From Postclassical Roman Law until Irnerius

CARACALLA (198-217)

198

He promulgated the Constitutio Antoniana in 212

DOMINATE

Period: 235 to 527

In this period the emperor control every field ( judicial, legislative, government)
- The Emperor promulgates Imperial enactemts ( constitutions ).
- There is general law; special law; and the so-called "Pragmatica"
- At the end of the 3th century appear 2 important private compilations (Codex Gregorianous (292) and Codex Hermogenianus (295)) were made by jusrists.

POST-CLASSICAL ROMAN LAW

Period: 235 to 533

-In this period there is a distance from classical Roman sources and a deterioration of it. There is a simplification in all the aspects.
-Prevalence of statutes (emperor’s law).
-Jurists’ activity disappears: "ius publicae respondendi". The emperor wanted all the power so the responsa should disappear, but it could remain in some jurists the emperors decided.
-Unification: "lex" (law) – "iura"; (jurisprudence, jurist’s opinions).

DIOCLETIAN (284-305)

284

He was the first emperor (of the postclassical period) that tried to recover the power Roman Empire had in the classical period.
He also divided the empire in Western and Eastern for better administration

Codex Hermogenianus

295

Codex Gregorianus

295

CONSTANTINE (306-337)

306

He divided the territory and with him Rome disappeared as the capital of the Roman empire because of the appearance of different groups of barbarians.
He was the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity. With co-emperor Licinius, he issued the Edict of Milan in 313, which proclaimed tolerance of all religions throughout the empire.

EASTERN ROMAN EMPIRE (395-1453)

395

The situation in the east was better than In the west because of
- Culture remains in the East. Constantinople, rich libraries for culture in general but also for law (Alexandria, Berytus).
- Justinian and his work in the legal aspect.

Lex of Citations

426

-The emperor decided who were the most important jurist, the only ones that could be cited in trials : Papinianus, Paulus, Ulpianus, Modestinus and Gaius (most famous jurists in the Digest)
- Important for controlling the jurisprudence

Codex Theodosianus

438

Theodosius II. and Valentinian III. comissioned a compilation of all roman laws in Latin language from year 312-438.
It contained 16 books.
Laws which weren’t part of the Codex, lost their validity. Only fragments of the Codex survived.

Codex Euricianus

466

The visigothic king Euric (466-484) initiated a collection of visigothic laws in Latin language.
Most of the laws were vulgar roman laws and only orally transmitted.
The whole code didn’t survive; only fragments of it.

Fall of Western Roman Empire

476

The Western Roman Empire was from 395 to 476.
The political instability and the failure of implementing their rules caused the disappearance of the Western Empire. Social, economical, political and military problems led to the final collapse.

VISIGOTHS

Period: 501 to 701

In the 5TH Century they appeared into the Roman Empire as a help.
The emperors of this period were: Euric, Alaric II, Leovigild and Reccesvinth

Lex Romana Visigothorum

506

The so-called norm Lex Romana Visigothorum was a part of a compilation of imperial
constitutions and opinions of classical jurists enacted by the visigothic king Alaric II.
An assembly was approved by members from church (bishops) and society (nobles).
It contained parts of the Codex Theodosianus, the Epitome Gai, the Sententiae of Paulus, the Libri responsum of Papiniano and the Codex Gregorianus and Hermongenianus, as well as interpretatio.

JUSTINIAN (527-565)

527

Justinian tried to do a territorial unification, religious peace (wasn´t successful) and finally restore the old Roman Law.
Justinian achieved lasting fame through his judicial reforms, particularly through the complete revision of all Roman law, something that had not previously been attempted.
The total of Justinian's legislation is known today as the CORPUS JURIS CIVILIS: the Codex Justinianeus, the Digesta or Pandectae, the Institutiones, and the Novellae.

LEOVIGILD (568 - 586)

568

Leovigild was a popular visigothic king, who extended royal visigothic power.
He defeated the Suevi and the Byzantines and unified them to the kingdom.
He wanted to distance himself from the Romans. Nevertheless he failed to establish a religious unification of the country. Another important aspect is the Codex Revisus (568-586).
It was a revision of the Code of Euric and was published under Leovigild.

Codex Revisus (568-586)

568

It was promulgated by Leovigild.
-It was a revision/new edition of the Code of Juric
-The Code didn´t surive: this laws appeared in the liber iudicorum with the inscription: "antique"

RECCESVINTH - LIBER IUDICORUM

654

-Reccesvith was another important visigothic king who prevailed in the middle of the 7th century.
-The Liber Iudicorum was a set of laws promulgated by several visigothic kings. This "book for judges“ remained until the early middle ages.
It replaced former laws as the Breviary of Alaric and the Codex Revisus and it applied to romans as well as visigoths. Even though they wanted to separate from roman law, there were
numerous parallels.

AN AGE WITHOUT JURISTS

Period: 701 to 1100

During this period of time the society was dominated by hunger, epidemics and plagues as well as illiteracy. Cultural elites disappeared and jurists weren’t able to interpretate old laws.
Therefore the jurists simplified old sources and explained abstract words.

FIRST HALF OF THE 11TH CENTURY

Period: 1001 to 1050

In the first half of the 11th century, society was divided into three groups: those who pray (priests, monks) those who fight (soldiers: knights) and those who work (peasants).
Lawyers did not fall within this framework. Craft and commerce were also excluded: trade was considered practice for undue and illicit gain.

GREGORY VII (1015-1085)

1015

Pope Gregory VII was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from April 1073 until his death in 1085. He is one of the major reforming popes and is perhaps best known for his role in
the Investiture Conflict and his compilation called Dictatus papae.

IRNERIUS (1050-1125)

1050

Irnerius was the founder of the school of glossators in Bologna, the first that applied the scholastic method of textual interpretation to the Corpus Iuris, especially to the recently rediscovered Digest.
Ratio scripta – the written reason – Corpus juris Civilis.
Irnerius can also be considered the first law professor in Western Europe. He was expert in grammar and a legal practitioner, judge of the court of Emperor Henry V.

SECOND HALF OF THE 11TH CENTURY

Period: 1050 to 1100

In the second half of the century, changes are taking hold. Society follows feudalism.
Canons of all manual and professional operations were overthrown.
There are new urban markets and new social classes (jurists, doctors, merchants). The role of lawyers begins to be very important again.

The Church split

1054

DICTATUS PAPAE

1075

Dictatus papae is a compilation of 27 statements of authority claimed by the pope that was included in Pope Gregory VII´s register under the year 1075. While most of the principles of the Dictatus Papae detail the powers and infallibility of the papacy, principle 9 dictates that “All princes shall kiss the feet of the Pope alone.”

The Investiture Conflict (1076-1122)

1076

The Investiture Conflict was a conflict between the church and the state in medieval Europe over the ability to choose and install bishops and abbots of monasteries and the pope himself. A series of popes in the 11th and 12th centuries undercut the power of the Holy Roman Emperor and other European monarchies, and the controversy led to nearly 50 years of civil war in Germany.

BOLOGNA

1101

It was the era of legal glossators that began with the revival of the study of Roman law in Bologna at the end of the 11th century.
One of their first tasks was the reconstruction of Justinian´s Digest, a sixth-century compilation of Roman law, by comparing existing manuscripts.

TWELVE CENTURY

1101

12th century: from the feudal world to the urban civilization.
At this century, towns are new forms of political power. They promoted freedom, so people move from the countryside to the cities in order to buy and sell their products.