Volume 133, Issue 1

The inquest (Latin inquisitio) was an important administrative tool in the hands of government officials of the later Roman empire and of the Regnum Francorum. Imperial and royal officials used inquests to safeguard the fisc, and also to assure accurate tax assessments. Scholars long have recognized that the inquest also served similar roles in the hands of government officials in the Carolingian empire during the reigns of Charlemagne and Louis the Pious. By contrast, most specialists in the history of the east Frankish kingdom and of its German successor under the Ottonian dynasty have argued that the lands east of the Rhine lacked the sophisticated administrative institutions that were characteristic Carolingian government in the first half of the ninth century. This study offers a corrective to the traditional view that both the eastern Carolingians and the Ottonians presided over administratively backward realms. It was rather the case that the eastern Carolingian rulers and their Ottonian successors used inquisitiones to safeguard the royal fisc from misuse, neglect, and theft. In addition, these rulers used inquests to maintain control over the assets of ecclesiastical institution.

The Waldeck manuscript in the Hessian State Archives in Marburg in the tradition of vehmic law sources. The sources of vehmic law conveyed in this manuscript are each late versions and therefore play only a minor role in tradition. However, as it is the sole proof yet that vehmic law manuscripts were used in Waldeck, the manuscript is important. Furthermore, the comparison with similar manuscripts allowed new insights into the tradition of vehmic law sources. Zusammenfassung Die in der Waldecker Handschrift des Hessischen Staatsarchivs Marburg überlieferten Femerechtsquellen gehören jeweils zu den jüngeren Fassungen und spielen deshalb in der Überlieferung keine größere Rolle. Die Handschrift ist aber wichtig als bisher einziges Beispiel dafür, dass auch in Waldeck Femerechtshandschriften in Gebrauch waren. Bei dem Vergleich mit anderen derartigen Handschriften konnten zudem neue Erkenntnisse zur Überlieferung der Femerechtsquellen gewonnen werden.

Inclusion and Exclusion - The legal position of citizens and Beisassen, denizens and foreigners in late-mediaeval Frankfurt am Main. In the Middle Ages, most denizens in German towns were burghers, but also other groups such as Jews, denizens without citizenship or Beisassen (residents without full rights of citizenship). The Beisassen of Frankfurt were neither artisans nor poor people. Some depended on other lords or other towns, mostly the county of Hanau, which impeded them to become burghers of Frankfurt; others didn't want to. After 1498 the Beisassen - now called Beisitz - obtained legal relationship for limited time periods each.

The succession legislation of the Holy Roman Empire - On the understanding of the sources of law in early modern times. Though the succession legislation of the Holy Roman Empire 1498−1529 affected only a small part of private law, it is excellently suited to examine the understanding of the sources of law in early modern times, the interaction between the imperial and territorial legislators, imperial and territorial courts as well as the relationship of imperial law and common law to particular law and customary law. A closer look is also given to the context of this succession legislation, the institutions involved and the final consequences. Zusammenfassung Die Erbfolgegesetzgebung des Reiches zwischen 1498 und 1529 berührte inhaltlich zwar nur einen kleinen Ausschnitt des Privatrechts, eignet sich aber vorzüglich als Anschauungsobjekt zum Rechtsquellenverständnis in der frühen Neuzeit, zur Interaktion zwischen Reichs- und Territorialgesetzgeber, Reichsgerichten und Territorialgerichten und dem Verhältnis von Reichsrecht und gemeinem Recht zu Partikular- und Gewohnheitsrecht. In diesem Zusammenhang wird auch näher auf Anlass, Akteure, Kontext und Folgen dieser Erbfolgegesetzgebung eingegangen.

Argument about legal fees in the early modern period. Part 2: jurisdiction and types of procedure. Part II of this investigation, following ZRG GA 132 (2015), pp. 152-218, describes the practice of the courts. What were the possibilities for procurators to sue for their fees if the parties did not pay them? Most aspects of procedural law were quite unknown until now: The Rescripts of the Aulic Council and the Mandata de solvendo of the Wismar Tribunal were complete different ways for the procurators to get their fees. Not surprisingly, the Wismar procedures seem the more powerful and effective ones, enabling the administrative and jurisdictional organization of the Swedish territory to sue in a promising way. On the other hand, the procedures at the Imperial courts show, up to the end of the Old Empire in the summer of 1806, the typical weakness, even if some effective bureaucracy can be observed.

