SEMINAR: Vivian LAUGIER "« La contribution d’un administrateur à la formation du droit administratif : l’exemple de Léon Aucoc » [Séminaire : Histoire des pratiques administratives, dir. Guillaume RICHARD,] (Paris: Université Paris Cité, 11 MAR 2026] [HYBRID]

(image source: Hi-D)

Abstract:

Dans le cadre du cycle de séminaires d’histoire des pratiques administratives, coordonné par M. Guillaume Richard, Professeur d’histoire du droit à l’Université Paris Cité et Directeur de l’Institut d’histoire du droit (IHD), la troisième séance intitulée : « La contribution d’un administrateur à la formation du droit administratif : l’exemple de Léon Aucoc », aura lieu le mercredi 11 mars 2026 à 14h30, à la Bibliothèque de l’Institut d’histoire du droit, Faculté de droit, d’économie et de gestion, 10 avenue Pierre Larousse à Malakoff (92240); et sera animée par Monsieur Vivian Laugier, Maître de conférences en droit public à l’Université de Lorraine.

Practical information:

Dans un souci d’accessibilité, cet événement sera organisé en format hybride, permettant aux participants d’y assister en présentiel ou à distance via Zoom:

https://u-paris.zoom.us/j/82056426426?pwd=N2laRIRK0qsFAKhEi2cXq1sgK2LPtM.1

 ID de réunion: 820 5642 6426

 Code secret: 442208

 (source: Hi-D)

WEBSITE: Sociologie et Sciences du Droit [Section 39 du Comité national]

A wordpress website has been created around the "news and activities" of section 39 within the CNRS. Although the site is not formally connected to the institution (which awards tenured positions for researchers, a relative rarity in academia), its aim is to inform the interested audience in legal history, sociology of law and other related disciplines on relevant updates.

More information here.

BOOK: Hannes LUDYGA, Dan ARADOVSKY, Simon DÖRRENBÄCHER (eds.), Rechtswissenschaften an der Saar [Schriften zur Rechtsgeschichte; 230] (Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, 2025), 422 p., ISBN 978-3-428-19554-1

 

 

ABOUT THE BOOK:

 

Der Band beleuchtet die Geschichte der Rechtswissenschaften an der Universität des Saarlandes im 20. und 21. Jahrhundert – nicht als reine Institutionengeschichte, sondern durch biografische Zugänge. In einem einleitenden Teil wird die Entwicklung der Fakultät in historischen Schlaglichtern nachgezeichnet. Es folgen 64 Kurzbiographien verstorbener Juristen mit Bezug zum Saarland, die ihr Wirken in Saarbrücken geprägt haben. Ergänzt wird der Band durch Erinnerungsbeiträge ehemaliger Fakultätsmitglieder und zeitgeschichtliche Gesprächsnotizen. Entstanden ist eine multiperspektivische Dokumentation, die nicht nur juristische Karrieren abbildet, sondern auch politische und gesellschaftliche Kontexte sichtbar macht. Der Band versteht sich als Beitrag zur europäischen Rechts- und Wissenschaftsgeschichte ebenso wie zur Landesgeschichte des Saarlandes.

 

TABLE OF CONTENT:

 

Erster Teil: Schlaglichter

Hannes Ludyga
Anfänge der Rechtswissenschaften an der Saar

Simon Dörrenbächer
Die Rechtswissenschaftliche Fakultät und der Nationalsozialismus. Zu Kontinuitäten und Zäsuren in den Anfangsjahren der Rechtswissenschaftlichen Fakultät am Beispiel ausgewählter Professoren und Lehrbeauftragter

Dan Aradovsky
Von Revolutionären und dem Dornröschen an der Saar. Die Juristische Fakultät 1968

Wolfgang Müller
Arthur Kaufmanns Wirken an der Universität des Saarlandes

Florian Friedrichs
Die Professoren der Römischen Rechtsgeschichte an der Rechtswissenschaftlichen Fakultät der Universität des Saarlandes

Tiziana Chiusi
Römisches Recht als allgemeine Zivilrechtstheorie. Der Romanist Günther Jahr

Thomas Giegerich und Marc Bungenberg
Das Europa–Institut. 70 Jahre wissenschaftliche Begleiterin des europäischen Integrationsprozesses als »Krone und Symbol« der Universität des Saarlandes

Simon Dörrenbächer und Caroline Schümann–Cohen
Das Centre Juridique Franco–Allemand (CJFA)

