models of legislative and interpretative methods were self-consciously adopted and adapted to different jurisdictions. Moreover, the process of decolonisation disclosed similarities and divergences in the legal development of these territories. Useful insights can be gleaned from a comparison across different methodologies which are concerned with a similar normative framework between and within societies, and their relationship to the natural world. The volume has two parts. The first presents four case studies for legal transfers in chronological order. Philip Girard’s chapter traces the evolution of the law regulating employers’ liability for injured workers in Quebec. Matilde Cazzola’s work looks at the evolution of the ‘protective principle’ and its deployment through a comparative lens, with a particular focus on the United Kingdom and the Australian colonies in the 19th century. Scott A. Carrière looks at the evolution of law in colonial Newfoundland, and in particular at the relationship between contract law, charters, and Company States. In Hong Kong, Christopher Roberts and Hazel W. H. Leung analyse the evolution of vagrancy law. The second part contains a number of contributions engaging with the burgeoning field of legal geography in the context of the Empire. This is based around the ‘Property [In]Justice’ ERC group in University College Dublin headed by Amy Strecker. It includes chapters on the Caribbean by Amanda Byer, Southern Africa by Sonya Cotton, Kenya by Raphael Ng’etich, and a chapter by Sinéad Mercier on Ireland. The different areas of law covered – including inter alia public law, employment law, land law – demonstrate the vitality of the comparative method.

Table of contents:

IX         Table of Cases

XII        Table of Legislation

1          Donal K. Coffey and Stefan Vogenauer
             Preface

             Part I
             Legal Transfer in the Common Law World: From the Early Modern Period until the Present

7           Scott A. Carrière
             Law and Legalism in Corporate Newfoundland, 1583–1699

37        Matilde Cazzola
             Aboriginal Protection and parens patriae: Indigenous Youths, Juvenile Delinquents and the Reformatory Principle
             in Australia and England

73        Philip Girard
            On the Edge of Many Empires: Employers’ Liability in Quebec’s Industrial Age, 1880–1931

105      Christopher M. Roberts and Hazel W. H. Leung
            The Legacies of Vagrancy Law and the Reconstruction of the Criminal in Hong Kong, 1945–2022

             Part II
             Landscape, Law, and Spatial Justice in the former British Empire

139      Amy Strecker and Amanda Byer
             Introduction: Landscape, Law, and Spatial Justice in the former British Empire

151       Amanda Byer
              Reserving Space: Land, Nature, and Empire in the Development of
              Commonwealth Caribbean Environmental Law

187       Sonya Cotton
              Legislating “Community” in Southern Africa’s Plural Properties

239       Raphael Ng’etich
              Competing Notions of Land in Colonial Kenya and the Impact on Present-Day Land Governance

239       Sinéad Mercier
              A Haunting Absence: Tracing the Origins of International Energy Law from the Laboratory of Ireland

319       Index of Names

321       Index of Subjects

327       Contributors 

 Read more here: DOI 10.12946/gplh25.

BOOK: Randal LESAFFER (ed.), The Cambridge History of International Law. Volume 6. International Law in Early Modern Europe [Part of The Cambridge History of International Law] (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2025), 800 p., ISBN 9781108485616; £120

 

 (image source: Cambridge University Press)

Abstract:

Volume VI of The Cambridge History of International Law offers a survey of the law of nations in early modern Europe through a balanced treatment of legal theory and diplomatic practice. Bringing together a wide range of scholars, this volume builds on recent historiographical insights from different disciplines, including legal history, diplomatic history, and the history of political thought. It considers all major themes ranging from the allocation of jurisdiction over land and sea, war- and peace- making, trade and navigation to diplomacy and dispute settlement. A unique overall synthesis of early modern law across nations in Europe.

Table of contents:

Part I. International Law in Renaissance Europe (1492–1660)

1. The law of nations in Renaissance Europe Randall Lesaffer

2. Territory and jurisdiction in Renaissance Europe Tamar Herzog

3. Beyond the free sea. The law of the sea in Renaissance Europe Louis Sicking

4. War and the use of force in Renaissance Europe Anuschka Tischer

5. Warfare on land in Renaissance Europe Valentina Vadi

6. The law of maritime warfare during the transition between medieval and early modern Europe Alain Wijffels

7. Peace-making in Renaissance Europe Randall Lesaffer

8. Trade and navigation in Renaissance Europe Dave De Ruysscher

9. Diplomacy in Renaissance Europe Dante Fedele

10. Dispute settlement in Renaissance Europe Guido Braun

11. The Ottoman encounter and the law of nations in the Renaissance Maurits H. van den Boogert

Part II. International Law in Old Regime Europe (1660–1775) 12. The law of nations in Old Regime Europe Randall Lesaffer

13. Territory and jurisdiction in Old Regime Europe Frederik Dhondt

14. The law of the sea in Old Regime Europe Kinji Akashi

15. War and the use of force in Old Regime Europe Randall Lesaffer

16. Warfare on land in Old Regime Europe Stefano Cattelan and Raymond Kubben

17. Maritime warfare in Old Regime Europe Stefano Cattelan

18. Peace-making in Old Regime Europe Randall Lesaffer

19. Trade in Old Regime Europe Dave De Ruysscher

20. Diplomacy in Old Regime Europe Linda S. Frey and Marsha Frey

21. Dispute settlement in Old Regime Europe Christoph Kampmann

22. The Ottoman encounter and the law of nations in the Old Regime Maurits H. van den Boogert.

Read more here.

BOOK: Sarina LANDEFELD, Individuals in International Humanitarian Law. A Historical Analysis [Studies in International Law] (London: Bloomsbury, 2025), 352 p. ISBN 9781509968220

 

(image source: Bloomsbury)

Abstract:

This book offers a new, more critical perspective on the regulation and protection of individuals under international humanitarian law. Providing a historical account of the changing conceptualisation of individuals since 1864, the study draws on social constructivism. This approach casts light on the struggle of making sense of, and agreeing on, the position of individuals in armed conflicts during the law-making process, often hidden by international humanitarian law's conventional narratives. This intriguing study grapples with a difficult and disputed area of the law of armed conflict, making a singular and significant contribution which will be welcomed by all scholars in the field.

 Table of contents:

1. Introduction
2. Constructing Individuals for International Humanitarian Law
3. The Early Written Laws of War
4. The Inter-War Years and the 1949 Geneva Conventions
5. From the 1949 Geneva Conventions to the 1977 Additional Protocols
6. The Post-1977 Era
7. Conclusion

On the author:

Sarina Landefeld is Lecturer in Law at the University of Leicester, UK.

Read more here. 

(source: ILReporter)

BOOK: Massimo VALLERANI, Regimi di cittadinanza nell’Italia comunale (Rome: Viella, 2024). ISBN: 9791254696729

(Image source: Viella Editore)

About the book

Nelle città medievali abitare o nascere in un luogo non fanno diventare le persone dei cittadini e non garantiscono l’assegnazione di diritti civici in via definitiva. Diventare cittadini resta un lavoro faticoso, una condizione temporanea da mantenere con azioni ripetute nel tempo che mostrano la volontà di essere civis (abitare, pagare le tasse, militare nell’esercito, lavorare). In questa concezione dinamica e attiva di cittadinanza, non tutti avevano le stesse risorse. Tra Duecento e Quattrocento si affermano regimi diversi di cittadinanza, graduati secondo la possibilità o meno di partecipare alla vita politica. Questo libro ricostruisce la lenta trasformazione della civilitas da sistema di controllo dell’appartenenza a filtro selettivo di élites politiche riprodotte per via familiare. La divisione della cittadinanza in sfere di diritti differenziati aiuta a comprendere le complesse dinamiche di inclusione e di esclusione che ancora oggi caratterizzano il mondo contemporaneo.

About the author

Massimo Vallerani insegna storia medievale all’università di Torino. Ha studiato i sistemi politici e giudiziari di età comunale (Medieval public justice, 2012), e coordinato ricerche sui poteri eccettuativi nel basso medioevo (Sistemi di eccezione, 2009), le relazioni tra fiscalità e cittadinanza (Valore delle cose e valore delle persone, 2018) e in generale le forme di appartenenza alla città. Ha pubblicato il manuale Storia medievale, con Luigi Provero, nel 2022. È membro della direzione di «Quaderni storici» e direttore de «L’Indice dei libri del mese».

Table of contents

Introduzione

1. Classificazione. La definizione degli status di appartenenza

1. Il sistema della classificazione: liste di inclusione e liste discriminanti
2. Gradazioni di status e sistema documentario
3. La divisione originaria. Cittadini e comitatini negli estimi
4. La civilitas a Bologna: i registri del 1287 e la cittadinanza “per sentenza”

2. Valutazione. Il valore delle persone e il costo della cittadinanza

1. Modelli di valutazione: fra auto-denuncia e valore imposto
2. La costruzione del valore dei cives a Bologna: le carte di estimo del 1315
3. Logica del valore o logica del prelievo?
4. Gli estimi e il valore dei cives
5. Appendice. Le carte di estimo dei Galluzzi

3. Esclusione. Instabilità delle condizioni di civis e stati diminuiti di cittadinanza

1. L’esclusione politica: i bandi politici e le liste di sospetti
2. Banditi a Bologna: censimento e gradi di esclusione (1277-1308)
3. Gli evasori delle collette e la non protezione del comune
4. Un caso di esclusione (parziale) di massa: i Malpaghi a Bologna nel 1309
5. La criminalizzazione del debito e i suoi effetti
6. Conclusioni
7. Appendice. Consilia sull’evasione