In the mid-18 th century, in the context of a growing monarchical activism during Pombal’s government, Portugal went through a period of reforms that pushed to deep changes in the national legal culture. The legal reforms encompassed three complementary phases: the reform of the legal sources system, performed by the so-called ‘Law of Good Reason’, the reform of legal education, and the reformulation of the set of fatherland laws. The purpose of these changes was to place the royal fatherland laws at the center of Portuguese legal science by promoting its application and theoretical elaboration, and marginalize Roman law. The reforms did not achieve everything they set out for, but left an indelible mark on Portuguese legal culture. Zusammenfassung Aufgeklärter Absolutismus und Rechtskultur in Portugal: Aufstieg und Fall des rechtlichen Pombalismus im 18. Jh. (1769-1789): In der Mitte des 18. Jahrhunderts, innerhalb eines wachsenden monarchischen Aktivismus während der Regierung Pombals, ging Portugal durch eine Periode von Reformen, die auf tiefgreifende Veränderungen in der nationalen Rechtskultur drängten. Die rechtlichen Reformen umfassten drei sich ergänzende Phasen: die Reform des Rechtsquellensystems durch das sogenannte ‘Gesetz der guten Vernunft’, die Reform der Juristenausbildung und die Neuformulierung des vaterländischen Rechts. Der Zweck dieser Änderungen war, die königlichen vaterländischen Gesetze durch die Förderung ihrer Anwendung und theoretischen Ausarbeitung zum Zentrum der portugiesischen Rechtswissenschaft zu machen und das römische Recht zu marginalisieren. Die Reformen erreichten nicht alles, was sie erstrebten, übten aber einen bleibenden Einfluss auf die portugiesische Rechtskultur aus.

The Staedel Heritage Case. Japanese civil code § 42 stems from German civil code § 84: J.F. Städel established, in his testament, both the foundation of the Städel-art institute at Frankfurt on Main, and that it should be his testamentary heir. Follows the rather complicated Städel-case 1817-1828. In 1826, an attorney at the Higher Court of appeal pointed out an analogy to the postumus heir. The analogy was taken up by the first draft of the Civil code, then disappeared. The drafter of the Japanese civil code adopted it without giving it much thought. Zusammenfassung § 42 des japanischen BGB entstammt dem „Städel-Paragraphen“ § 84 des deutschen BGB. J.F. Städel stiftete in seinem Testament ein Kunstinstitut, das zugleich Testamentserbe sein sollte, und löste damit den Rechtsstreit 1817-1828 aus. Erstmals 1826 weist ein Anwalt am Lübecker Oberappellationsgericht auf die Analogie zum erbenden postumus hin. Die Pandektenwissenschaft und die Gerichtspraxis waren ganz überwiegend gegen die Analogie, das BGB akzeptierte sie ausdrücklich noch in den gedruckten Motiven zum 1. Entwurf, später nicht mehr. Nobushige Hozumi, der Verfasser des japanischen BGB, übernahm die Analogie-Lehre unreflektiert.

The legal discussion on the breach of Belgian neutrality in World War I: This paper focuses on the legal quarrel which ensued from the violation of neutral Belgium in 1914. The aim is to understand why the German argumentation failed to assert the legality of the invasion in international law. To this end, three main arguments put forward by the German legal scholars to justify the breach of Belgium’s neutrality are reviewed, as well as the reply of the allied jurists.

Inbetween the Spanish-American colonial law and the law of the national state of Argentina (16 th to 20 th century). The article provides an overview on nearly six decades of investigation on Latin-American traditions in legal history. It serves two purposes: At first, to understand derecho indiano, its connections with local urban milieus and governments and royal acts, in short a world of casuismo. Secondly, to explain the later history and the fundamental change of this legal culture since the 19 th century.

