Medieval Roman law

With the reception of Roman law influencing the dissected by Custom ( consuetudo ) and particular law legal landscape in the Old Kingdom through the Roman- canonical law is meant. This happened just in the Old Kingdom, very intense and in several phases. Even in the 19th century, after the fall of the empire, it came through the Pandektenwissenschaft to another " front wave" that influenced the formation of the BGB in Germany decisively. Important companion reception are mainly a scientific nature of the legal system as well as to write down the aspiration, legal principles and theories.

Early and late phase

The reception of Roman law has its origin in the rediscovery of Roman law on the faculties of Pavia and Bologna in the 11th century. In particular, the Bolognese legal education based on the ancient sources, the likely introduced Irnerius, must be mentioned in this context, it can still apply as the birth of professional legal education in the late Middle Ages. Here, with the Roman legal texts of the Codex Justinian, and later of the Decretum of Gratian ( and the corpus iuris Canonici ) meant. The discovery of a text, the almost forgotten Digest ( Littera Florentina ) in 1070 provided the impetus for a law which again dealt with the Roman law. As part of this rediscovery, the jurisprudence has established itself as a learned branch of scholasticism, and later as an independent science.

It is divided into the stages of early and late reception. In the early reception, it was mainly were the monasteries and ecclesiastical courts, the carrier reception. The reason for this can be seen in the legal training clergy who presided over the courts or monasteries. Later trained in Italy lawyers occupied more frequently administrative and judicial positions in Europe and the Holy Roman Empire countries and thus could replace the slow to place there for laymen.

From the 14th century the newly founded universities can be regarded as the most important carrier of the late reception. At this both the African justitia ( Roman ), as well as canon law was taught after the founding wave mid-14th century. The establishment of new universities supported the spread of legal education, including in the kingdom. Prague 1348, Vienna 1365, Heidelberg 1386 The trained lawyers here worked in the administrations of the empire and the territories as a judge or legal scholar. Nevertheless, it can be spoken by the similarity of the sources of law, of a uniform legal education in Europe. This first phase of the reception is considered on the grounds of the Imperial Chamber Court in 1495 as ended.

Glossators, post glossators, Konsilitoren

The first in-depth study of the Roman law was achieved by the jurists of Bologna and Pavia in the form of a commentary on the texts of the corpus iuris Civilis in the 12th century. Here the original text annotations have been added to the relevant pages ( glosses ). It is therefore also called the Glossator time. ( The same applies to the processing of the Decree of Gratian or Corpus iuris Canonici ). In this context, Irnerius, who worked as a lawyer at the Law School of Bologna to call ( to 1125 ), and probably first began with commenting on the corpus iuris. The importance of this glossators lies mainly in its preparatory work for the ius commune. But they were also quite creative activity ( for example, in matters of tort and tort law, they also developed the principles of the GoA and the unjust enrichment ). One of the most comprehensive commentaries compiled by Accursius (1183-1286) in a collective work, which was called Glossa ordinaria.

In the following period, the glosses were more extensive, so that they were in separate books to comments. The working in this phase lawyers also turned more and more of the legal practice in European countries and influenced them through the preparation of legal opinions. They tried for the first time, legal decisions by abstraction to solve the individual case and thus to develop common principles in practice. Turning to legal practice made ​​an extensive study in the legal areas of commercial law necessary.

Practical spreading in modern times

After the establishment of the Imperial Chamber Court ( RKG ) is this ( and the Reichshofrat ) intended for a major role in the continued reception of Roman law as the highest court in the HRR. Although this has never been officially raised to the imperial law and the empire, state and common law ( cunsuetudo ) officially vorgingen him it was the most important conceptual source for the classification of legal concepts in modern times. Therefore, the Roman canon law from the judges was also mostly preferred since there was a clear written and systematic fixation here.

Important for the progression of practical reception also was the popularization of the law -received by readily understandable, German -language law books Roman law content, so the first name and Klagspiegel of Conrad Heyden (around 1436 ), and in the 16th century, inter alia, Ulrich Tenglers lay mirror and Justin Goblers right mirror. Such writings promoted the penetration of Roman law in the lower levels of legal practice that were still largely influenced at this time by non-lawyers. Indirect consequence was an increased legalization of everyday life.

Epoch of custom modernus pandectarum

Scientifically the reception in the era of custom modernus pandectarum was promoted again in the Holy Roman Empire. Due to the fact that the Roman canon law had not been used as imperial law formally, the established rules of law were subjected to critical examination continuously in the time of the Holy Roman Empire. Particularly intense this argument succeeded in custom modernus pandectarum, which is not just another epoch in the reception of the Roman canon law, but whose merit it is that a uniform legal system formed from the legal practice out (for the private law ) in the Holy Roman Empire could be. In this era, which is a pan-European to see in their development ( mos gallicus, mos italicus ), the existing particularistic law, legal practice and the learned Roman law to the existing conditions in the Holy Roman Empire was adjusted so that a uniform legal system to began to emerge. The authors questioned, in the spirit of humanism, the sources of the corpus juris and the corpus iuris Canonici and compared these with ancient jurisprudential texts. In addition, an attempt was made to unify the particular law and the learned law. The entire rezipierte Roman law was critically re-evaluated. The case-related literature increased during this time. At the end of the era of the usus modernus already beginning of the Enlightenment and thus held discussion with the natural law was penetrated.

Historical epilogue

The last effect reception expressed in Germany at that development, which ultimately led to the codification of the Civil Code, namely in the 19th century at the instigation Friedrich Carl takes place from Savigny's historical renovation, which called for a Neubefassung with the Roman legal sources on the basis of a should develop general German civil law ( Pandektenwissenschaft ).