Assignment 3

Post-classical period of Roman law

Period: 235 to 527

The so-called post-classical period in the field of legal history begins in the year 235 A.D. and ends in the year 527 A.D. During this period, the structure and the sources of the legal system experienced a deep transformation. Legislation became the main source of law, and the latter was conceived as an unitary model and inevitably linked to power and authority.

Pauli Sententiae

284

The work called Pauli Sententiae, composed of five books, was written by an anonymous author at the end of the III century, using mainly classical jurist Paulus’s writings as a basis. The work can be defined as a summary of Paulus’s writings, destined to education. After its first writing, the work was modified by various anonymous authors. Pauli Sententiae has provided legal historians with a better knowledge about the process of popularization of law in the Occident.

Epitome Ulpiani

284

Not much information is known about the work called Epitome Ulpiani. It is usually admitted by legal historians that said work was published during the III century. It is possible for us to know about its existence thanks to a manuscript conserved at the Vatican Library. According to the jurist Fritz Schulz, the fragments contained in the Epitome Ulpiani belong to the Liber singularis regularum, written by the classical jurist Ulpianus. Currently, different theories are being considered.

Codex Gregorianus

292

Codex Gregorianus is defined as a compilation of unofficial rescripts destined to jurists and law students. Its name must be due to its creator, someone called Gregory. Codex Gregorianus was probably written in the year 292 A.D., in Nicomedia or Rome. It was probably composed of fifteen books, divided into titles which contained rescripts chronologically ordered. The oldest of said rescripts dated from the time of Emperor Hadrian, while the most recent ones were from the year 292 A.D.

Codex Hermogenianus

295

Finally, the so-called Codex Hermogenianus is also a compilation of unofficial rescripts destined to jurists and law students. Said work was written by the jurist Aurelius Hermogenianus, member of Diocletian’s and Maximian’s imperial chancelleries, and published by him in the year 295 A.D. Codex Hermogenianus contains Diocletian’s rescripts from the years 293 and 294, A.D. It is divided into titles and can be conceived as a continuation or appendix of the Codex Gregorianus.

Fragmenta Vaticana

320

The name Fragmenta Vaticana refers to a mixed collection of iura (jurisprudential fragments) and leges (imperial laws) compiled in the post-classical age. The work has not come down to us in its entirety and it was discovered in 1820. The jurisprudential fragments are taken from the works of Papiniano, Paolo and Ulpiano, as well as from a work on the subject of disqualification by an anonymous jurist. the emperor Costantine with a constitution forbade this in 321

Agreement between Visigoths and Romans

418

Visigoths appear into the Roman Empire as a help.
Honorio ans Walia sign the agreement in 418 in the Galic period.
The agreement based: Visigoths had to defend the Empire and Romans had to lend to Visigoths better farm land and they gave to the Visigoths a way of life.

Lex of citations

426

This constitutio principis called “Law of citations “,it’s made by Valentian III and it is used to establish which jurists can be considered for the “Interpretatio” of the texts.This constitution aims to limit the number of jurists , they are five : Papinianus, Ulpianus, Paulus, Gaius and Modestinus, In the event of an even number of views on each side, the view of Papinianus would be applied.If Papinianus expressed no opinion, the judge would then be free to use his own judgement.

Codex Theodosianus

438

The codex Theodosianus is a compilation of the laws since 312, it is made by Theodosius II. This code is published ,after nine years, by a costituito of 15 February 438. It is used both in the west and the est of the empire since 1 January 439. The emperor decides to create a single code with the constitution from Constantine onwards . The Codex theodosianus is made by 16 books which are divided into titles

EURIC

466

EURIC (466-484)
He was the first Visigoth king who reproduce laws writing.
He promulgated the Code of Eric which contains vulgar roman law and it has not been preserved in its entirely.

Fall of western Roman Empire

476

Fall of the west roman empire is placed at 476 d.c during this year , the barbarian king Odoacer deposed the last emperor of the Western Roman Empire in Italy, Romulus Augustulus, and the Senate sent the imperial insignia to the Eastern Roman Emperor Flavius ​​Zeno.Modern historians have hypothesized several causal factors including the decline in the efficiency of his army, health and population numbers, the economic crisis, the incompetence of the emperors,

Middle Ages

Period: 476 to 1492

The period known as Middle Ages begins in the year 476 A.D. (fall of the western Roman Empire) and ends in the year 1492 (discovery of America by Columbus).

ALARIC II

484

ALARIC II (484-507)
He promulgated LEX ROMANA VISIGOTHORUM which contains 2 kinds of norms: leges which are imperial constitutions and aura which contains replies by classical jurists.
He created sources like: Codex Theodosionus (lex) , Epitome Gai (summary), Codex Gregorianus (lex)...
He created an Interpretation (less in the Epitome) which it was necessary to clarify law.
Also he created the commonitorium which it is the only text for trials.

Justinian´s Goverment

Period: 527 to 565

Flavio Pedro Sabacio Justiniano was the Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire from August, 527 until his death in november 565.

Codex Justinianus

529

In 529, Justinian published the Codex Justinianus, which was a collection of twelve books containing four thousand five hundred and sixty two imperial edicts from the time of Hadrian (who ruled from AD 117 to 138) until Justinian. These were organized by subject and all were correctly attributed to the emperor who had dictated them and with a date.

