87695 - ETA' MEDIOEVALE E MODERNA

Learning outcomes

Students will get a general knowledge of the evolution of the sources and of the main institutions of merchant and maritime law in a time span that goes from the 12th century to Italian codification in 1942. They will thus be able to think critically about this sector of law and its connection with the development of society, thus reading it in an historical perspective.

Course contents

Module 2 – Medieval and Modern Period / Ugo Bruschi

As to the medieval and modern period, first of all the course will focus on how the sources of law merchant and to a lesser extent maritime law played a special role in the medieval and early modern legal order. Attention will be also paid to the network of personal and international relations so vital to the world of merchants, a world in which the legal element was intertwined with ethical and social issues. To this end, lectures will deal not just with the most frequent transactions of the time, but above all on the sources of law merchant, on treatises about it and also on primary sources concerning the life of merchants. The rise of the Modern State changed this world and its effects on law merchant and maritime law will be analysed in depth. The last section of the course will cover the issue of codification (the if and how) of commercial and maritime law in the 19^th and early 20^th century.

A more detailed list of the topics covered in this module is provided just below.

- General outline on the medieval legal order and on the system of Ius Commune

- Law merchant and maritime law in the Middle Ages

- Medieval mercantile transactions

- Disputes and failures: mercantile courts and going bust in the Middle Ages and in the early modern period

- Origins and contents of the ‘Book of the Consulate of the Sea’

- Further sources of medieval maritime law

- The world of the merchants as seen by writers of treatises

- The merchant community: a juridical, social and anthropological perspective

- Law merchant, maritime law and the challenge of the rise of the Modern State

- Mare Clausum vs. Mare Liberum

- The rise of privileged joint stock companies

- General outline on the crisis of the system of Ius Commune and on the route to codification of law

- A transformation of the sources of law? Louis XIV’s Ordonnances

- Commercial and maritime law in Napoleon’s codification

- General outline on commercial and maritime law in Europe during the 19^th century

- To be or not to be a self-sufficient Code? Codification of commercial and maritime law in Italy from the Unification to World War II

Readings/Bibliography

Students who regularly attend classes will be assessed just on the contents of the lectures, and of the primary sources discussed during the course.

For students who do not regularly attend classes, the following books are required reading:

1) Francesco Galgano, Lex mercatoria, Bologna, 2016, Introduction and from Chapter I to Chapter VIII (both included);

2) Enrico Spagnesi, Il codice della navigazione. Una vicenda giuridica speciale, Pisa, 2014, only Chapters 1 (with the exception of §§ 10-12) and 2 (up to p. 123).

Students who already took the History of Commercial and Maritime Law exam in another course and are in need of additional credits are kindly requested to get in touch with Dr Bruschi, providing the following information: number of additional credits required and syllabus of their previous course.

Teaching methods

This course consists of two modules: a first module, on the Roman age, taught by Ivano Pontoriero, and a second module, on the medieval and modern period, taught by Ugo Bruschi.

As to this second module, alongside lectures on more general subjects, there will be classes with a more seminar-like approach, centred on primary sources: students are encouraged to take an active part in them.
Since the course is held in the spring term, it is to be hoped that, by then, university life will be back to normal and, consequently, that lectures will be held in the presence of students. Updates will be published in due course on the official website of the University of Bologna and/or of the Department of Legal Studies.

Assessment methods

Exams will consist of an oral test. Students will be assessed either on all the topics dealt with in the required reading (for students who do not regularly attend classes) or during classes (for those who attend them). Classes will be held from late February to early May: students enrolled in the first year cannot take their exam before the end of May. Students need to register for their exam on the Almaesami website.

The outcome of the exam will be assessed according to the following criteria. Students mastering with skill and perspicacity the historical evolution of commercial and maritime law from the late Middle Ages to Modern Age and who will also know relevant data, such as historical figures, events and chronology, will be excellently graded (final mark between 27 and 30 hons.). Students who will prove sufficient knowledge of the topics dealt with and of just more important facts will get decent marks (final mark between 22 and 26). Rote learning will lead to pass the exam only if learners show minimum knowledge of key subjects (final mark between 18 and 21). Students showing serious gaps in their information, or unable to capture the historical and juridical sense of the topics dealt with, will fail the exam.

Teaching tools

Teaching material will be available on the Virtuale website

Students are strongly advised to subscribe to the mailing list
ugo.bruschi.StoriaDirittoCommerciale_Marittimo_2022
through www.dsa.unibo.it. The mailing list will be used in order to circulate useful information, such as urgent notices about classes. Students are asked to refrain from replying to the messages sent through the mailing list, as replies sometimes get lost. Instead, they should write directly to Dr Bruschi (ugo.bruschi@unibo.it).

Students with learning disabilities (DSA) are more than welcome to contact Dr Bruschi in order to work out the best way of studying and/or taking the exam.

Office hours

See the website of Ugo Bruschi