Learned law in late medieval Netherlandish practice: Consilia for the congregation of Windesheim (ca. 1415-1500)

Abstract

Summary The Historical Centre of Overijssel in Zwolle and the Royal Library of Belgium in Brussels each conserve a fifteenth-century manuscript collection of legal and moral theological sources, written for the general chapter of the Augustinian canons regular of Windesheim. Both collections contain many ‘consilia’ by learned lawyers, several of whom were active in the prince-bishopric of Liège, at the universities of Paris or Cologne, or – especially – as professors of civil or canon law at the young university of Leuven. These manuscripts have already been the subject of a prosopographical analysis, but so far their content has not been studied. This article provides a substantive analysis of both collections. Topics include many disputes concerning the law of religious communities or regarding the congregation of Windesheim’s relationship to the diocesan bishops, the secular clergy and secular authorities. The volumes also cover diverse fields of the law of succession, contracts or delict.