law

ANTONIA FIORI

It is intended to provide students with an historical perspective on legal systems, legal thought and legal procedures in the Middle Ages, having special attention for the plurality of legal experiences.
At the end of the course the students will have acquired flexible and wide legal skills through the history. They will be able to understand both the complexity and the relativity of categories, concepts and legal systems in any context.
It is therefore intended as an aim to achieve, that the students develop their critical skills, and that they problematize the historical-juridical notions acquired. The expected result is the ability of communicating on matters of medieval legal history, helped by a correct use of language.

It is intended to provide students with an historical perspective on legal systems, legal thought and legal procedures in the Middle Ages, having special attention for the plurality of legal experiences.
At the end of the course the students will have acquired flexible and wide legal skills through the history. They will be able to understand both the complexity and the relativity of categories, concepts and legal systems in any context.
It is therefore intended as an aim to achieve, that the students develop their critical skills, and that they problematize the historical-juridical notions acquired. The expected result is the ability of communicating on matters of medieval legal history, helped by a correct use of language.

The exam can be taken by students who have passed the following exams: Istituzioni di diritto privato, Istituzioni di diritto pubblico e Istituzioni di diritto romano.

The course will seek to illustrate the historical evolution of law in the medieval period. It is divided into two main units.
In the first unit (4th-11th centuries) particular attention will be devoted to the plurality of early medieval legal systems; the relationship between customary law and legislation; the survival and re-emergence of Roman law; the early development of canon law; the lack of standard legal texts; dispute settlement.
In the second unit (12th to 15th centuries) the birth and evolution of legal science and the development of monarchies and municipalities will be the coordinates within which the most relevant themes of late medieval law will be studied. Particular attention will be given to (1) how medieval jurists (both civilians and canonists) employed the technical apparatus of Justinian’s Roman law to interpret contemporary reality while fashioning new and original institutions; (2) the creation of hermeneutical rules which could be subsumed within a system of logic which was exclusively legal; (3) the development of Romano-canonical procedure, which continued to be used in continental Europe until the 18th century; and (4) the issue of the relationship between iura propria and ius commune.

E. CORTESE, Le grandi linee della storia giuridica medievale, Roma (Il Cigno Galileo Galilei) 2000

Further bibiography is available on Moodle Sapienza.

The teaching activity is mainly composed of lectures and seminars

Attending students must study the syllabus given in class, which they can integrate with texts posted on Elearning.
Non-attending students have to study the texts indicated, and may contact the teacher for any explanations, which are provided in the scheluded consulting hours.

The final oral exam is aimed at verifying that the student understands and is able to critically examine the topics. For this purpose, the exam takes place through broad questions, that are gradually made more specific, depending on the answers. The acquisition of fundamental notions of the discipline, the understanding of the key features in every legal phenomenon studied, the ability to contextualize the latter in the correct space, time and cultural context (that is legal system, century, scientific tendency) are considered essential for the purpose of a positive evaluation.

In-progress evaluations are always optional for students and are carried out by means of multiple-choice tests (open to all attendees) and in-depth interviews with groups of 5-6 people (for those who also attend seminars).

The Justinian compilation in the early Middle Ages.
Difference between the glossa method and the commentary method.
The study of feudal law (Libri Feudorum).