Johanna Rubly
Das Institut für Europäisches Recht

Stefan Hessel
Das Institut für Rechtsinformatik

Zweiter Teil: Rechtswissenschaftler
Bernhard Aubin (1913–2005) – Christian Autexier (1944–2011) – Peter Gottfried Bähr (1936–2020) – Alessandro Baratta (1933–2002) – Fritz Wilhelm Brecher (1915–2003) – Rudolf Bruns (1910–1979) – Joachim Burmeister (1939–1999) – Guillaume Cardascia (1914–2006) – Léontin-Jean Constantinesco (1913–1981) – Franz-Josef Degenhardt (1931–2011) – Hans Ficker (1897–1968) – Wilfried Fiedler (1940–2023) – Hans-Ernst Folz (1933 –2016) – Paul Gaudemet (1914–1998) – Wilhelm Geck (1923–1987) – Paul Gieseke (1888–1967) – Joseph Goergen (1904–1995) – Winfried Hassemer (1940– 2014) – Wilhelm Haubrichs (1911–1982) – Friedrich von der Heydte (1907–1994) – Ulrich Huber (1936–2023) – Heinz Hübner (1914–2006) – Georges Hubrecht (1895–1984) – Uwe Hüffer (1939–2012) – Jean Imbert (1919–1999) – Günther Jahr (1923– 2007) – Arthur Kaufmann (1923–2001) – Gerhard Kielwein (1922 –2011) – Wolfgang Knies (1934–2019) – Peter Krause (1936–2023) – Detlef Krauß (1934–2010) – Heinrich Lange (1900–1977) – Arnold Liebisch (1896–1958) – François Luchaire (1919–2009) – Gerhard Lüke (1927–2014) – Werner Maihofer (1918–2009) – Werner Meng (1948–2016) – Ernst-Joachim Mestmäcker (1926–2024) – Egon Müller (1938–2022) – Heinz Müller–Dietz (1931–2022) – Hans-Werner Osthoff (1911–2006) – Lothar Philipps (1934–2014) – Filippo Ranieri (1944–2020) – Franz Schäfer (1879–1958) – Hartmut Schiedermair (1936–2020) – Jürgen Schmidt (1941–2024) – Roman Schnur (1927–1996) – Rudolf Schranil (1885–1957) – Dietrich Schultz (1928–1984) – Ernst Seelig (1895–1955) – Felix Senn (1879–1968) – Torsten Stein (1944–2024) – Ulrich Stock (1896–1974) – Hans Taschner (1933 –2023) – Werner Thieme (1923–2016) – Pierre Voirin (1895–1972) – Heinz Wagner (1926–2023) – Wilhelm Wegener (1911–2004) – Herbert Wehrhahn (1910–1986) – Uwe Wesel (1933–2023) – Josef Wolany (1907–1993) – Hans F. Zacher (1928–2015) – Albrecht Zeuner (1924–2021)

Dritter Teil: Reminiszenzen

Manfred Dauster
1974–1981. Eine Zeitreise in den Fachbereich Rechtswissenschaft der Universität des Saarlandes

Jean Imbert
»Erinnerungen an Saarbrücken – die ersten Schritte der Rechtswissenschaftlichen Fakultät«. Ein Schriftstück verfasst von Jean Imbert, verwahrt von Wolfgang Müller, ergänzt um eine Einleitung sowie eine Übersetzung mit Anmerkungen von Florian Friedrichs

Vierter Teil: Biographische Gesprächsnotizen
Biografische Gesprächsnotizen wichtiger Fakultätsmitglieder – Gesprächsnotizen Prof. Dr. Dr. Michel Fromont (12. 5. 1993) – Gesprächsnotizen Prof. Dr. Wilhelm Wegener (8. 7. 1993) – Gesprächsnotizen Prof. Dr. Hans Zacher (19. 12. 1994) – Gesprächsnotizen Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Arthur Kaufmann (1. 3. 1995)

 

Find more here.

 

 

BOOK: Christian HILLGRUBER, Souveränität oder Nation? Die politische und rechtliche Schlüsselfrage der Revolution von 1848/49 oder: Der lange deutsche Weg zur Anerkennung der Volkssouveränität [Schönburger Gespräche zu Recht und Staat] (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2025), 55 p., ISBN 978-3-16-164892-2

 

 

ABOUT THE BOOK:

 

Die deutsche Revolution von 1848/49 war verfassungsrechtlich wie politisch vom Ringen um die verfassunggebende Gewalt geprägt. Das von der Frankfurter Nationalversammlung reklamierte Prinzip der Volkssouveränität forderte das überkommene monarchische Prinzip heraus. In der Folge stand dem vom Paulskirchenparlament geltend gemachten Alleinentscheidungsrecht über eine neue gesamtdeutsche Verfassung das von den monarchischen Regierungen der Einzelstaaten verfochtene Mitentscheidungsrecht gegenüber, das auf eine Vereinbarungslösung drängte. In dieser Auseinandersetzung konnte sich der Grundsatz der Volkssouveränität gegen die überlegenen Kräfte der Beharrung noch nicht durchsetzen. Erst die mit der Novemberrevolution 1918 errungene verfassunggebende Gewalt des deutschen Volkes schuf die Basis der Weimarer Reichsverfassung. Sie bildet auch die Legitimationsgrundlage des Grundgesetzes.

 

TABLE OF CONTENT:

 

I. Einleitung
II. Die Spaltung der nationalen Verfassungsbewegung in Liberale und Demokraten
III. Die Spannungen zwischen Demokraten und Liberalen in der Heidelberger Versammlung und die unterschiedliche Haltung gegenüber dem Bundestag
IV. Die Perspektive einer Verständigungslösung
V. Die Debatten im Vorparlament
VI. Der „kühne Griff" nach der politischen Macht im Namen der Volkssouveränität
VII. Der tiefere Grunddissens: Ganze oder geteilte Souveränität?
VIII. Das Ende aller Hoffnungen: Weder Republik noch konstitutionelle Monarchie
IX. Nachspiel: Von Frankfurt über Erfurt nach Berlin/Versailles
X. Weimar: Das Reich, das sind wir.
XI. Bonn: Das Grundgesetz als Ausprägung des Prinzips der Volkssouveränität

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

 

Christian Hillgruber Geboren 1963; Studium der Rechtswissenschaft an der Universität zu Köln; 1988 Erste Juristische Staatsprüfung; 1991 Promotion (Köln); 1997 Habilitation (Köln); Professur an den Universitäten Heidelberg und Erlangen-Nürnberg; Inhaber eines Lehrstuhls für Öffentliches Recht an der Universität Bonn und Direktor des dortigen Instituts für Kirchenrecht.

