Late medieval ius commune: concepts, methods, influences
In recent decades, research on late medieval ius commune has brought to light unpublished texts, catalogued manuscripts and editions, investigated the production of the juridical book, traced the biography and production of several jurists, explored multiple institutes of private or public law, and offered syntheses on medieval legal science as a whole. However, while important works have long drawn attention to several historical and methodological questions, including that of the definition of ius commune, these questions still continue to challenge us today. Devoting a dossier to some of these issues seems necessary, not only to renew the debate among specialists, but also to show its relevance and importance to the community of historians and legal historians in its broadest sense. Our ambition is to collect studies that contribute to a better historicisation of medieval ius commune (twelfth century – early sixteenth century) and to strengthen a methodological awareness in its study, with the aim of overcoming approaches to this concept that are sometimes too vague and to avoid the ever-present risks of a merely dogmatic legal history.
Without being exhaustive, the following questions in particular seem to invite for reflection: