L’élaboration d’une normativité en droit des gens: le recours au discours historique dans le De legationibus d’Alberico Gentili

Abstract

Summary The development of normativity in international law: the use of historical discourse in Alberico Gentili’s De legationibus. – The aim of this article is to examine the sources used and the method employed by Alberico Gentili in his De legationibus, to elaborate a norm for the law of embassies. Although legal sources feature prominently in this treatise, the majority of them are derived from a variety of sources from Antiquity (historians, philosophers, rhetors, poets, etc.). Alberico Gentili mainly uses historical sources, and more specifically the exemplum, in his treatise. By mobilizing historical exempla alongside legal sources, the jurist created a rational normative system capable of responding to the diplomatic challenges of the sixteenth century brought about by constantly evolving practice.