Mihai Safta

The eleventh and thirteenth centuries represent the ascendency of the knight in the social structures of the European middle ages, and serve as the launching point for the newly created ideas in the patrician cast of the Hungarians. A relevant example is the struggle that Charles Robert of Anjou begun when he inserted into the old structures of the Kingdome his forefathers model of governing. I refer here mainly to the recompense system of honor. This ritual rooted back in the Carolingian period will be felt most in the new form that the Kingdome of Hungary must take and adapt both institutionally and judiciary.

This paper brings into focus two major innovations of European identity: the Liber Augustalis (1231) and Paneuropa (1923). It discusses several concepts of modern Europe and their possible medieval origins in the first written constitution of government in the Western tradition. The purpose of the constitutiones was to reign in these regimes and unite them under a single rule of law that defined the rights, powers, and duties of each of the components, purpose that mirrors the labors of the European Union today. We gaze into the ideological and terminological correspondences between the Liber Augustalis and Paneuropa in order to understand the origins of the best example of Pan-Europeanism: the European Union. Introspection on the machinations of the main European power of the thirteenth century that had one language (i.e. Latin) and wanted to create one law, offers a better understanding of the signs manifested by the Pan-European movement, with English serving as main language, slowly heading towards Europeanism. We contest the hypotheses regarding the primacy of the Paneuropa manifesto as the first popular movement for a united Europe, and we bring arguments that Europeanism is an heirloom of medieval origins, and that these constitutiones were not confined to defining the structures, procedures, rights, powers, and duties of government as later constitutions would be.

This article addresses firstly the terminological problems modern historian sencounter when discussing the law of property in the Middle Ages, and how its decontextualization has led to numerous inaccurate studies in the field of legal history, and secondly it is dedicated to Rudolph Sohmand his interpretation of the law of property and how his idea of institutional law can be applied to the medieval institutions of Transylvania in the early 14th century. Rudolph Sohm considers in his work Outlines of Church History that in the MiddleAges, society was composed of only two classes,the nobility and the clergy. They alone possessed property and they alone ruled. He describes landed property as the only kind of property recognized in that period. It is interesting to investigate in light of recent studies how political authority went hand in hand with the possession of land, and how were the classes defined by Sohm identified with and within the nation or the realm. His classification i...

The nature of consensual contracts, emptio-venditio and the ius commune. Although considered to be a mixture of canon and Roman law, the ius commune stands out as a product of the middle Ages. Having powerful resonance of Roman law sometimes in the guise of theological concepts it offers a very blurred image of medieval society. My study is focusing on the consensual contract, its birth, evolution and applicability in different time frames. From the classic Roman law to the ius commune of the XIV century, contracts have had a steady evolution. Despite the tumultuous history of ius after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, I bring arguments to prove that Roman law has found its way into the Curia Regis of the kings of Hungary not long after its rebirth in the heart of Christianitas, and by the end of the XIV century it was a fully fledged apparatus. Cuvinte cheie: contracte consensuale, drept roman, emptio-venditio, gândire politică, ius commune, drept medieval Iustitia est constan...

Prolegomena to the study of governance through the written word-Locus credibilis and the evolution of the chirographs. The present study is a research of the most recent works regarding the institution known as a place of authentication in the Middle Ages. The interest for this ecclesiastical institution is a way to understand the ascending theme of government that dominates the present European society, dominance achieved by means of the written word. Starting with the 13th century the Latin Western World developed centralized institutions, in order to consolidate and bureaucratize the affairs of the crown. In the case of the medieval kingdom of Hungary, this institution, the locus credibilis, has been described erroneously as a unique institution, much as the concept of familiaritas. By means of a comparative approach we bring arguments against this idea, and encourage further studies regarding the means of implementations and reception of the medieval law. Rezumat: Prin prezentul...

This article addresses firstly the terminological problems modern historians encounter when discussing the law of property in the Middle Ages, and how its decontextualization has led to numerous inaccurate studies in the field of legal history, and secondly it is dedicated to Rudolph Sohm and his interpretation of the law of property and how his idea of institutional law can be applied to the medieval institutions of Transylvania in the early 14th century. Rudolph Sohm considers in his work Outlines of Church History that in the Middle Ages, society was composed of only two classes, the nobility and the clergy. They alone possessed property and they alone ruled. He describes landed property as the only kind of property recognized in that period. It is interesting to investigate in light of recent studies how political authority went hand in hand with the possession of land, and how were the classes defined by Sohm identified with and within the nation or the realm. His classificatio...

