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IMC 2017: Sessions

Session 133: Sources of Legal Authority: Ius commune and Customary Law in Conversation, I - Terms and Practice of Law

Monday 3 July 2017, 11.15-12.45

Sponsor:Iuris Canonici Medii Aevi Consociatio (ICMAC) / Institute for Legal & Constitutional Research, University of St Andrews
Organisers:Matthew McHaffie, Department of History, King's College London
Danica Summerlin, Department of History, University of Sheffield
Moderator/Chair:Helle Vogt, Center for Retskulturelle Studier, Det Juridiske Fakultet, Københavns Universitet
Paper 133-aThe ius commune, Ordines Iudiciarii, and English Ecclesiastical Court Procedure
(Language: English)
Sarah White, St Andrews Institute of Mediaeval Studies, University of St Andrews
Index terms: Administration, Canon Law, Ecclesiastical History, Law
Paper 133-bComparing Legal Sources: The Problem of Liege Lordship
(Language: English)
Hannah Boston, Trinity College, University of Oxford
Index terms: Administration, Law, Politics and Diplomacy
Paper 133-cBetween Treatise and Reality, Text and Authority: Mort d’ Ancestor in Bracton and in the Courts
(Language: English)
Will Eves, St Andrews Institute of Mediaeval Studies, University of St Andrews
Index terms: Administration, Canon Law, Law
Abstract

Ius commune and customary law are often seen as resting on different principles to structure legal authority and decision-making. The authority of written law in the ius commune is contrasted with the importance of precedent and consensus in customary law. Such distinctions have often been deployed by historians to argue for the sophistication of ius commune law in comparison to customary law, where the latter stands as a muddle of divergent practices when seen against the systematic organisation of the former, even though so stark an opposition now feels outmoded and inadequate. These sessions seek connections and commonalities between these two broad approaches to law in medieval Europe.