13734 - History of Medieval and Modern Law

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course, students will be able to master a general outline of the evolution of different sources of law, of legal science and of some institutions in a time span that goes from the 5th to the early 18th century. Through the analysis of the medieval and modern legal order, students will come to learn that countless different experiences can lie behind positive law, and thus grow more sensible jurists.

Course contents

The course focuses on the history of legal culture. The aim is to enable the student to understand the design of legal history by developing a critical approach. Law as a part of the culture of its time will be contextualised in European history. The course will focus on the period between the 11th and 17th centuries, referring - for its completion - to the course on the history of modern and contemporary law.
Key areas:

Irnerius and the scientificisation of law; The school of glossators and its modes of scientific production; The birth of the university; The birth of the science of canon law; The particular rights produced by states and cities in Western Europe; The system of common law; Common law as the law of jurists from Accursio to the school of commentators; Legal humanism and its modes of scientific production; The Dutch elegant school and the German Usus modernus pandectarum; From the School of Salamanca to Hugh Grotius; The concept of law between the Middle Ages and the modern age; The anti-jurisprudential ideology; The responses of the jurist/judge; The great courts and the judge/jurist's judgments; Courts and jurisdictions in the cities of the ancien regime; Seventeenth-century legal culture in Italy; Neo-humanism between the 1600s and 1700s; The "defects of jurisprudence" according to reformist jurists between the 1600s and 1700s; The birth of the science of criminal law; The normative science of the noble class

Readings/Bibliography

 The examination will focus on the following texts

1) AA.VV., Tempi del diritto, III edition, Turin, Giappichelli, 2022:

Chapters I to IV (including but not limited to paragraphs 6 and 7)

1)Marco Cavina, Ai confini del problema criminale, 2nd edition, Bologna, BUP, 2022:

the following chapters:
1. La bilancia e la spada. Ippolito Marsili e le origini bolognesi dell’insegnamento criminalistico
2. Garantismo e tortura. Intorno alle dinamiche della cultura d’Antico regime
3. Crimini imposti. Il mandatum superioris fra teologi e giuristi (sec. XVI-XVIII)
4. Funzioni della pena bassomedievale
5. La scienza dell’onore, il duello e la vendetta. Il disagio della trattatistica
6. De legibus et moribus amantium. Antropologia giudiziaria dell’amore aristocratico fra André le Chapelain e Benoît Court (sec. XII-XVI)
7. De praeda militari. La variabile geometria della illiceità del saccheggio nella cultura giuridica fra Medioevo ed età moderna
8. Mito e realtà della caccia alle streghe nell’Europa moderna
9. Una fama diabolica. Profili del problema probatorio nel processo di stregoneria
10. La prova mistica dell’acqua fredda. Diritto tradizionale, diritto dotto e stregoneria (secc. XVI-XVII)
For attending students, the use of notes and slides is envisaged as a supplement to the teaching material, as well as deductions from the special part of the syllabus to be agreed upon in class.

In the A.A. 2023/2024, those who have already purchased the textbooks indicated by the previous chair Prof. Ugo Bruschi may still take the examination using them.

 

Teaching methods

Teacher-centred class. A seminar approach will be possible whenever dealing with primary sources, provided that students are willing to get more involved.

Assessment methods

As a rule, exams will consist of an oral test. Students will be assessed on all the topics dealt with in the required reading as well as during classes (for those who attended 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 evolution of law and jurisprudence from the 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; an exceptional ability to navigate the subject and to personally rework the contents of the course will lead to a final mark of 30 hons.). Students who will prove sufficient knowledge of the topics dealt with and of just more important facts will get decent marks (between 22 and 26). Rote learning will lead to pass the exam (final mark between 18 and 21) only if learners show minimum knowledge of key subjects. Students showing serious gaps in their information, or unable to capture the historical and juridical sense of the topics dealt with, will fail their exam.

Teaching tools

Teaching material will be available on Virtuale. Students are strongly advised to subscribe to the mailing list of the course
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 Nobile Mattei (gustavo.nobilemattei@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 their exam.

Office hours

See the website of Gustavo Adolfo Nobile Mattei