The Corpus Iuris Civilis

529

The Corpus Juris Civilis ("Body of Civil Law") is the modern name for a compilation of fundamental works in jurisprudence, created between 529 and 534 by order of Justinian I, Byzantine Emperor.
The Justinian compilation integrate: the Codex, the Digesta (or Pandectae), Institutiones, the Novellae Constitutiones and the Codex repetitae praeletionis.

The institutiones

533

In 533, Justinian published the institutiones, which were a kind of manual of the Codex and the Digestum so that law students could better understand and apply them

The Digestum

533

In 533 Justinian published the Digestum (o Pandectae), which was a document made up of legal opinions of famous Roman jurists of the past, which could be cited by plaintiffs and defenders in court. It was also meant to be useful to practicing judges. These opinions, used as advice, were edited, reduced and collected in 50 books (instead of the previous 1500 of them) and organized by subject.

Novellae constitutiones

534

Justinian between 534 and 565 created the Novellae constitutiones, which were edicts written mostly in Greek. These Novels, addressed the social changes that Byzantine society had undergone and its evolution with respect to Roman society at the time of Constantine. Thus, the rights of groups such as women, slaves and children were improved. Furthermore, it was established, for the first time in Roman law, that the emperor was the only legitimate source of law.

Codex justinianus repetitae praelectionis

534

Justinian's Code was revised to reflect the recent legislation and it was republished in 534 with the name "codex repetitae praelectionis".
It was divided into twelve books, each book is divided in turn into titles, and these into laws. These books are about ecclesiastical law, material sources of law, obligations and powers of the magistrates , the civil law, the praetorian law, the criminal law and the organization of the empire from the administrative and financial point of view.

LEOVIGILD

568

LEOVIGILD (568-586)
Leovigild was the first king who defend that Visigoths were different from the Roman.
He defend the territorial unification: Defeat of the Suevi and the Byzantines.
He defend the strengthening royal power: Plenitude potestatis.
He promulgated Codex Revisus (new edition of the code of auric)
This code didn't survive and we know something about the code because laws appeared in the Liber Iudiciorum with the inscription: antique.

RECCESVINTH

649

RECCESVINTH (649-672)
He strengthening of royal power against the nobility.
He created legal source: Liber Iodiciorum (654) which are books for trials which are a set of laws promulgated by several Visigoths kings.
This book is very important for Spanish law because it contains texts for trials, it was remained till Early Middle Ages and its the first book which change the important of Roman Law Independence from Visigoths

First half of the 11th century

Period: 1001 to 1050

In the first half of the 11th century the society was divided into those who prayed (clergy), those who fight (knights), those who labour (peasants). Legal professionals were not in this framework. Craft and commerce were also excluded. Trade was considered practise for undue and illicit gain.

Gregory VII

1020

Gregory VII was head of the Catholic Church from 22 April 1073 to his death in 1085.
Pope Gregory VII was one of the greatest popes of the medieval church, who lent his name to the 11th-century movement now known as the Gregorian Reform or Investiture Controversy. Gregory VII was the first pope to depose a crowned ruler, Emperor Henry IV (1056–1105/06).

Irnerius

1050

Medieval Italian jurist Irnerius helped recover Roman law in the late 11th Century. Irnerius is widely regarded as founder of the University of Bologna and the father of modern Civil Law.
Surviving manuscript copies of Justinian's compilation were rediscovered and systematically studied and reproduced by glossators at the University of Bologna. These new editions of the compilation became the foundational source for Roman law in the Western tradition.

Second half of the 11th century: radical renewal

Period: 1051 to 1100

In the second half of the 11th century, the structure of “feudal civilization” was crumbling. Canons of all manual and professional operations were overthrown. New urban markets and new social classes as jurists, doctors and merchants were created. The market took place in the cities, so they became very important.

Great Schism (The Church split into the Eastern and the Western churches)

1054

On July 16, 1054, Patriarch of Constantinople Michael Cerularius was excommunicated from the Christian church based in Rome, Italy. His excommunication was a breaking point in long-rising tensions between the Roman church based in Rome and the Byzantine church based in Constantinople. The resulting split divided the European Christian church into the Western Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church.

Dictatus Papae (The Dictates of the Pope)

1075

Dictatus papae is a compilation of 27 brief and pointed declarations that emphasize papal primacy and even includes the radical claim that the pope had the right to depose emperors. Scholars agree that Gregory was the author of these ideas and that the Dictatus strikingly reveals his vision of papal primacy, even though the sources and purpose of the Dictatus are still in dispute.

The Investiture Controversy

Period: 1076 to 1122

The Investiture Controversy was a conflict between the papacy of the Catholic Church and the Salian Dynasty of German monarchs who ruled the Holy Roman Empire over who had the right to appoint bishops and other church officials. This controversy caused several armed conflicts.
The dispute was largely an ideological one between the Pope Gregory VII and the King of the Germans, Emperor Henry IV although the conflict persisted beyond their deaths and had political consequences for centuries.

12th century

Period: 1101 to 1200

In 12th century, towns were the new forms of political power. They were considered the places of freedom.