 

Find more here.  

 

VACANCY: Eugen and Jacqueline Weber Postdoctoral Scholar in European History (Los Angeles: UCLA; DEADLINE 31 MAR 2026)

 

(image: Eugen Weber; source: UCLA)

Position overview

Position title: EUGEN AND JACQUELINE WEBER POSTDOCTORAL SCHOLAR IN EUROPEAN HISTORY

Salary range: A reasonable salary estimate is from $69,073 to $ 74,281 based on experience level. See full salary range at Table 23

Review timeline: initial review April 1, 2026

Application Window

Open date: February 24, 2026

Next review date: Wednesday, Apr 1, 2026 at 11:59pm (Pacific Time)
Apply by this date to ensure full consideration by the committee.

Final date: Sunday, May 31, 2026 at 11:59pm (Pacific Time)
Applications will continue to be accepted until this date, but those received after the review date will only be considered if the position has not yet been filled.

Position description

The UCLA Meyer and Renee Luskin Department of History seeks applicants for a two-year Postdoctoral Scholar. The candidate must hold a Ph.D. in History or related field, awarded between September 1, 2022 and June 10, 2026.

The Weber Postdoctoral Scholar position is made possible by a bequest from Jacqueline and Eugen Weber to the Department of History, to support the work of a recent Ph.D. We seek a historian of exceptional promise who will contribute to the excellence of our department’s teaching and research program. Candidates working in any area of European history are encouraged to apply.

The successful applicant will contribute intellectually to the department as well as to its mission by teaching an undergraduate course during each academic year if needed, in a topic close to their area of research. The course selection may include History 187 (Variable Topic Research Seminar) and/or another course on European history to be determined by the department. The incumbent will also work with a faculty mentor on research and professional development.

We are especially eager to interview candidates with a demonstrable commitment to the success and mentorship of students from underrepresented and underserved populations and with an enthusiasm for building ties across fields within the department or the university.

The appointment (which includes benefits) will be for an initial 24 month period, with the possibility of renewal for an additional 12 months subject to available funding and satisfactory performance.

Salary will follow standards for post-doctoral scholars and will reflect the applicant’s experience. Salary range: The posted UC salary scales set the minimum pay determined by postdoc experience level. The starting salary range for this position is currently $69,073.

To apply, candidates must submit (a) a curriculum vitae, (b) cover letter, (c) statement of research describing their interests and plans for the postdoctoral period, and (d) statement of teaching philosophy and discussion of possible seminar topics. Applicants should also have three referees submit letters of reference.

Review of applications will begin April 1, 2026 and will continue until the position is filled. The preferred start date is July 1, 2026.

Qualifications

Basic qualifications

Ph.D. in History or related field, awarded between September 1, 2022 and June 10, 2026.

Additional qualifications

We seek a historian of exceptional promise who will contribute to the excellence of our department’s teaching and research program. Candidates working in any area of European history are encouraged to apply.

Preferred qualifications

A demonstrable commitment to the success and mentorship of students from underrepresented and underserved populations and an enthusiasm for building ties across fields within the department or the university.

Application Requirements

Document requirements

• Curriculum Vitae - Your most recently updated C.V.

• Cover Letter

• Statement of Research - Please describe your interests and plans for the postdoctoral period,

• Reference check authorization release form - Complete and upload the reference check authorization release form

• UCLA Mission Statement - As the nation's premier public research university, UC's mission is the creation, dissemination, preservation and application of knowledge for the betterment of our global society. We have a particular responsibility to the people of California which we express in the excellence of the education we provide, the impact of the research we do, the comprehensive, life-saving medical services we provide, and the public service mission we are devoted to. The University of California promotes the social mobility of its students, equips them with the tools and experience that furthers their ambitions, and regards their accomplishments across the life span as evidence of the profoundly positive impact of higher education.

  The UCLA campus has expressed these goals in its strategic plan as follows:

  Deepen our engagement with Los Angeles
  Expand our reach as a global university
  Enhance our research and creative activities
  Elevate how we teach
  Become a more effective institution

  Prompt for candidates for recruitment:

  Reflecting on your personal and professional experiences, highlight your past contributions and future commitments to advancing UCLA's mission as embodied in the 2023-28 strategic plan. These accomplishments and ambitions may be discussed in the context of describing your teaching, scholarship, and service

• Statement of Teaching - Please describe your teaching philosophy and possible seminar topics.

Reference requirements

• 3-5 letters of reference required

3 letters of reference required

Apply link: https://recruit.apo.ucla.edu/JPF10862

Help contact: ann@history.ucla.edu

About UCLA

As a University employee, you will be required to comply with all applicable University policies and/or collective bargaining agreements, as may be amended from time to time. Federal, state, or local government directives may impose additional requirements.

