PROGRAMME: Past Privacy Today: Negotiating Boundaries – Navigating Challenges (Copenhagen: Centre for Privacy Studies, 3-4 SEP 2026)

(image source: KU)

Abstract:

Needs for privacy emerge when boundaries are negotiated between individuals, communities, and societies. In such encounters, the large-scale structures of public space are challenged by the small-scale needs, desires, and wishes of individuals and smaller social groups.

• How do such social dynamics play out across different contexts across the globe, both in the past and present?
• How do changes in institutional structures influence privacy, and the other way around?
• What forms of privacy were safeguarded or suppressed?
• Who has been entitled to privacy, and under what circumstances? 
• How does privacy relate to other concepts such as intimacy, secrecy, confidentiality, and anonymity?
• And how should we as historians and contemporary privacy scholars navigate the boundaries between them?

This conference aims to address these and similar questions through thematic panels, inviting speakers and audience for interdisciplinary explorations. Building upon the insights produced at the Centre for Privacy Studies (2017-2027), it is our goal that these discussions will spark a flourishing stream of new scholarship in the field of privacy studies.

Program:

Day 1 (3 September 2026)

 

09:00: Registration and Welcome Coffee

 

09:15-09:35: Introduction

Paolo Astorri (Centre for Privacy Studies/Lund University)

 

09:35-11:45: Panel 1 - Urban Space: Privacy inside and outside the city: spaces, social patterns, and institutional settings

09:35-09:55: Urban Space – a paradoxical cradle of privacy

Johannes Ljungberg (Linköping University/Centre for Privacy Studies)

 

09:55-10:15: Affordances, transgressions, risks: privacy and gender in 18th-century urban green spaces

Antonia Weiß (Amsterdam University)

 

10:15-10:35: Marriage, sex and family life in the 18th century Dutch oversea empire

Sophie Rose (Universität Tübingen)

 

10:35-10:50: Break

 

10:50-11:45: Round table and shared discussion moderated by Viktor Wretström (Centre for Privacy Studies)

 

11:45-13:00: Break 

 

13:00-15:10: Panel 2 - Home: Privacy in the Early Modern Home: Cases from Europe, Greenland and Formosa (present-day Taiwan)

13:00-13:10: Introduction

Natalie Patricia Körner (Centre for Privacy Studies/Royal Danish Academy— Architecture, Design, Conservation)

13:10-13:30: The Making of Privacy at Home in Europe, 1500-2000

Raffaella Sarti (University of Urbino)

13:30-13:50: Drawing the Curtain: Negotiating Privacy in the Kalaallit Communal House. 

Asta Mønsted (University of Copenhagen)

13:50-14:10: Approaching Privacy through Darkness in Sirayan Houses during Dutch Colonisation. 

Hui-Yi Yang (Centre for Privacy Studies/Royal Danish Academy— Architecture, Design, Conservation)

14:10-14:20: Break

14:20-15:10: Round table and shared discussion moderated by Natalie Patricia Körner (Centre for Privacy Studies/Royal Danish Academy— Architecture, Design, Conservation)

15:10-15:40: Coffee & Cake

 

15:40-17:50: Panel 3 - Belief: Cosmologies of Privacy and the Privacy of Cosmologies

15:40-15:50: Introduction

Bastian Felter Vaucanson (Centre for Privacy Studies)

15:50-16:10: Responsible Freedom: Privacy in Native American Twinship Culture [online presentation]

Barbara Alice Mann (University of Toledo)

16:10-16:30: When the World is your Village. Reconceptualising Indigeneity and Privacy through a Global Biography

Martha Fredriks (Protestantse Theologische Universiteit, Utrecht)

16:30-16:50: Privacy as Perseverance. Sámi Ritual Traditions in Early Modern Central Sweden in a Time of Forced Homogenization. 

Jonas Monié (Lund University)

16:50-17:00: Break

17:00-17:50: Round table and shared discussion moderated by Karen Lauterbach (Centre for African Studies, University of Copenhagen)

 

Day 2 (4 September 2026)

 

09:15: Registration and Welcome Coffee

 

09:30-11:45: Panel 4 - Health: Privacy and Health: Sharing and Protecting Knowledge in Systems of Care

9.30-9.40: Introduction

Natacha Klein Käfer (Centre for Privacy Studies/Lund University)

9:40-10:00: Datasociality in Precision Medicine 

Mette Svendsen (University of Copenhagen) 

10:00-10:20: Privacy and Hospital in the Medieval and Early Modern Periods

Gisela Drossbach (Universität Augsburg)

10:20-10:40: Privacy and Health: Past-Present Perspectives

Natacha Klein Käfer (Centre for Privacy Studies/Lund University)

 

10:40-10:50: Break

10:50-11:45: Round table and shared discussion moderated by Angana Moitra (Centre for Privacy Studies/Lund University)

11:45-12:30: Break

12:30-15:00: Panel 5 - Law: Anonymity Before Encryption: Concealing Identities in Early Modern Transactions 

 

12:30-12:40: Introduction

Paolo Astorri (Centre for Privacy Studies/Lund University)

12:40-13:00: Private, but Not Personal: Rethinking Privacy in Medieval Law 

Guido Rossi (University of Palermo)

13:00-13:20: Anonymity and Silent Financiers in Sixteenth-Century Commercial Partnership 

Luisa Brunori (CNRS Paris)

13:20-13:40:  The Merchant’s Silence: Secrecy and Norms of Conduct in Early Modern Mercantile Literature 

Stefania Gialdroni (University of Padua)

13:40-14:00: An Identity to Hide? Noble Merchants in the Early Modern Era: A Legal Survey

Giovanni Chiodi (University of Milano Bicocca)

 

14:00-14:10: Break

14:10-15:00: Round table and shared discussion moderated by José María Martín Humanes (Centre for Privacy Studies)

15:00-16:00: Closing session

15:00-15:30: Concluding Remarks by Mette Birkedal Bruun (Director, Centre for Privacy Studies)

15:30-16:00: Plenary Discussion 

16:15-17:30: Reception (Centre for Privacy Studies)

Read more here.

Programme may be subject to smaller changes

BOOK: Reinhard MEHRING (ed.), Gespräch zwischen Partisanen Carl Schmitt – Rolf Schroers. Briefwechsel 1955 bis 1980 [SCHMITTIANA. NEUE FOLGE; 4] (Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, 2026], 354 p., ISBN 978-3-428-19765-1

 

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Rolf Schroers (1919–1981) war nach 1945 ein Literat (Mitglied der »Gruppe 47«), Publizist, später Direktor der Heuss-Akademie in Gummersbach. Von Ernst Jünger und Paul Celan lief er gleichsam zu Carl Schmitt über, dem er 1955 erstmals begegnete und mit dem sich sogleich intensive Korrespondenz und lebenslanger freundschaftlicher Umgang ergab. Die vorliegende, in 214 Briefen und Gegenbriefen ziemlich vollständig erhaltene Korrespondenz ist ein Schlüssel zu Schmitts ›Theorie des Partisanen‹ (1963), die direkt auf Schroers' Buch ›Der Partisan‹ (1961) antwortet. Sie erinnert mit zahlreichen unbekannten Texten und Materialien auch an einen markanten Repräsentanten der existentialistischen Kriegsgeneration und »Kahlschlagliteratur«, der als Publizist und Akademiedirektor die politischen Diskurse der alten Bundesrepublik mit gestaltete und von Schmitt sehr geschätzt wurde.

ABOUT THE EDITOR:

Prof. Dr. Reinhard Mehring, Jg. 1959, Diss. 1988 (Freiburg) Politikwissenschaft, Habilitation 2000 Philosophie (HU-Berlin); 2007–2025 Prof. für Politikwissenschaft an der PH-Heidelberg, zahlreiche Bücher u.a. zu Carl Schmitt, Martin Heidegger und Thomas Mann; Editionen u.a. zu Ludwig Feuchtwanger (zusammen mit Rolf Rieß) und Emil Utitz. Als Schmitt-Editor u.a.: Briefwechsel mit Rudolf Smend (Duncker & Humblot, 2. Aufl. 2012) und Ernst-Wolfgang Böckenförde (2022).

Find more here. 

 

CALL FOR PAPERS: Legal Use of Print in Early Modern Europe: Function, Materiality and Circulation (St Andrews: University of St Andrews, 15, 17-19 JUN 2027) [DEADLINE 1 DEC 2026]

 

(image source: St Andrews)

Proposals for papers (max. 20 minutes) are invited on the subject of ‘Legal Use of Print in Early Modern Europe: Function, Materiality and Circulation’ to be presented at the combined 19th USTC/St Andrews Book History & 3rd COMLAWEU conference in St Andrews. The conference will feature hybrid sessions on Tuesday 15 June 2027 and in-person sessions on Thursday 17-Saturday 19 June 2027. 

In the early modern period, legal communication stood at the heart of European print culture. In sheer quantity of production, only works of religion can be judged to be more numerous. While legal works (similar to religious print) reached a broad public, legal print has received comparatively little attention in book historical studies. 

This conference seeks to advance the scholarly agenda by examining the manner in which print culture affected the communication of law in early modern Europe. It will aim to determine how print was used to shape the function, materiality and circulation of legal knowledge; to what extent print established new norms of legal communication; and how printed legal information spread within and beyond the juridical profession. We welcome contributions on any part of early modern Europe or its colonies, within the time frame of c. 1450-1800. 

Papers are invited on any aspect of the conference, which will seek to provide answers to (among others) the following questions: 

• How did the form and function of legal print develop and change in early modern Europe? Did print introduce new means of legal communication? 
• How was print employed in the administration of government, justice and tax? 
• To what uses was print put in the legal profession? 
• Where, how and amongst whom did legal printed matter circulate more broadly? To what extent was legal print distributed for free, or commercialised? 
• How did the materiality of legal print (in regard to production, design and compilation) affect its use? To what extent did the genre encourage manuscript interaction? 
• What was the role of early modern collectors, printers and publishers in assembling legal compendia, and to what extent did such compendia shape legal knowledge? 

Papers presented at the conference will form the basis of an edited volume to be published in Brill’s Library of the Written Word series.
 

Proposals, with a title, an abstract of up to 350 words, and a biography of up to 150 words, should be addressed to the organisers, Arthur der Weduwen, Demi van Breukelen and Zina Gharakhani, by 1 December 2026. Proposals should also indicate whether speakers wish to be considered exclusively for the hybrid or in-person sessions, or whether they are happy to present at either.

The organisers can be reached at adw7@st-andrews.ac.uk, dvb3@st-andrews.ac.uk and zzg1@st-andrews.ac.uk. 

PRE-CONFERENCE WORKSHOP: "Conflict, Crisis and Continuity – Historical Perspectives" [European Society of International Law/Société européenne de droit international - IG History of International Law] (Malaga: Universidad de Malaga, 3 SEP 2026)

 

(image source: ESIL IGHIL)

Abstract:

Contemporary debates frequently describe international law as being in crisis, particularly in light of escalating global conflicts and challenges to normative authority. This year’s pre-conference workshop consisted of two panels convened to examine the resilience of international law amid shifting political conditions during periods of historical upheaval. The first panel explores how territorial conflicts, imperial collapse, and the emergence of nation-states shaped the development of international law in the “semi-periphery” in the aftermath of the Treaty of Versailles. Together, they highlight how post-imperial uncertainty, territorial contestation, and geopolitical realignment not only challenged classical international law in Central and Eastern Europe but also led to the emergence of country-specific or regional approaches toward international law. The second panel examines the relationship between warfare and the evolution of international law from the early modern period to the twentieth century. Through studies of maritime neutrality during the recurrent European wars of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries and the shifting legal treatment of pillage in the aftermath of the Boxer Intervention of 1900, the papers demonstrate how “conflict” often served as a catalyst for adaptation and reinterpretation of classical international legal doctrines.

Program:

09:00 – 09:15	Introduction and words of welcome (Dr Florenz Volkaert)
09:15 – 10:10	Panel 1: Laws of War or Law on War? History of International Law in Asymmetric Conflicts
	Dr Stefano Cattelan (Vrije Universiteit Brussel/Brussels School of Governance): Neutrality as Crisis Management: Small Powers and the Law of the Sea in Recurrent European Wars (c. 1688–1714) Professor Danny Orbach (The Hebrew University of Jerusalem) & Dr Ziv Bohrer (Bar-Ilan University): A Pendulum of Legal Bandwagoning: The International Law of War on Pillage During and Following the Boxer War
	Moderator: Dr Sze Hong Lam, National University of Singapore
10:10-10:30	Break
10:30-11:50	Panel 2: The Paris Peace Conference as a Moment of Crisis? Debates on International Law from a Regional Perspective
	Dr Artur Simonyan (University of Regensburg): Between Empires and After Empire: Armenia in the History of International Law
	Ágoston Frank (University of Vienna): Conflict and Crisis as the Origin and Driving Force of Hungarian International Law Between the Two World Wars Peter Odrich (Max Planck Institute for Legal History and Legal Theory, Frankfurt/College of Europe): A Conflictual Affair: Internationalising Upper Silesia
	Moderator: Dr Anastasia Hammerschmied, Käte Hamburger Kolleg, Münster
11:50:12:00	Concluding Remarks (Dr Florenz Volkaert)

Read more here.

 

SOURCES: Sandrine JAUNEAU, Droit d'Ancien Régime [CORPUS - Recueil virtuel de sources historiques] (Versailles: Centre de recherche du Château de Versailles, 2026)

 

(image source: château versailles-recherche)

The Research Centre of the Château de Versailles published an online inventory of sources on the law of the Ancien Régime, compiled by Sandrine Jauneau.

Read more here.

BOOK: Gilduin DAVY, Introduction historique au droit normand [Droit fondamental] (Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 2026), 496 p., EAN 9782130864684, € 36

(image source: PUD)

Résumé

Ce livre propose un panorama de l’histoire du droit normand, depuis ses origines au Xe siècle jusqu’aux bouleversements de la période révolutionnaire et au-delà. Terre qualifiée de « Pays de sapience », la Normandie s’est affirmée par l’élaboration d’un droit coutumier original, qui a profondément contribué à forger son identité provinciale.

En matière de justice, de droit des biens, de famille ou de successions, la coutume normande s’est distinguée des autres systèmes juridiques en vigueur dans la France d’Ancien Régime. Issue de la pratique des tribunaux et de la réflexion des juristes, elle a su développer des solutions cohérentes et adaptées aux réalités locales, au point de devenir l’un des droits coutumiers les plus structurés du royaume.

