Odd Topics, Old Methods and the Cradle of the Ius Commune: Byzantine Law and the Italian City-States

Daphne Penna

doi:10.18352/ulr.403

Abstract

In this paper I try to demonstrate how Byzantine law, a subject odd and exotic at first sight provides a piece of the puzzle that helps us to complete the big picture, the origins of our European legal identity. I refer to some concrete examples of legal interaction between the Byzantine and the Western side of Europe in the tenth, eleventh and twelfth centuries – a period in which the ius commune began to take shape – and explain the method I used step by step, the specific challenges I confronted in the sources and the outcomes of this approach. The comparative legal study of documents of the medieval period at a European level can help us to answer the question whether, long before the making of today’s Europe, today’s European countries were already connected by common legal forms.

Highlights

Introduction to the subject and methodThe roots of European common private law lie in the medieval ius commune
It is generally accepted that the medieval ius commune began to be formed in Bologna in the late eleventh century, when Roman law was ‘rediscovered’ and acquired a second life
These acts were promulgated in the form of a privilege act, known as a chrysobull, but were in reality treaties between Byzantium on the one hand and the Italian cities on the other.[2]

Summary

Introduction to the subject and method

The roots of European common private law lie in the medieval ius commune. It is generally accepted that the medieval ius commune began to be formed in Bologna in the late eleventh century, when Roman law was ‘rediscovered’ and acquired a second life. In the first part all Byzantine documents referring to Venice, Pisa and Genoa were studied and analysed in chronological order from a legal point of view These documents consisted of the privilege acts of the Byzantine Emperors in favour of the Italian cities, and, for example, of imperial letters in which information was given about the negotiations which took place beforehand. These Byzantine documents formed excellent material for answering the research questions for the following reasons: they referred to practical legal issues. Some documents have not been preserved at all and we only have indirect references to them in other sources

Justice

Grants of immovable property