The University of California is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, protected veteran status, or other protected status under state or federal law.

As a condition of employment, the finalist will be required to disclose if they are subject to any final administrative or judicial decisions within the last seven years determining that they committed any misconduct.

• “Misconduct” means any violation of the policies or laws governing conduct at the applicant’s previous place of employment, including, but not limited to, violations of policies or laws prohibiting sexual harassment, sexual assault, or other forms of harassment, discrimination, dishonesty, or unethical conduct, as defined by the employer.
• UC Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment Policy
• UC Anti-Discrimination Policy for Employees, Students and Third Parties
• APM - 035: Affirmative Action and Nondiscrimination in Employment

Read more here.

VACANCIES (POSTDOC): MSCA Cofund Interdisciplinary Research In Societal challenges (ULB/VUB) [Launch 1 MAR 2026]

 

VUB and ULB have obtained an MSCA postdoctoral programme cofunded under Horizon Europe. 24 international postdocs will be hired at the ULB, 12 at the VUB.

Description:

The programme period will take place between 2025 and 2030 and will open two calls, each offering 18 positions open to all fields of research, according to a bottom-up approach. During the fellowship, IRIS postdocs will benefit from an environment that fosters academic growth and well-being. Fellows will engage in optional secondments and short visits, take part in the IRIS management committee, and have 30 months to fully carry out their interdisciplinary research projects. IRIS’s research programme hinges on two themes: interdisciplinarity and the six societal challenges of the Brussels-Capital Region (BCR). IRIS fellows' research projects will exemplify solutions in the applied context of the BCR but are intrinsically linked to ubiquitous European needs, thereby preparing the participating researchers European-wide career options.

A second call will be opened on 1 March 2026. 

More information here.

REMINDER: CALL FOR BLOGGERS (m/f/x) [DEADLINE 31 MAR 2026]

 

Call for a Blogger (m/f/x)

European Society for Comparative Legal History (ESCLH)

The European Society for Comparative Legal History (ESCLH) invites expressions of interest for the position of blogger for its official blog.

We are seeking two colleagues willing to contribute actively to the intellectual visibility and digital outreach of the Society. The ESCLH blog aims to serve as a dynamic forum for scholarly exchange in the field of comparative legal history, broadly understood as the study of law in the past across different jurisdictions, cultures, and normative contexts.

Profile

The ideal candidate:

1. Is a researcher in legal history or a closely related discipline;
2. Is comfortable with digital communication, including familiarity with websites, academic blogging formats, and social media dissemination;
3. Has a demonstrable research focus on, or strong affinity with, comparative legal history, understood as historically grounded, context-sensitive analysis of law across jurisdictions or traditions;
4. Is committed to inclusive scholarly exchange, and welcomes engagement with diverse methodological, geographical, and intellectual perspectives.

We particularly encourage applications from scholars whose backgrounds and perspectives would contribute to further broadening and enriching the diversity of the current team.

Role and Responsibilities

The blogger / blog editor will:

• Contribute regular posts (e.g. publications, calls, conferences, vacancies);
• Help identify useful announcements;
• Support the blog’s visibility through appropriate digital channels (e.g; our BlueSky and LinkedIn-accounts);
• Strengthen the connection between the ESCLH blog and the journal
  Comparative Legal History (published by Routledge; indexed in Web of Science)
  
  

A central ambition of this role is to enhance the blog’s function as a bridge between ongoing research, the Society’s activities, and the journal Comparative Legal History. This requires modest but regular time investment.

Why Consider This Role?

This is an opportunity to:

• Contribute to shaping debates within comparative legal history;
• Increase the visibility of emerging and established scholarship;
• Build academic networks across jurisdictions and generations;
• Play a meaningful role in strengthening the Society’s digital presence.

We warmly encourage colleagues who may be hesitating to step forward. Expressions of interest from scholars at different career stages and from varied academic and geographical backgrounds are most welcome.

Practical Information

Interested candidates are invited to send:

• A short statement of motivation (max. 1 page);
• A brief CV;
• (Optionally) links to previous digital or editorial work.

Please send expressions of interest to esclhblog@gmail.com by 31 March 2026.

For informal inquiries about the role, do not hesitate to get in touch.

The position is not paid.

 

BOOK: Lukas HERGET, Wettbewerb oder Industriepolitik? Die Europäische Fusionskontrolle als Spielball nationaler Wirtschaftspolitiken (1958-1989) [Rechtsordnung und Wirtschaftsgeschichte; 27] (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2025), 260 p. ISBN 978-3-16-164390-3

 

 

 

ABOUT THE BOOK:

 

Lukas Herget untersucht die Entstehung der Europäischen Fusionskontrolle von den 1950er Jahren bis zum Erlass der Fusionskontrollverordnung 1989 und analysiert dabei die Rolle zentraler Akteure auf supranationaler, intergouvernementaler und nationaler Ebene. Im Fokus stehen zwei übergeordnete Fragen: Wie wirkten sich Pfadabhängigkeiten gegenüber nationalen Ordnungsvorstellungen auf die Verhandlungspositionen zur Ausgestaltung der Fusionskontrolle aus? Welche Strategien verfolgten die beteiligten Akteure, um ihre jeweiligen Interessen durchzusetzen? Der Autor stützt sich auf Archivmaterial aus deutschen und europäischen Archiven und verfolgt einen akteurszentrierten Ansatz, der personelle und rechtliche Kontinuitäten sowie Brüche offenlegt. Interdisziplinär werden dabei rechtsgeschichtliche, wettbewerbstheoretische sowie integrations- und politikgeschichtliche Perspektiven verbunden.