Défendu avec ténacité par des institutions attachées à sa préservation, le droit normand a traversé les siècles, résisté aux entreprises d’unification monarchique, survécu à la Révolution et laissé son empreinte jusque dans l’élaboration du Code civil.

À travers cette synthèse accessible et rigoureuse, l’ouvrage met en lumière la vitalité d’une tradition juridique durablement inscrite dans l’histoire et la société normandes.

Autour de l'auteur

Gilduin Davy est professeur agrégé des facultés de droit. Auteur d'une thèse primée par l'Institut de France sur le pouvoir des premiers ducs de Normandie, il a consacré de nombreuses études à l'histoire des institutions et de la pensée juridique au Moyen Age et à l'époque moderne.

Sommaire

Première partie. Le droit normand, des origines à la fin du Moyen Âge

Chapitre 1 / Les éléments constitutifs du droit normand

Section I. La fabrique du droit normand 

Section II. La Normandie ducale 

Section III. La Normandie capétienne 

Section IV. La Normandie lancastrienne 

 

Chapitre 2 / Les thèmes du droit normand 

Section I. La famille 

Section II. La propriété 

Section III. Les contrats 

Section IV. La procédure 

 

Seconde partie. Le droit normand, de la fin du Moyen Âge à la révolution… et au-delà

Chapitre 1 / les évolutions externes du droit normand 

Section I. L’âge d’or du droit normand 

Section II. Les institutions normandes sous la Monarchie administrative

 

Chapitre 2 / la société normande à l’époque moderne

Section I. Dogme, croyances et cultures 

Section II. L’évolution de la famille normande 

Section III. L’évolution des propriétés normandes 

 

Chapitre 3 / Heurs et malheurs d’une province française 

Section I. La fureur des Normands 

Section II. Le crépuscule du droit normand ? 

Read more on PUD & PUF.

CFP: Premodern State Formation: New Themes and Directions (Dresden: Dresden University of Technology, 20-21 MAY 2027) [DEADLINE 31 OCT 2026]

(Source: TU Dresden)

 

Organised by: Klaas Van Gelder (Brussels) & Hannes Ziegler (Dresden)

Practical:

Date: 20.-21.5.2027

Place: Dresden University of Technology

Abstract:

Late medieval and early modern societies are often considered to be relatively static: They were estate-based with limited demographic and economic expansion and relatively stable forms of rule, even though dynasties came and went, and multiple regions were part of different composite polities over the centuries. One of the most important challenges in explaining this period remains, however, that these were also, and at the same time, societies in transition. A highly promising model of not only describing but also explaining change with a view to these societies was and still remains the theory of state-building that seeks to explain the transition from medieval forms of statehood to the “modern” state. It

underlines the increasing involvement of the state in everyday matters, the growth of its bureaucratic apparatus, its territorial expansion, and its growing authority. Nevertheless, the causes, catalysts, chronology and consequences of these processes of state-building remain hotly debated until the present day. 

This conference seeks to resume a discussion on state-building that has been somewhat neglected in recent years. Nearly twenty years after the publication of the seminal 2009 volume on “Empowering Interactions” by Wim Blockmans, André Holenstein, and John Mathieu, a wide array of works on the various issues connected to state-building (i.e. taxation, litigation, fiscal-military expansion, etc.), has been published, but what is lacking is a forum to bring this research together and discuss the state of the art of the field in a more condensed manner. “Empowering Interactions” was, after all, the temporary endpoint of a long debate around the question whether state-building was best described as happening “from above” or “from below”. In the shadow of this larger debate, however, other topics have emerged and other problems are being discussed that only marginally touch on this debate. 

The role of gender (and more particularly: women) in processes of state-building is a case in point, but so is the question on how rural landscapes can be integrated in processes hitherto largely conceived by “centrist” perspectives dominated by courts, capitals and cities. Cases such as these are not adequately addressed in what is currently often considered to be the state of the field, and there are likely still more. Furthermore, new and promising analytical concepts have been developed that urged historians to pay greater attention to specific aspects of the aforementioned processes, such as ‘accountability’ and ‘popular control’.

This conference aims to take stock of the current state of the research connected to, resulting from and inspired by the Empowering Interactions approach. It is an open invitation to researchers working in the field of late-medieval and/or early modern state-building to showcase their research and explore the conceptual and methodological lacunae in current research. What is – above and beyond the “Empowering Interactions” – the state of the field? What are the most pressing blank spaces? What are the most promising new avenues of research? Topics of interest include (but are not limited to):

- Litigation
- Rural communities
- Petitions
- Representative institutions
- Dynasties
- Women
- Public administrations
- Cities and towns
- Republicanism
- Media and print

We are currently looking for papers (ca. 25min) addressing one or more of the above aspects. If you are interested in participating, please send an abstract by 31 October 2026 of no more than 500 words and a short CV (1-2 pages) to klaas.van.gelder@vub.be and hannes.ziegler@tu-dresden.de. The organizers are hoping to reimburse participants for travel and accommodation costs.

