How to Ensure Predictability in Legal Pluralism

Merchants and their Interaction in Late Medieval Europe

Contributions by Gregor Rohmann Contributions by Ulla Kypta Contributions by Matthias Berlandi Contributions by Alexandr Osipian Contributions by Leslie Carr-Riegel Contributions by Olga Kozubska Contributions by Tobias Boestad Contributions by Gijs Dreijer Contributions by Anna Maleszka Contributions by Philipp Höhn Edited by Gregor Rohmann Edited by Ulla Kypta Series edited by Ulrike Ludwig Series edited by Peter Oestmann

Book cover: How to Ensure Predictability in Legal Pluralism

Extent: 300 pages

Publisher: Böhlau Verlag Köln

Subjects: Business & Economics, Law, Medieval Studies

Language: English

Hardback (Published)

(November 2025)

ISBN: 9783412533762

6.3 x 9.25 inches

Price: $75.00

In stock

How did pre-modern merchants provide for predictability in situations of legal pluralism? What kind of practices did merchants use to make other parties act according to their expectations? In spheres of legal pluralism, different normative framings always overlapped and had to be negotiated in order to manage expectations. How did the actors in premodern trade decide on the framing they would act upon? The contributors discuss various means to cope with legal pluralism in place in Northern Europe, from trust and diplomacy to violence and normative orders. Taken together, the contributions show that merchants and their communities did not strive for a unification and harmonization of laws according to modern statehood, but for an enhancement of their particular group’s position in a pluralist normative field.


How did pre-modern merchants provide for predictability in situations of legal pluralism? What kind of practices did merchants use to make other parties act according to their expectations? In spheres of legal pluralism, different normative framings always overlapped and had to be negotiated in order to manage expectations. How did the actors in premodern trade decide on the framing they would act upon? The contributors discuss various means to cope with legal pluralism in place in Northern Europe, from trust and diplomacy to violence and normative orders. Taken together, the contributions show that merchants and their communities did not strive for a unification and harmonization of laws according to modern statehood, but for an enhancement of their particular group’s position in a pluralist normative field.

  • Contributions by Gregor Rohmann
  • Contributions by Ulla Kypta
  • Contributions by Matthias Berlandi
  • Contributions by Alexandr Osipian
  • Contributions by Leslie Carr-Riegel
  • Contributions by Olga Kozubska
  • Contributions by Tobias Boestad
  • Contributions by Gijs Dreijer
  • Contributions by Anna Maleszka
  • Contributions by Philipp Höhn
  • Edited by Gregor Rohmann
  • Edited by Ulla Kypta
  • Series edited by Ulrike Ludwig
  • Series edited by Peter Oestmann