 

TABLE OF CONTENT:

 

I. Die Europäische Fusionskontrolle im Kontext des europäischen Wettbewerbsrechts - II. Forschungsstand - III. Fragestellung, Erkenntnisinteresse, Quellen
I. Die Aushandlung des gemeinsamen Wettbewerbsrechts des EWG-Vertrags - II. Die Durchsetzung der Kommission als Wettbewerbsbehörde - III. Zusammenfassung
I. Das Problem der Unternehmenskonzentration auf dem Gemeinsamen Markt - II. Der Paradigmenwechsel der Kommission - III. Zusammenfassung
I. Die Entscheidung der Kommission - II. Das Auseinanderfallen von wettbewerbspolitischem Anspruch und wettbewerbsrechtlichen Möglichkeiten. Das gerichtliche Verfahren im Fall Continental Can - III. Das EuGH-Urteil als Auslöser für den Rechtsetzungsprozess - IV. Zusammenfassung
I. Der »Ur-Vorschlag« der Kommission von 1973 - II. Die Resonanz auf den Verordnungsvorschlag - III. Zusammenfassung
I. Die ersten Verhandlungen auf Gemeinschaftsebene - II. Der Verordnungsvorschlag und die Entwicklungen in der zweiten Hälfte der 1970er Jahre - III. Zusammenfassung
I. Resignation und Neubeginn. Der Verordnungsvorschlag Anfang der 1980er Jahre - II. Das »Philip-Morris-Urteil« des EuGH als Wendepunkt für die Verhandlungen - III. Das finale Aushandeln und der Erlass der Fusionskontrollverordnung - IV. Zusammenfassung

 

Find more here. 

BOOK REVIEW: Dmitry POLDNIKOV on Die Rechtsnachfolge in Personengesellschaften im Deutschland und im Russland des 19. Jahrhunderts, by Maria Malt, Münster (Comparative Legal History, XIII (2025), nr. 2 (December), pp. 339-343)

(Image source: Taylor&Francis)

Comparative research in legal history today holds the promise of novelty despite numerous ‘non-comparative’ studies in legal history. Yet it presents a daunting challenge for a scholar, requiring them to enhance our understanding of the past by bridging the distance between domestic present and past law, as well as between domestic and foreign law(s). Maria Malt accepted this challenge in her book Die Rechtsnachfolge in Personengesellschaften im Deutschland und im Russland des 19. Jahrhunderts (Legal Succession in Partnerships in 19th-century Germany and Russia), based on her recently defended PhD thesis at Augsburg University under the supervision of Christoph Becker, who sponsored its publication as the 41st volume in the Augsburg series of studies on legal history. This review aims to present the design of the book and its major claims, followed by its evaluation from the point of view of a Russian legal historian.

The title of the book suggests revisiting the (allegedly) well-researched topic of the dissolution or continuation of a partnership under German law and Russian law in the nineteenth century. The author justifies the relevance of such a study with two major arguments: first, the impossibility of resolving the intricacies in contemporary corporate law without researching its medieval customs or even ancient Roman law; second, the ongoing doctrinal debates and litigation regarding legal consequences of such circumstances under succession and corporate law. The latter is substantiated by a wide array of textbooks, monographs, commentaries on the legislation, academic articles and dictionaries in the German and Russian languages.

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

DOI: 10.1080/2049677X.2025.2580110

BOOK: Oscar FERREIRA & Elsa FOREY (dir.), Le Religieux, gardien des institutions et des libertés [Rencontres, 700] (Paris: Classiques Garnier, 2026), ISBN 9782406197539

(image source: Classiques Garnier)

Abstract:

Une exploration des doctrines cléricales, politiques et juridiques de toutes confessions (chrétiennes, judaïque, musulmane...), dans une perspective transdisciplinaire, comparée et historique répondant à la question : la démocratie et les libertés ont-elles besoin d’une garantie religieuse ? 

Read more here: DOI 10.48611/isbn.978-2-406-19755-3.

CALL FOR PAPERS: International Conference: Contested Seas. War, Commerce, and the Making of the Law of the Sea (c. 1400–1800) (Ostend: VUB/VLIZ, 19-20 NOV 2026) [DEADLINE 15 MAY 2026]

(Image source: VUB-CORE blog)

International Conference:

Contested Seas: War, Commerce, and the Making of the Law of the Sea (c. 1400–1800)

19-20 November 2026, Ostend, Belgium

Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Campus Ostend / Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ)

Conveners:

Stefano Cattelan & Frederik Dhondt
(Vrije Universiteit Brussel – Faculty of Law and Criminology, Research Group CORE)

Keynote speakers: 

Surabhi Ranganathan (Lauterpacht Centre, University of Cambridge)
Indravati Félicité (Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg)

Concept and Rationale: The early modern law of the sea did not emerge as a coherent or pacified body of rules. Rather, it took shape as a fragmented and deeply contested legal regime. It was forged through recurrent warfare, commercial rivalry, and persistent struggles over jurisdiction and enforcement at sea. The pelagic arena was characterised by overlapping jurisdictions, uneven enforcement, and profound asymmetries of power (Benton, 2010). The freedom of the seas (‘Mare Liberum’) did not operate as a stable peacetime principle. It was repeatedly restricted, negotiated, and redefined in moments of conflict, particularly through disputes concerning maritime jurisdiction, economic warfare, neutral navigation, and prize-taking.