More information here.

JOURNAL: Pro Memorie. Bijdragen tot de Rechtsgeschiedenis der Nederlanden XXVIII (2026), nr. 1

(image source: AUP)

Redactioneel (Bram Van Hofstraeten & Paul Brood)
DOI 10.5117/PM2026.1.001.REDA

De zaak Hendrick Schilt. De methodes van uitsluiting van de WIC in Nederlands-Brazilië met betrekking tot haar eigen ambtenaren, 1630-1654 (Florian Herrendorf)
DOI 10.5117/PM2026.1.002.HERR
Abstract:

As trust is essential for maintaining successful commercial relations, groups of traders relied on methods of exclusion to ensure that everyone carried out their agreed tasks. The Dutch West India Company (WIC), being a heterogeneous commercial organisation, therefore, could not function properly without employing formal methods of exclusion, both internally and in the territories it governed, of which taking recourse to courts was the most important. However, historians have failed to include the WIC in current debates on the principal-agent problem in early modern trade. As such, we know very little about the actual functioning of the judicial system in its overseas territories in general, and in its most important colony, Dutch Brazil, in particular. This article tries to address this problem by using a case study focused on a lawsuit against several Company officials to investigate the workings of the legal system of Dutch Brazil.

De civiele rechtspraak van de schepenbank van Thorn. De zaak Christina Halermans versus Dirk Brouns (1685-1688) (Bram Van Hofstraeten)
DOI 10.5117/PM2026.1.003.HOFS
Abstract:

This study examines the civil jurisdiction of the bench of aldermen of Thorn in the early modern period, focusing on its procedural practices, social accessibility, and the influence of learned legal traditions. Contrary to the notion of a general ‘Great Litigation Decline’ in eighteenth-century Europe, Thorn experienced a relatively low but steady rate of civil litigation, with a notable peak in the late seventeenth century. During the eighteenth century the court increasingly relied upon external impartial legal scholars in order to formulate a verdict which may have contributed to a reduced confidence in the local justice system. A detailed case study of Christina Halermans vs. Dirk Brouns (1685–1688) illustrates the court’s procedural complexity, the tactical – and not always equally careful – use of legal citations, and the increasing influence of legal arguments rooted in Roman law and the ius commune. This shift reflects a growing disjunction between local customary law and the academic legal discourse dominating civil litigation, which may have discouraged litigants from turning to the local court. The study suggests that the court’s procedural stagnation during the eighteenth century was less due to internal disorganization and more to the inability of local magistrates to navigate increasingly sophisticated legal reasoning. In addition, the study demonstrates that lawyers (instead of judges) played a crucial role in the reception of Roman law in early modern Europe.

Les immunités des ecclésiastiques ont leurs bornes Een moordende theologant en de vorstelijke rechtsbedeling in de Oostenrijkse Nederlanden (1749-1750) (Dirk Leyder)
DOI 10.5117/PM2026.1.004.LEYD
Abstract:

In december 1749, Martin van Meir, a 23-year-old theologian, commits two gruesome murders in the archiepiscopal seminary of Mechelen. The president of that institution decides to immediately cover up the case. The Privy Council, however, quickly uncovers the murders and obliges the Fiscal Office of the Great Council of the Netherlands in Mechelen to pursue both the murderer and his superior. The legal experts of the central government consider that the clerical immunities used as a defense by some, do not apply to either culprit. Written interventions by the archbishop of Mechelen, Thomas Philippe d’Alsace, in aid of his president (and to a lesser extent, of his homicidal student), put the regalists in Brussels on their heels, but do seem to affect the governor and the empress. Maria-Theresia eventually lets the case rest. But henceforth discussions about the immunity of clergymen will rather be settled in favor of the State.

Hunebedden en het Romeinse recht Over de privaatrechtelijke status van hunebedden en het Romeinse recht in Drenthe (Jelle Jansen)
DOI 10.5117/PM2026.1.005.JANS
Abstract:

The article begins with a sometimes fiery debate on the status of dolmens (Dutch: hunebedden), found mainly in the Dutch province of Drenthe. Lucas Oldenhuis Gratama, a.o. a lawyer, a legal historian and a member of House of parliament, stated that these dolmens were state property. With the introduction of civil codes in the Netherlands goods without an owner became stat-property and dolmens did not have an owner in the pre-codified era since they were nullius according to Roman law and not privately owned under Germanic law. Oldenhuis’ thesis was met with heavy criticism, it was generally assumed that the dolmens were part of private ownership of the land. The debate is nonetheless interesting since it raises questions on the role of Roman law in Drenthe. Scholars inspired by the anti Roman-law Groningen professor of Natural Law Van der Marck around 1800 again and again stated that Roman law played no role in rural Drenthe. This idea was already met with heavy criticism in Van der Marcks days. An examination of Drenthe’s laws as written down during the 17th and 18th century shows that Roman law played a substantial role in Drenthe’s private law, as it did in the surrounding provinces.