New research on Anglo-Saxon law. The article reviews five works connected to Anglo-Saxon legislation in different fields of research. The material for Volume II of Wormald’s opus magnum existed in various stages of development when Wormald died in 2004 and it is a miscellaneous collection of papers and lectures, partly delivered at the University of Oxford by the author. Roach is connected to the teachings of Wormald as a historian of kingship; challenging old models, Roach focuses with comparative eyes on the role of assemblies in Anglo-Saxon England as an essential feature of kingship. An „unaccustomed point of view“ on early English law is also held by Jurasinki/Falk who offer the 1 st complete edition of Theodor’s canons and by Jurasinski’s work on those penitentials which gave advice on matters of secular law. In doing this he discovers not only that the scribes who translated them from Latin recasted them into new rules intended to better suit the needs of English laypeople, but also how wrong it is to assume that only kings participated in the creation of Anglo-Saxon legal culture. A review of works on early English legislation cannot avoid the question of language of the legal sources. They were mostly written in the Anglo-Saxon vernacular rather than in Latin like the continental leges. Hough brings together historical and linguistic evidence and explores various aspects of the legal system of Anglo-Saxon England, focusing particularly on the interpretation of laws on the position of women in society.

Addenda to „German medieval Law Books and their manuscripts“. This article presents newly discovered manuscripts and single leaves of German-language customary law books. It describes variations to the manuscripts and single leaves listed in U.-D. Oppitz, „Deutsche Rechtsbücher des Mittelalters“, vol. II, Cologne 1990. A passage from the Erfurt Chronicle (1447) points at the importance of the Saxon mirror at court.

Crime and Ostracism in the medieval court records of Kulm. As a High Court (Oberhof) of the State of the Teutonic Order in Prussia, the town of Kulm on the Vistula was a center of Magdeburgian law in eastern Central Europe. The article discusses some aspects of criminal practice, which are provided by the recently edited court records of said city from the 14 th through the 16 th century. Primarily, they show the ostracisms (Verfestungen) of offenders on the run. Because they could be apprehended by anyone - not just the accuser -, the offenders were forced to either conclude a settlement with the victim or hand themselves in to the court. The court records give no information about offenders who had been seized and judged immediately after committing the crime (handhafte Tat). Therefore, albeit the sources contain interesting facts on the history of crime, they don’t allow a complete crime statistics of the town. Zusammenfassung Die Stadt Kulm an der Weichsel gehörte als Oberhof des Deutschordensstaates in Preußen zu den Zentren des Magdeburger Rechts in Ostmitteleuropa. In den vergangenen Jahren sind die eigenen Gerichtsbücher der Stadt Kulm aus dem 14. bis 16. Jahrhundert ediert worden. Sie gewähren Einblicke in die Gerichtspraxis, zu welcher die Normen der schon längst publizierten Rechtssammlung des „Alten Kulm“ aus der zweiten Hälfte des 14. Jahrhunderts verglichen werden können. Der vorliegende Beitrag analysiert nur die strafrechtlichen Aspekte der Quellen. Sie registrieren in erster Linie die Verfestungen flüchtiger Täter. Diese konnten vom Kläger oder anderen ergriffen werden und waren daher gezwungen, entweder mit dem Opfer eine Sühnevereinbarung zu schließen oder sich dem Gericht zu stellen. Die Gerichtsbücher geben keine Auskunft über die sofort ergriffenen und im Handhaftverfahren gerichteten Täter. Daher enthalten diese Quellen zwar interessante Tatsachen auch zur Verbrechensgeschichte, ermöglichen aber keine vollständige Verbrechensstatistik jener Stadt.

On the Problems of Translating Judicial Practice - France and Japan in the 19 th century: What does it mean to shape judicial practice in a process of massive legal transfer? The translation of the normative framework and the institutional settings into a foreign legal culture might be difficult; even more difficult is translating methods, instruments and tools of decision-making. The article suggests in a first step how legal historians can reconstruct these unwritten methods of judicial practice. In a second step, it discusses the case of France and Japan in late 19 th century. It argues that due to the fact that methods of decision-making are highly dependent to socializations, habitus and experiences, they were not translatable when Japan set out for building up a court system shaped according to the French model. This untranslatability created a gap - a gap that had to be filled by creating an own experience based habitus.