Hence, several methodological questions arise. Can we chart the deeper structures and long-term evolutions of the law of the sea and, at the same time, remain historically grounded and relevant to contemporary debates?

Recent scholarship has challenged the idea that the law of the sea gradually restrained violence at sea. Instead, norms were forged, tested, and transformed through concrete conflicts over sovereignty, jurisdiction, and neutral navigation (e.g. Steinberg, 2001; Benton, 2010; Schnakenbourg, 2015; Calafat, 2019; Cattelan, 2025). This perspective invites a rethinking of the law of the sea not as a dependent variable of early modern conflict, but as one of its crucial products. The present conference builds on this emerging insight and seeks to explore its broader implications across different regions, actors, and legal contexts.

This conference invites contributions that approach the law of the sea as a historically produced normative regime, examined as (1) a body of legal argument, a set of institutional (2) practices, and a (3) field of political struggle. It seeks to foster dialogue across legal history, international law and the histories of ideas, diplomacy, warfare, and empire, bringing together scholars attentive to different sources, actors and objects (doctrine, archives, institutions, legal reasoning, institutional practice, and material interests). The conference situates the law of the sea within broader processes of state formation, imperial competition, and global connectivity, including its interaction with commercial and maritime legal practices (Félicité, 2024).

This conference takes a broad analytical perspective, to seal a series of three encounters organised under the aegis of FWO Junior Fundamental Research Project G016122N. While earlier meetings in this series focused primarily on neutrality as a legal status, diplomatic strategy, and social practice —particularly from the perspective of small and medium powers— the present symposium shifts the analytical focus: recurrent conflicts over neutrality, belligerent rights, maritime jurisdiction, and enforcement mechanisms did not merely test existing norms. These instances were crucial to the historical formation of the law of the sea as a contested legal regime. In this sense, neutrality is approached as a formative force in the making of the law of the sea across judicial, diplomatic, and commercial arenas.

The conference aims to offer a synthetic reinterpretation of the relationship between mare liberum and mare clausum, peace and war, neutrality and coercion, situating the early modern law of the sea within the longer history of international law without assuming linear trajectories or teleological outcomes. It also invites reflection on the enduring legacies of early modern maritime practices for later codification efforts and contemporary debates on ocean governance in an increasingly polycentric world (Mawani, 2023; Ranganathan, 2016, 2020).

Finally, the conference welcomes contributions addressing different maritime regions and circuits, including —but not limited to— the Mediterranean, Atlantic, and Indian Ocean worlds, as well as interactions between different legal orders and actors (Anand, 1983; Khalilieh, 2019; Subrahmanyam, 2024; Po, 2018). We particularly welcome contributions on cross-cultural legal encounters and concrete sites of norm production, such as courts, diplomatic practices, commercial litigation, port regulations, and contractual arrangements.

 

Key Questions

The conference invites contributions addressing one or more of the following questions:

• What kind of legal regime was the early modern law of the sea?
  How can it be understood as a historically contingent and contested normative order rather than a coherent or stabilised body of rules?
• How did warfare shape the law of the sea?
  In what ways did recurring conflicts over maritime jurisdiction, belligerent rights, neutrality, blockade, contraband, and prize-taking contribute to the production and transformation of legal norms at sea?
• How was the law of the sea articulated, applied, and contested in daily practice?
  What roles did courts, diplomatic channels, port authorities, consular institutions, and commercial actors play in the everyday functioning of this legal regime?
• How did neutrality operate as a formative force within the law of the sea?
  How were legal boundaries between peace and war at sea shaped by disputes and agreements involving neutral navigation?
• How did individuals and non-state actors exercise legal agency at sea?
  The mobilisation of multiple normative orders —public, commercial, and customary by merchants, shipmasters, insurers, chartered companies, or private entrepreneurs — to pursue commercial, political, or strategic objectives is central here.
• How did different connected spaces and regions shape a distinct legal practice?
  How did practices take shape across and between different maritime regions and circuits, including interactions between European and extra-European legal orders?
• What are the longer-term implications of early modern practices of the law of the sea?
  How did early modern solutions and conflicts inform later codification efforts and continue to resonate in contemporary debates on ocean governance?

 

Thematic Areas (Indicative)

The following thematic areas, which constitute the thematic translation of the questions highlighted above, articulate different dimensions of the early modern law of the sea as a contested legal regime produced through conflict, commerce, and legal practice. They are intended to be read as analytically connected rather than as parallel or autonomous agendas. They are indicative rather than exhaustive.

 

1. The sea as a legal and spatial order

Maritime jurisdiction; territorial waters; ports, straits, and littoral zones; sovereignty and access; legal pluralism at sea; competing claims to control, passage, and enforcement.