Action de la loi. Juridische draagpenningen in de kledijvoorschriften van de Franse Revolutie (Alexis Vejdani)
DOI 10.5117/PM2026.1.006.VEJD
Abstract:

A lasting legacy of the French Revolution and its legal reforms in France (and by extension in the various territories it occupied during this period) is the clothing prescribed for the magistrates and lawyers to be worn in court. Under the old regime the sovereign was the source of the law, therefore his magistrates wore regal robes when in session. The revolutionaries, having firmly denied this principle, designated the general will of the people as the sole source of law and therefore found inspiration with the representatives of third estate to clothe the members of the new judiciary. Along with their sombre black robes came revolutionary insignia like the cockades, ribbons in the three colours of the nation and above all medals in various forms, bearing legends such as La Loi and Action de la loi to signify the triumph of law over the tyranny of men.

Buiten de koninklijke hand? De taaldimensie van de Belgisch-Nederlandse codificatie-opdracht (1816-1830) (Robin Navez)
DOI 10.5117/PM2026.1.007.NAVE
Abstract:

The Belgian-Dutch civil code was the principle legislative project that occupied parliamentarians during the common years of Belgium and Netherlands. Since the union of these territories in 1815, the codification project had to deal with the coexistence of two main languages and the consequences of this new bilingual dimension for the drafting of the civil code to come. After a first unsuccessful attempt, a code was finally prepared by the Parliament between 1821 and 1826 under a commission led by the Belgian judge Nicolaï. A bilingual civil code was eventually promulgated in July 1830, but due to the Belgian secession, the code was considered too ‘Belgian’ and criticized for its similarity to the French one. Focussing on the issue of the drafting in two main languages, this contribution investigates the methodology used by the commission and its consequences on the project, including regarding the political issues.

Book reviews

•  Surinaamse rechtspraak in vogelvlucht, 1651-2024 R. Abhelakh, onder eindredactie van A. Kuipers, 155 Jaar. Gedenkboek Hof van Justitie Suriname. Hof van Justitie, Paramaribo, 2024. 279 pagina’s. ISBN 978-99914-7-568-4. In Nederland verkrijgbaar in de webwinkel van Sampreshan, €49. (Peter van den Berg)

Read the full issue here.

 

 

 

BOOK REVIEW: Rosa CONGOST, From masters of slaves to lords of lands: the transformation of ownership in the western world, by James Q. Whitman [Cambridge: Cambrdige University Press, 2025] (Comparative Legal History, XIV (2026), nr. 1 (June), pp. 131-136)

 (image source: Taylor&Francis)

The book I review here is one that cannot fail to impress any reader interested in the historical evolution of property rights. This will be the case whether you are interested in the legal discourse around the concept of property, or in the real and material interests that may lie behind the discourse. In this review, I will emphasise the aspects of the book I find most interesting, while pointing out some questions that came to mind during my reading. I will highlight not only the most obvious findings, but also the possibilities the book offers for starting a dialogue with historians who, like me, are working on similar topics, albeit from different angles and perspectives. 

This dialogue is facilitated by the author's ability to link the multiple references and quotations he provides from classic works, with which we are all familiar, with research from a wide variety of specialised fields. This is evident from the outset. Hence, Blackstone's statement that starts the introduction: ‘[t]here is nothing which so generally strikes the imagination, and engages the affections of mankind as the right of property, which allows the author to present his book as being about 'legal imagination’; an imagination, he immediately clarifies, that is expressed through the 'idioms of power' (10), a concept taken from Orlando Patterson's book Slavery and Social Death.' James Whitman shares one of the central theses of this book, which is the idea that the modern conception of property has its origins in a slave society. This is an idea that in itself already establishes a dialogue with the modern period, especially in a country such as the United States, which had to wait until the second half of the nineteenth century for the definitive triumph of the 'free-soil doctrines' and the 'disappearance of lawful slavery'. This reference locates us in the contemporary Common Law legal tradition where we are reminded that the success of the 'castle doctrine' and the homestead exemption proves the strong identification of property with land, an idea that is widespread throughout the Western world. To this effect, dialogue between scholars of different legal traditions is guaranteed from the outset because 'the West, as I [the book's author] will speak of it in this book, is the West of the Roman legal tradition' (14). In the last part of this review, I will emphasise the need for this dialogue […] 

To read the full review, please click here. Online access is free for members of the European Society for Comparative Legal History.  

