Abstract:
This open-access monograph addresses in a comparative way one of the central questions in legal history: how did law structure and condition the lives of enslaved people in the Dutch Republic between 1579 and 1794? By exploring Roman-Dutch law and its transregional applications, the study foregrounds the normative framework that sustained systems of unfreedom across metropolitan and colonial settings.
The book investigates the influence of Roman law on slavery in the Dutch Republic and in territories administered by the Dutch West India Company, the Society of Suriname, and the Dutch East India Company.
Methodologically, the study draws on the Bellagio-Harvard Guidelines on the Legal Parameters of Slavery to construct a systematic analytical framework. These Guidelines serve as an instrument for identifying the legal powers constitutive of slavery and the private-law mechanisms through which they could be exercised and enforced. On this basis, the book develops a structured questionnaire to facilitate an interregional comparison, enabling an in-depth analysis of similarities and divergences across the four jurisdictions under consideration: Curacao, the Netherlands, Suriname, and The Cape.
The project thus constitutes a form of internal, or more precisely interregional, comparative legal history. By tracing how Roman law functioned as both a foundational and adaptable source within distinct local configurations, the study illuminates the dynamic interplay between learned law and local legislation. In doing so, it contributes to broader debates on legal pluralism, imperial governance, and the juridical construction of slavery in the early modern world.
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whole book for free here: DOI 10.4324/9781003706755.
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