Rady, Martyn Customary Law in Hungary: Courts, Texts, and the ‘Tripartitum (review)

Abstract

REVIEWS 541 the reader is denied the possibility of understanding that much more closely something of the substance of Latvian identity. Of course the book does contain some interesting material. For instance, we learn of the founding of a Baltic University in Hamburg in 1945 and the fact that it soon enrolled 1,200 students (p. 154). Unfortunately, however, the book also says a number of things that are of much less value. Some readers will scratch their heads at a sentence reading, ‘When Adolf Hitler came to power as president of Germany on 19 August 1934’ (p. 139). (Surely the ‘seizure of power’ had begun the previous year?) That the Baltic States managed to overcome serious economic problems in the late 2000s is said to be ‘greatly to the credit and hard work of their peoples, who stoically endured the necessary austerity measures’ (p. 198). The comments barely qualify as scholarly analysis. But maybe Kalnins had to cut corners on account of running out of words towards the end of the text, so you find comments such as the following: ‘The visitor today will be struck by the dynamic and optimistic atmosphere and the modern facilities but will also notice the social and economic disparities that still exist, particularly in urban areas where the dismal legacy of Soviet slums remains, a painful contrast to the affluent and renovated areas’ (p. 200). The comment is true enough, but nonetheless leaves you wanting much more. Certainly the book is nicely produced and quite possibly it would be appreciated by travellers heading off for Latvia for a holiday, but academics especially will be left wanting more. This lack of ‘something’ is perhaps touched on once again when you look through the notes and selected bibliography. There are titles in English, French and German, but no titles in Latvian. For a book supposed to reveal the character of Latvian identity and which is dedicated to this very people, it’s a strange omission. University of Bradford Martyn Housden Rady, Martyn. Customary Law in Hungary: Courts, Texts, and the ‘Tripartitum’. Oxford University Press, Oxford and New York, 2015. xii + 266 pp. Notes. Bibliography. Index. £60.00. This book should not be seen as a narrow work about law. The focus on custom should not lead prospective readers to think it is concerned with a minor part of the legal system. As Martyn Rady argues through the book, customary law was (and in a sense, still is) of central importance to the history of government, law and the administration of justice in Hungary. A book on customary law in Hungary is to a considerable extent a book simply on law in, and to an extent the constitution of, Hungary. SEER, 94, 3, july 2016 542 The focus of the book is on medieval law and practice. Of the twelve chapters, four are on aspects of medieval law (principally, some later developments are considered) and another on the medieval courts (chapters 4–8). The first chapter is a brief overview of early and medieval Hungarian history, as well as consideration about the idea of customary law. Chapter two considers the most influential source of Hungarian law, one which purported to set out contemporary custom, the Tripartitum of Stephen Werbőczy and the various sources of customary law in Hungary, the roles of which are considered in chapter three. Themes throughout these chapters include the relative unimportance of legislation in medieval Hungarian law and the dangers of an uncritical reliance on the Tripartitum as a guide to Hungarian custom both before and after its publication in 1517. Chapters nine to twelve run through various later developments. Each of these chapters covers a wide range of substance, such that the chapter titles do not fully reveal the substance addressed. Chapter nine considers procedural and jurisdictional changes in the Habsburg context. While chapter ten is described as addressing early-modern attempts to put the law into writing, attempts to do this risked affecting established beliefs, ideas and practices, especially about governance and the constitution. Much more than ‘codification’ (as the title describes the chapter) is considered here. Chapter eleven, about law and practice in the long-eighteenth century, also...