DOI: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/2049677X.2026.2671610

YOUTUBE: Les ateliers du digeste (Philippe COCATRE ZILGIEN & Luigi SANCHI, IHD Jean Gaudemet)

 

(image source: Youtube)

Abstract:

Les Ateliers du Digeste proposent une lecture vivante du Digeste de Justinien à travers des séances filmées. Chaque participant prépare à l'avance un fragment latin et en propose une traduction, discutée ensuite dans un esprit de rigueur, d'humilité et de bienveillance. Les difficultés du texte, les hésitations et les différents choix possibles sont expliqués afin de montrer le travail de traduction en train de se faire. Encadrés par le professeur Cocatre Zilgien et le philologue Luigi Sanchi, les Ateliers s'adressent aux étudiants, aux chercheurs et à toute personne curieuse de découvrir les sources juridiques antiques. Notre ambition : faire revivre le droit romain et se confronter sans peur aux sources anciennes. Les Ateliers du Digeste sont portés dans le cadre de l'Institut d'Histoire du Droit Jean Gaudemet. Traduire, c'est entrer en dialogue avec les sources.

Watch the channel here. 

SHORT MOVIE: "Frauenkampf ums Recht" [dir. Elisabetta FIOCCH MALASPINA] (Zürich: Universität Zürich, 30 SEP 2026)

(image source: UZH)

 Abstract:

Der szenische Dialog «Frauenkampf ums Recht» wurde 1896 von Emilie Kempin-Spyri, der ersten Privatdozentin der Universität Zürich, verfasst. Studierende der Rechtswissenschaftlichen Fakultät der Universität Zürich interpretieren Emilie Kempin-Spyris Text unter der Regie von Remo Hegglin. Der Film wurde mit Unterstützung der Initiative «Digitalisierung & Interaktives Lernen» der Rechtswissenschaftlichen Fakultät realisiert.

Practical details:

Mittwoch, 30. September 2026, um 18.15 Uhr Universität Zürich, Zentrum Rämistrasse 71, KOL-G-201 (Aula) 

          

More information (including a trailer) here.
Registration here.

Read Emilie Kempin's Die Rechtsstellung der Frau here.

BOOK: Denis TAPPY & Anne PEROZ (dir.)/Lionel HORT, Aldina MEHMEDOVIC, Laura MORIGGIA & Romina RUTTA (coll.), Langues et paroles du droit. Actes des journées internationales de la Société d'histoire du droit tenues à l'Université de Lausanne du 1er au 4e juin 2023 [Collection lausannoise] (Stämpfli Éditions, 2026), 700 p., ISBN 978-3-7272-8369-7, 159 CHF

(image source: Schulthess)

Abstract:

Cet ouvrage présente les actes des journées internationales de la Société d´histoire du droit (SHD), tenues du 1er au 4 juin 2023 à Lausanne. Il rassemble plus de trente contributions d´auteurs issus d´une dizaine de pays. Offrant une perspective diachronique et comparative, les études couvrent des périodes de l´Antiquité à l´époque contemporaine et des régions variées comme Madagascar, le Brésil et surtout l´Europe occidentale. Plusieurs contributions explorent les langues des textes juridiques, du grec des constitutions du Bas-Empire romain au plurilinguisme prévalant aujourd´hui en Suisse ou à la Cour internationale de justice. D´autres analysent des expressions propres au droit ou à ses domaines, comme le droit pénal ou fiscal. Le volume aborde aussi l´histoire des répertoires juridiques, les influences terminologiques du droit sur la théologie, la démonologie ou la rhétorique politique, ainsi que l´usage de la langue juridique chez Molière. Certains articles s´intéressent à l´histoire d´adages ou d´actes formalistes comme le serment. Grâce à la variété des sujets et approches, cet ouvrage intéressera les spécialistes de l´histoire du droit, mais aussi les juristes et praticiens curieux d´histoire.

More information here.

Call for Members of the ESCLH Website Committee [DEADLINE: 1 SEP 2026]

(source: ESCLH)

European Society for Comparative Legal History 

Call for Members of the ESCLH Website Committee

Deadline: 1 September 2026 

The European Society for Comparative Legal History (ESCLH) is seeking applications for the position of member of the to-be-established ESCLH Website Committee. The ESCLH was founded in 2009 and will soon start to work towards the creation of its fist institutional website.

The website of the ESCLH will be designed by a professional developer. Members of the ESCLH Website Committee will be involved in the brainstorming stage and in selecting/producing the content of the institutional website.

Expectations:

• Applicants must be members of the ESCLH (or must be committed to become members if appointed to the ESCLH Website Committee).
• Prior knowledge on web design is not a requirement.
• The ESCLH Website Committee will hold its first meeting in October 2026. In that meeting, the successful applicants will be invested as members of the committee and they will select a chairperson and determine their work plan and time commitment.
• All meetings of the ESCLH Website Committee will take place on an online platform.
• The position of member of the ESCLH Website Committee is not paid.
• The ESCLH particularly welcomes applications from people with backgrounds which are underrepresented in academia generally, and in the ESCLH particularly. 

