Assignment October 19

Law of citation

426

Roman law issued by the emperor Valentinian III. It was designed to help judges deal with vast amounts of jurist writings. Authority was given to Ulpianus, Gaius, Paulus, Papinianus and Modestinus, as they were some of the outstanding jurists of the classical period.

Theodosian code

438

It was a compilation of Roman Law authorized by Eastern Roman Emperor Theodosius II. The code was intended to streamline and organize the complicated body of imperial laws promulgated since the reign of Emperor Constantine in 312 C.E., but it included laws from much further back. it comprehends the Codex Gregorianus and the Codex Hermogenianus.

Fall of the western empire

476

The fallen of the West part of the Empire is the beginning of a difficult period for these populations. The main event as we will see is the invasion of the Barbarian Tribes.

Code of Euric

476

Euric was the first king who promulgated written law, before him different norms were enforced, but they were oral.
The code is made up by Roman law and it was often criticized by scholars.

An age without jurists

Period: 500 to 1000

after the fallen of the Roman Empire in the weastern part of the Empire started a period of strong crisis.
There were many problems, but the must important was survival, people had to deal with hunger, epidemics, wars. There was a wide spread of illiteracy, for this reasons it was a very hard period for jurists, judges were not experts in law and they used summaries such as epitome, books for summarizing law, abstracts.

Lex Romana Visigothorum

506

It is the most widely used and most complete Roman legal corpus of the Early Middle Ages. It was issued in 506 by the Visigothic king Alaric II and regarded as the official law code. It contained roman law: imperial constitutions (leges) and also replies by classical jurists (iura).

Justinian becomes emperor

527

Justinian Codex

529

Justinian gives to Tribonian and his commission the job of gather all the codes already existing to make a Code with binding force. The codex contained pre-Justinian constitutions from Hadrian and subsequent imperial statutes. The end of the work was announced by Justinian on 7 April 529, with the constitution Summa Rei publicae.

Justinian’s Digest and Institutions

533

Justinian charges the Tribonian to write the Digest, a work containing fragments of Roman jurisprudence. Another work is represented by the Institutions which are also published in 533. These are 4 books for students of law also containing the law no longer in force and that fell into disunity.

Justinian’s Novels and Codex repetitae praelectionis

534

The last work is called “Novellae”, in Justinian’s idea it had to be a collection of the new statues concerning criminal, family and ecclesiastical law, but this plan did not work out. Novellae represent the final part of the Corpus Juris Civilis, but it is derived by private compilations. After the publication of the code, many other statutes were passed so a year later Justinian charged a commission of five men to update the code.

Codex revisus

Period: 568 to 586

It is a new edition of the code of Euric. It did not survive: we know of its existence thanks to the laws appeared in the Liber Iudiciorum with the expression “antiquae”.
Leovigild was the first king who defended the fact that Visighots had an identity and they were different from Romans.

Liber Iudiciorum

654

Reccesvinth is the most important king in terms of promulgation of laws.
He wanted to strengthen the royal power. He promulgated the Liber Iudiciorum (654): a set of laws promulgated by several visigoths kings. In it we can find laws of Visighots and for the first time modification of Roman law
The liber Iudiciorum was a way to reach indipendency form Romans, even if it was deeply influenced by Roman laws.

Liber Papiniensis

1000

The Liber Papiensis also called the Liber Legis Langobardorum is a collection of legal texts. The Liber includes all the edicts issued by the Lombard kings between 643 and 755 in chronological order.

Irnerius's life

Period: 1050 to 1125

He was an Italian jurist from Bologna and also founder of the School of Glossators in there. He was the most important one at that the time, sometimes called as “lantern of the law” (lucerna juris). Irnerius taught the newly discovered Justinian’s work in form of gloss, short summaries of meaning of the norms. Basically he made systematic reorganisation of medieval law based on Roman law.

Rediscovery of Justinian’s compilation

1070

With the revival of the city commentators of the Bolognese school of the XII century, in opposition to the barbaric laws then in use, rediscovered Roman law and reinterpreted the forgotten texts of the Corpus Iuris Civilis.

Publishing Dictatus Papae

1075

It is a compilation of 27 statements of authority claimed by the pope. According to the Dictatus, the pope is the unlimited lord of the universal Church with the right to decide in all matters of Christianity. While he may judge all, no one may judge him. He may appoint bishops and he may dethrone emperors.

Creation of the university of Bologna

1088

The University is historically notable for its teaching of canon and civil law. It was set up in large part with the aim of studying the Digest which had been discovered in Italy in 1070. The University was very important in the development of medieval Roman law.