4. Negoziazione. La contestazione dello status, tra testimonianze e libri

1. La contestazione dello status economico
2. Difendere l’identità civica: le prove di cittadinanza
3. Contestare la categoria di nobilis e lambertazzo
4. Un sistema autosufficiente: i libri come prova
5. Appendice. Le Intentiones a difesa nei processi di cittadinanza

5. Selezione. La manipolazione degli status e i limiti alla partecipazione

1. La modifica dello status come atto amministrativo: il “come se”
2. La (ri)produzione degli status: l’estensione genealogica degli status nella prima metà del Trecento
3. L’invenzione dell’origo: restringere e selezionare la cittadinanza
4. L’articolazione artificiale della cittadinanza nel XV secolo: i privilegi di cittadinanza e la frammentazione delle forme di appartenenza

6. La moltiplicazione dei livelli di civilitas e la separazione fra appartenenza e partecipazione

1. Nuove gerarchie di cives fra XIV e XV secolo
2. Restringimento della partecipazione politica: dal criterio genealogico all’ereditarietà delle cariche
3. Esiti moderni: dalla frammentazione dei livelli di cittadinanza alla ridefinizione delle gerarchie sociali
4. L’impossibile ritorno al Comune: forme di uso politico dell’età comunale

Epilogo

Bibliografia

Indice dei nomi

More information can be found here.

BOOK: Simona FECI, L’acquetta di Giulia. Mogli avvelenatrici e mariti violenti nella Roma del Seicento (Rome: Viella, 2024). ISBN: 9791254696699

(Image source: Viella Editore) 

About the book

Nella Roma di metà Seicento, pochi anni dopo l’epidemia di peste, viene scoperta in modo rocambolesco l’esistenza di una rete di avvelenatrici: alcune preparano un veleno “perfetto”, conosciuto in tutta Italia come l’«acqua tofana», altre lo acquistano e se ne servono per liberarsi dei loro mariti. È il più clamoroso fatto di cronaca nera del secolo e uno dei pochissimi complotti tutti al femminile della storia. La trama collettiva che viene alla luce ci accompagna nelle pieghe di una città barocca dove trovano posto tutti gli elementi di un potenziale romanzo: amore e veleno, violenza, crimine e morte, sotterfugi ed esibizionismo, denaro e solidarietà. Pronte a sfidare il potere dei padri, il sapere dei medici e l’azione degli inquirenti, le protagoniste e le loro storie offrono uno straordinario passepartout per raccontare la condizione delle donne nel secolo di Artemisia Gentileschi, della monaca di Monza, di Cristina di Svezia.

About the author

Simona Feci is Associate Professor of Medieval and Modern Legal History in the Department of Law at the University of Palermo. She is a member of the PhD Committee on “Human Rights: Evolution, Protection and Limits” at the University of Palermo. She is President of the Società italiana delle storiche (Italian Association of Women Historians) (2016-2020), after serving on the executive board for two years (2014-2016). Her current research projects focus on the history of the family, domestic violence in the early modern period and women’s rights in Italy. Among her publications, see: Pesci fuor d’acqua. Donne a Roma in età moderna: diritti e patrimoni, Rome, Viella, 2004; La violenza contro le donne nella storia. Contesti, linguaggi, politiche del diritto (sec. XV-XXI), ed. with Laura Schettini, Rome, Viella, 2017.

Table of contents

Introduzione

1. Veleno e violenza
2. Venefici e narrazioni

1. Vite barocche di donne (quasi) comuni

1. Giovanna de Grandis
2. Le intermediarie
3. Girolama Spana
4. Veleni, fattucchierie, curiosità
5. L’acquetta

2. Un affare di donne

1. Una rappresentazione attendibile?
2. Identità, mobilità e socialità
3. La rete
4. Conflitti e violenza coniugale
5. Sottrarsi alla violenza, coltivare aspirazioni, inseguire desideri
6. Madri e figlie
7. Il prezzo della colpa
8. Brodini, minestre e altre prelibatezze
9. Congedarsi dal mondo
10. Brusii e sospetti

3. Il processo

1. Entra la corte
2. Veneficio e parricidio
3. La scoperta della trama
4. Il corpo del reato
5. Interrogatori, confessioni, testimonianze
6. «Per sradicar simil sorte di genti»
7. Cecilia Bossi «ucello di campagna»
8. La duchessa di Ceri

4. Memoria e fortuna dell’acquetta

1. La morte per via di giustizia
2. Storie cantate, relazioni e cronache
3. Il veleno e la peste
4. Il regime delle professioni
5. L’emulazione e la fama

Ringraziamenti

Bibliografia

More information can be found here.