Applications, with a brief cover letter and short CV (no more than 400 words), should be sent to Janwillem (Pim) Oosterhuis, janwillem.oosterhuis@maastrichtuniversity.nl (Secretary General of the ESCLH) by 1 September 2026.

JOB: Postdoc positions [ERC Starting Grant PetrIUS: Petrification of Ius Commune through Printed Paratexts] (Poznan: Adam Mickiewicz University, DEADLINE: 31 SEP 2026)

 

[Image source: Piotr Alexandrowicz]

The Centre for Ius Commune at Adam Mickiewicz University (Poznań, Poland) is seeking three Postdoctoral Researchers for the ERC Starting Grant project PetrIUS: Petrification of Ius Commune through Printed Paratexts, led by Piotr Alexandrowicz.

We invite applications from researchers interested in early modern legal history, book history, and digital humanities. The Centre hosts various research projects related to early modern ius commune, including projects on early modern commentaries on the Decretals, law in early modern Venice, early modern scholasticism and law, and the incunabula of the (in)famous Hammer of Witches. We cooperate with numerous scholars and research groups across Europe. To learn more about us, please visit our provisional website: https://rzym.amu.edu.pl/petrius/ 

PetrIUS Summary

Between the 1460s and 1620s, printed editions of canon and civil law texts witnessed the continuous development of marginal paratexts, such as glosses, summaries, cases, and commentaries. These were added to authoritative legal sources because printers sought to improve the quality and attractiveness of new editions. They often employed legal experts who provided new tools, resources, and ideas, which were incorporated into printed books through innovative printing techniques.  As a result, the interaction between improved editions and advances in printing technology fueled the ongoing development of printed legal books. Various questions concerning the origin, transmission, and influence of paratexts are embedded in the interplay between sources and marginalia, manuscripts and print, editors and printers, and books and their readers. PetrIUS adopts an innovative approach by shifting the focus from source texts to marginalia, that is, paratexts. The project examines how print and its evolution helped to petrify, that is, consolidate, landmark achievements of late medieval ius commune by enabling doctrinal developments to be transferred into the marginalia of source editions. The innovations introduced by print affected both legal scholarship and legal communication. PetrIUS explores how legal experts employed new technical tools to transfer the heritage of medieval law into early modern source editions and how these processes influenced patterns of scholarly work and knowledge transfer within academia. To achieve these aims, PetrIUS combines traditional methods of legal history and book history with natural language processing techniques. These methods enable detailed comparisons between printed editions of paratexts and their reception in the scholarly literature. The project will conclude with a legal-theoretical study assessing the significance of paratexts in the early modern period by treating them as a medium of law, that is, as a means of legal communication.

New Calls

All three positions are full-time appointments for 36 months (including a six-month probation period), starting in December 2026 (or slightly later). The application deadline is 30 September 2026. Further details are available via the links below.

Postdoc 2: Legal History

This researcher will work on the work packages Investigation of Paratexts' Origins and Variants and Research on Paratexts Forming Part of the Printed Corpora Iuris. Candidates must hold a PhD in the humanities or social sciences (preferably in legal history), obtained no later than the commencement of employment, and demonstrate a strong interest in the history of law in the late medieval and early modern periods, particularly the history of ius commune and legal books.

More information: https://bip.amu.edu.pl/konkursy-zatrudnienie-w-projektach-badawczych/konkurs_post-doc_2_petrius_centrum-ius-commune 

Postdoc 3: Book History

This researcher will work on the work packages Investigation of Paratexts' Origins andVariants and Research on Paratexts Forming Part of the Printed Corpora Iuris. Candidates must hold a PhD in the humanities or social sciences (preferably in book history), obtained no later than the commencement of employment, and demonstrate a strong interest in the history of books in the late medieval and early modern periods, particularly legal books.

More information: https://bip.amu.edu.pl/konkursy-zatrudnienie-w-projektach-badawczych/konkurs_post-doc_petrius_centrum-ius-commune2 

Postdoc 4: Digital Humanities

This researcher will work on the work package Large-Scale Research on Paratext Variants and Their Use in Scholarly Literature. Candidates must hold a PhD in the humanities, social sciences, information technology, or another relevant discipline (preferably digital humanities), obtained no later than the commencement of employment. Applicants should demonstrate an interest in digital humanities through previous research and publications. Candidates are expected to possess knowledge of research methods and tools necessary for the implementation of the project's tasks, including natural language processing, machine learning (including deep learning), and programming languages. Familiarity with topics related to the project's subject matter, such as legal history, book history, or literary theory, will be considered an advantage.

More information: https://bip.amu.edu.pl/konkursy-zatrudnienie-w-projektach-badawczych/konkurs_post-doc_4_petrius_centrum-ius-commune 

For further information about the calls or the project, please do not hesitate to contact the Principal Investigator, Piotr Alexandrowicz (piotr.alexandrowicz@amu.edu.pl).