The Laws’ Many Bodies.
Studies in Legal Hybridity and Jurisdictional Complexity, c1600–1900.
Edited by Seán Patrick Donlan Edited by Dirk Heirbaut
Paperback (Published)
(October 2015)
ISBN: 9783428147151
6.18 x 9.17 inches
Price: $145.00
In stock
This volume examines the »poly-juralism« of Europe’s past through case studies from a number of perspectives and traditions. The authors remind us that law precedes and surrounds the state and they contest the anachronistic projection of modern legal nationalism, positivism, and centralism into the past. And these studies challenge both ideas of deep correspondence between laws, culture, and society and the division of Western traditions into reasonably discrete, closed legal families.
Across the West, a legal system centred on the state, the creation of general national laws, the elimination of competing jurisdictions, and the marginalization of non-legal norms was a very long historical process. This volume examines the »poly-juralism« of Europe’s past – its legal hybridity and jurisdictional complexity – through case studies from a number of perspectives and traditions: Anglo-American, continental, Nordic, and mixed. The authors remind us that law precedes and surrounds the state, which is but one source of norms. They contest the anachronistic projection of modern legal nationalism, positivism, and centralism into the past. And these studies challenge both ideas of deep correspondence between laws, culture, and society and the division of Western traditions into reasonably discrete, closed legal families. Indeed, the lessons of this plural past can shed considerable light on the present, both in the West and across the globe.
Seán Patrick Donlan and Dirk Heirbaut
›A Patchwork of Accommodations›: European Legal Hybridity and Jurisdictional Complexity – An Introduction
Adolfo Giuliani
Jurisdictional Complexity in the Ecclesiastical State: A Discussion on the Diversity of Laws in Legal Education and Legal Practice
Bram Van Hofstraeten
Jurisdictional Complexity in Antwerp Company Law (1480–1620)
Alain Wijffels
Ancien Régime France: Legal Particularism under the Absolute Monarchy
Anthony Musson
Jurisdictional Complexity: The Survival of Private Jurisdictions in England
Heikki Pihlajamäki
On Forgotten Jurisdictional Complexities: The Case of Early Modern Sweden
D. De ruysscher
Normative Hybridity in Antwerp Marine Insurance (c. 1650–c. 1700)
Bernard Durand
Pluralism in France in the Modern Era – Between the ›Quest for Justice‹ and ›Uniformity Through the Law‹: The Case of Roussillon
Aniceto Masferrer
Plurality of Laws and Ius Commune in the Spanish Legal Traditions: The Cases of Catalonia and Valencia
John Finlay
Jurisdictional Complexity in Post-Union Scotland
Martin Löhnig
Killing Legal Complexity: The Jurisprudence of the German Reichsgericht in the First Years of its Existence
List of Authors
Seán Patrick Donlan lectures at the University of Limerick, Ireland. He has published in the areas of comparative law, legal history and legal philosophy. He is especially interested in mixed legal systems, legal pluralism and micro-jurisdictions. Donlan edits »Comparative Legal History« and is active in a number of associations, including the »European Society for Comparative Legal History«. He is past President of »Juris Diversitas«, co-edits their book series (Ashgate) and is a member of the »International Academy of Comparative Law«.
Dirk Heirbaut is professor of legal history and Roman law at Ghent University. He publishes on comparative legal history, the history of private law codifications and medieval customary and feudal law. He currently leads a research team working mainly on modern Belgian legal history. He is a member of the »Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Science and the Arts« and of the »Academia Europea«, a member of the board of editors of the »Legal History Review« and »Pro Memorie« and co-editor of the series »Iuris Scripta Historica« and »Studies in the History of Private Law«. In 2014 he was awarded the Eike von Repgow prize of the City and the University of Magdeburg.
- Edited by Seán Patrick Donlan
- Edited by Dirk Heirbaut
»The present volume displays a variety of case studies showing the full extent of the early modern complexity in the various European legal traditions, including the civilian tradition of the continent, English Common Law and the Nordic traditions. For their purpose the editors could have compiled existing studies, but instead they motivated a number of legal historians from all over Europe to write original contributions with the sole purpose of elucidating the complexity mentioned above. This provides the volume with an added value, particularly since the authors made the effort to critically reflect upon each other’s drafts.
Moreover, the volume can be highly recommended due to the excellent, copious introductory chapter by the editors (9–34). [...] Researchers, entering the field of earlymodern law, will find a considerable amount of useful information.« Jan Hallebeek, in: Comparative Legal History, 25.05.2025»Dem Band ist starke Beachtung zu wünschen. Gerade die Ergebnisse der einzelnen Tiefbohrungen zeigen, wie reichhaltig die Quellen sprudeln.« Prof. Dr. Peter Oestmann, in: Rechtsgeschiche, Band 25/2017
»Welcher wissenschaftliche Mehrwert ergibt sich, wenn Normativität als Mixtur analysiert wird, wenn es also nicht um die Entwicklung bestimmter Rechtsdisziplinen, -schichten, -figuren oder -kodifikationen geht, sondern um die zuweilen konflikthafte und zuweilen harmonische Interaktion derartiger Entitäten? Der Sammelband zeigt, dass der Mehrwert immens sein kann.« Peter Collin, in: Zeitschrift für Neuere Rechtsgeschichte, Jg. 38, Nr. 3-4/2016
—
Other Titles in this Series
Historische Schule und Common Law.
Die deutsche Rechtswissenschaft des 19. Jahrhunderts im amerikanischen Rechtsdenken.
Volume 14
Rechtsfähige Stiftung und Charitable Corporation.
Überlegungen zur Reform des deutschen Stiftungsrechts auf der Grundlage einer historisch-rechtsvergleichenden Untersuchung der Entstehung des modernen deutschen und amerikanischen Stiftungsmodells.
Volume 23
The Records of the Medieval Ecclesiastical Courts.
Part II: England. Reports of the Working Group on Church Court Records.
Volume 7
Die deutsche Wissenschaft vom englischen Staatsrecht.
Ein Beitrag zur Rezeptions- und Wissenschaftsgeschichte 1748–1914.
Volume 16
Actio Pauliana und fraudulent conveyances.
Zur Rezeption kontinentalen Gläubigeranfechtungsrechts in England.
Volume 29
Case Law in the Making.
The Techniques and Methods of Judicial Records and Law Reports. Vol. 1: Essays.
The Civilian Writers of Doctors’ Commons, London.
Three Centuries of Juristic Innovation in Comparative, Commercial and International Law.
Volume 3
From the Judge’s ›Arbitrium‹ to the Legality Principle.
Legislation as a Source of Law in Criminal Trials.
Volume 31
Case Law in the Making.
The Techniques and Methods of Judicial Records and Law Reports. Vol. 2: Documents.
The Records of the Medieval Ecclesiastical Courts.
Part I: The Continent. Reports of the Working Group on Church Court Records.
Volume 6
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