2. War, commerce, and neutrality in the law of the sea

Naval warfare and economic conflict; blockade, contraband, and continuous voyage; prize-taking and adjudication; neutrality as legal status, diplomatic strategy, and practical resource; coercion, enforcement, and asymmetries between belligerents and neutrals.

3. Institutions and practices producing the law of the sea

Courts (including admiralty and prize courts); diplomatic correspondence; consular jurisdictions; port authorities and regulatory regimes; chartered companies; litigation, arbitration, and everyday legal practice. Contributions grounded in specific sources or sites of norm production are particularly welcome.

4. Agency and normative pluralism within the law of the sea

The role of individuals and non-state actors —such as merchants, shipmasters, insurers, private entrepreneurs, and colonial intermediaries— in mobilising a plurality of normative orders, including the law of nations, domestic legislation, commercial and maritime law, urban statutes, customary norms, and private contracts.

5. The law of the sea across regions, empires, and legal encounters

Comparative and transregional perspectives; interactions between European and extra-European legal orders; cross-cultural legal encounters; circulation, translation, and contestation of norms governing maritime space in different oceanic worlds.

6. From early modern practice to modern/contemporary ocean governance

Long-term continuities and ruptures in the law of the sea; armed neutrality and collective enforcement; early modern legacies in later codification efforts and contemporary debates on ocean governance.

 

Disciplinary Scope: The conference welcomes contributions from legal history, the history of international law, maritime and naval history, diplomatic and political history, economic history, and international law scholarship with a historical or theoretical orientation. Interdisciplinary, critical, and transregional approaches are particularly encouraged. Early-career researchers are warmly invited to submit proposals.

Format: The conference is conceived as a focused, discussion-oriented event. Draft papers will be circulated in advance to facilitate in-depth exchange. Presentations will be kept at 20 minutes for each speaker in order to prioritise collective discussion and comparative discussion.

Submission Guidelines: please submit an abstract of no more than 350 words and a short biographical note of up to 150 words to: stefano.cattelan@vub.be.
Submission deadline: 15 May 2026
Notification of acceptance: 1 June 2026
Draft papers (for pre-circulation among participants): 20 October 2026

Publication: Following the conference, selected contributions will be submitted to a special issue in an international peer-reviewed journal (preferably open access).

Practical Information: The organisers aim to secure funding to cover organisational costs and, where possible, to offer limited support for travel and accommodation, particularly for early-career researchers and scholars without access to dedicated research funds. Further practical information will be communicated to accepted participants.

 

Indicative references:

Alimento, Antonella (ed.), War, Trade and Neutrality: Europe and the Mediterranean in the Seventeenth and Eighteen Centuries (Milano, 2011).

Id., and Stapelbroek, Koen (eds.), The Politics of Commercial Treaties in the Eighteenth Century (Cham, 2017).

Anand, Ram P., Origin and Development of the Law of the Sea. History of International Law Revisited (The Hague/Boston/London, 1983).

Benton, Lauren and Perl-Rosenthal, Nathan (eds.), A World at Sea: Maritime Practices and Global History (Philadelphia, 2020).

Benton, Lauren, A Search for Sovereignty. Law and Geography in European Empires, 1400-1900 (Cambridge, 2010).

Calafat, Guillaume, Une mer jalousée: contribution à l’histoire de la souveraineté (Méditerranée, XVIIe siècle) (Paris, 2019).

Cattelan, Stefano and Frederik Dhondt (eds.), Small Power Neutrality and the Law of the Sea in the Long Eighteenth Century (1650–1800). Law as Argument in the Pelagic Arena (Leiden/Boston, 2025).

Cattelan, Stefano and Louis Sicking. ‘The Coastal Seas in International Law: Contextualising Grotius’s De iure belli ac pacis’, Grotiana, 46(1) (2025), 43-65.

Cattelan, Stefano, Mare Clausum: The Formation of the Law of the Sea in Pre-modern State Practice and Legal Doctrine (c. 1350–1650) (Leiden/Boston, 2025).

Dhondt, Frederik, ‘“Arrestez et pillez contre toute sorte de droit”: Trade and the War of the Quadruple Alliance (1718-1720)’, Legatio: The Journal for Renaissance and Early Modern Diplomatic Studies, 1 (2017), 98-130.

Id., ‘Delenda est haec Carthago. The Ostend Company as a Problem of European Great Power Politics (1722-1727)’, Belgisch Tijdschrift voor Filologie en Geschiedenis/Revue Belge de Philologie et d’Histoire, 93 (2015), 397-437.

Félicité, Indravati, Le Saint-Empire face au monde. Contestations et redéfinitions de l’impérialité (XVe-XIXe siècle) (Paris, 2024).

Ford, John D., The Emergence of Privateering (Leiden/Boston, 2023).

Harding, Richard, Seapower and Naval Warfare, 1650–1830 (London, 2002).

Khalilieh, Hassan S., Islamic Law of the Sea: Freedom of Navigation and Passage Rights in Islamic Thought (Cambridge, 2019).

Mancke, Elizabeth, ‘Early Modern Expansion and the Politicization of Oceanic Space’, Geographical Review, 89(2), 225-36.

Mawani, Renisa, ‘The law of the sea’, in Peter D. Burdon and James Martel (eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Law and the Anthropocene (London, 2023), 115-29.

Müller, Leos, Neutrality in World History (New York, 2019).

Neff, Stephen C., The Rights and Duties of Neutrals: A General History (Manchester, 2000).

Po, Ronald C, The Blue Frontier: Maritime Vision and Power in the Qing Empire (Cambridge, 2018).

Ranganathan, Surabhi, ‘Decolonization and International Law: Putting the Ocean on the Map’, Journal of the History of International Law, 23(1) (2020), 161-83.

Id., ‘Global Commons’, European Journal of International Law, 27(3) (2016), 693-717.

Schnakenbourg, Éric, Entre la guerre et la paix: Neutralité et relations internationales, XVIIe–XVIIIe Siècles (Rennes, 2013).

Sicking, Louis, ‘The Pirate and the Admiral: Europeanisation and Globalisation of Maritime Conflict Management’, Journal of the History of International Law, 20(4) (2018), 429-70.

Stapelbroek, Koen (ed.), Trade and War: The Neutrality of Commerce in the Inter-State System (Helsinki, 2011).

Steinberg, Philip E., The Social Construction of the Ocean (Cambridge, 2001).

Strootman, Rolf, van den Eijnde, Floris, and van Wijk, Roy (eds.), Empires of the Sea. Maritime Power Networks in World History (Leiden, 2019).

Subrahmanyam, Sanjay, Across the Green Sea: Histories from the Western Indian Ocean, 1440–1640 (Austin, 2024).

Wani, Kentaro, Neutrality in International Law. From the Sixteenth Century to 1945 (London/New York, 2017).

SEMINAR CYCLE: "La escuela de Salamanca: Actualidad, vigencia y legado" (Madrid: Real Academia de la Historia, FEB 2026)

(image source: RAH)

Abstract:

La Real Academia de la Historia organiza, junto a la Fundación Tatiana, la quinta edición del ciclo de conferencias “El Valor de la Historia”. Carmen Sanz Ayán, académica de número de la institución, es una vez más la coordinadora de este ciclo de conferencias, que se desarrollará en dos partes. La primera parte tendrá lugar en febrero de 2026 y la segunda se celebrará en los meses de octubre y noviembre de 2026. La Escuela de Salamanca es un movimiento intelectual y cultural desarrollado en los siglos XVI y XVII que, liderado por el teólogo, filósofo y jurista Francisco de Vitoria (1485-1546), tuvo una amplia proyección no solo en Europa sino en toda la extensión de la global Monarquía Hispánica. Su influencia interdisciplinar en universidades y pensadores coetáneos y posteriores fue tan amplia que con frecuencia sus miembros suelen ser considerados padres de la Modernidad. La transversalidad del enfoque humanista de sus presupuestos teológico-jurídicos manifestado en su revalorización del derecho natural y de gentes, en la defensa de la libertad individual frente a los posibles excesos del poder político y en su preocupación por el comercio justo o la ética económica, priorizó la defensa de la dignidad humana y la aplicación de la razón a la hora de dar respuesta a los problemas sociales y morales que surgieron en su tiempo y merece ser conocido por los ciudadanos y ciudadanas del siglo XXI que a pesar de los 500 años transcurridos desde su aparición, se enfrentan con desafíos de parecida naturaleza. La Fundación Tatiana y la Real Academia de la Historia, comprometidas desde 2019 en una alianza estratégica para visibilizar nuestra relación con el pasado de un modo dinámico y crítico, han promovido para 2026 dos ciclos de conferencias y mesas redondas centradas en la difusión del legado intelectual de la Escuela de Salamanca que en 2026 celebra su V Centenario al recordar la llegada de Francisco de Vitoria a la Universidad salmantina en 1526. Los dos ciclos de conferencias programados durante los meses de febrero, octubre y noviembre de 2026 en las sedes de la RAH y de la Fundación Tatiana, se ocuparán de analizar la naturaleza y el legado de este universal e influyente movimiento intelectual.

Program:

6 de febrero de 2026

Inauguración y presentación de los ciclos

La Escuela de Salamanca: Concepto y Evolución

Carmen Sanz Ayán

Académica de número de la Real Academia de la Historia y catedrática de Historia Moderna (UCM).

19:00h. Sede Real Academia de la Historia. Calle Amor de Dios, 2, Madrid, 28014 Madrid

13 de febrero de 2026

Las ideas económicas de la Escuela de Salamanca y su praxis política
(Siglos XVI-XVII)

Agustín González Enciso

Académico correspondiente de la Real Academia de la Historia y catedrático emérito Universidad de Navarra.

19:00h. Sede Real Academia de la Historia. Calle Amor de Dios, 2, Madrid, 28014 Madrid

25 de febrero de 2026

Mesa Redonda

La Escuela de Salamanca en clave humanística: Soberanía y legitimidad del poder

Con la participación

Sergio Bravo Sánchez

Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM)

Lorena Velasco Guerrero

Universidad Francisco de Vitoria (UFV)

Jaime Elipe Soriano

Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM)

19:30h. Sede Fundación Tatiana en Madrid. Paseo del General Martínez Campos 25, Madrid

Read more here.