EnglishThis article addresses firstly the terminological problems modern historians encounter when discussing the law of property in the Middle Ages, and how its decontextualization has led to numerous inaccurate studies in the field of legal history, and secondly it is dedicated to Rudolph Sohm and his interpretation of the law of property and how his idea of institutional law can be applied to the medieval institutions of Transylvania in the early 14th century. Rudolph Sohm considers in his work Outlines of Church History that in the Middle Ages, society was composed of only two classes, the nobility and the clergy. They alone possessed property and they alone ruled. He describes landed property as the only kind of property recognized in that period. It is interesting to investigate in light of recent studies how political authority went hand in hand with the possession of land, and how were the classes defined by Sohm identified with and within the nation or the realm. His classi...

This article addresses firstly the terminological problems modern historians encounter when discussing the law of property in the Middle Ages, and how its decontextualization has led to numerous inaccurate studies in the field of legal history, and secondly it is dedicated to Rudolph Sohm and his interpretation of the law of property and how his idea of institutional law can be applied to the medieval institutions of Transylvania in the early 14 th century. Rudolph Sohm considers in his work Outlines of Church History that in the Middle Ages, society was composed of only two classes, the nobility and the clergy. They alone possessed property and they alone ruled. He describes landed property as the only kind of property recognized in that period. It is interesting to investigate in light of recent studies how political authority went hand in hand with the possession of land, and how were the classes defined by Sohm identified with and within the nation or the realm. His classification is still used by many Hungarian and Romanian historians, and we argue against the use of the modern concept of property and offer a new definition for the numerous and various types of possession we encounter. Was the history of the nation their history? What defines the society in the Middle Ages? Is Sohm's definition of medieval property still functional correlated with the new developments in legal history? These are several questions that this research aims to answer by investigating the roman and medieval terminology used to define possession and nobility in 13 th and 14 th century Transylvania.

This article surveys the evolution and the creation of the royal household during the first decades of the reign of Charles Robert of Anjou. Following the brief presentation of the legal background of the chancellery we present the two main concepts, familiars and possession, and the effects of the civil war with the nobles, all the while considering and presenting the influences from two important Angevin-run regions: England and Sicily. We bring arguments against the concept of familiares regis as an original and regional concept, seeing it rather as an imported and adapted institution,displaying the influences and mutations suffered under the rule of the first Angevin king.

The present article focuses on the concept of medieval common law present in the space around the Carpathian Mountains, Transylvania and the medieval Kingdom of Poland. The law of the land that was used by the local “voievod” and/or “cneaz” was called the ius valachicum. Our research attempts to identify and clarify this concept of the lex Olachorum, based on original documents and terminology versus applicability in the medieval kingdom of Hungary, and the medieval kingdom of Poland until the dissolution of the territorial-social aggregation form known as “cnezat”, from a historical and juridical approach.

Keywords: ius commune, ius valachicum, cnezat, Hungary, Transylvania, Poland
Cuvinte cheie: ius commune, ius valachicum, cnezat, Ungaria și Polonia medievală

Abstract. The research aims to clarify certain terminological
misinterpretations in medieval legal discourse of the ius commune. After
a brief exposure of the institutional and political context of the Kingdome
of Hungary during the early thirteenth century, we will focus on the case
of the ”Burzendland” and its new masters, the Order of the Teutonic
Knights, in relations with the Holly See and the Crown, regarding
property rights and the exemption granted in 1224.
Keywords: Transylvania, Teutonic Knights, Medieval Hungary,
property rights, ius commune.

Abstract: The research will focus on the following concepts: imperium, potestas and auctoritas, the first representing today the dangerous dream of the Empire, the second represents power, (that may be omnipotent and omnipresent)  and the latter is more diffused, more prestigious, it supplements and intensifies the power. The concept of “auctoritas” is often misused with power bestowed upon by an “officium”. Between the 1960 and the late 1970, this term passed as an obsolete notion, and subsequently lost all validity. Today, the political discourse emphasizes on the restoration of authority of the State, of the parents, teachers, judicial and administrative authorities. Wrongfully presented, from a semantic point of view, as a power limited by legal institutions, it is currently the main subject of debates of  the “vie politique institutionnelle”. It is a specifically European term, and it refers to a specific political thought. Auctoritas justifies power, but the concept shifted throughout history from a Roman and rationalistic conception to a Christian faith-based conception, and again towards the modern secular rule of law.
Keywords: Authority, Power, Imperium, history of law, justification of authority and power, sociological dispute, anthropology, jurisprudence and doctrine of authority, rule of law.
                         
Abstract: Cercetarea se va concentra pe următoarele concepte: Imperium, potestas și auctoritas, primul reprezentând astăzi visul periculos al Imperiului, al doilea reprezintă putere, (care poate fi omnipotentă și omniprezentă), iar cea din urmă este mai difuză, mai de prestigiu, ea suplimentează și intensifică puterea. Conceptul de "auctoritas" este adesea utilizat în mod abuziv cu putere conferită de un "officium". Între anii 1960 și 1970, acest termen a trecut ca o noțiune învechită, și a pierdut apoi orice valabilitate. Astăzi, discursul politic pune accentul pe restaurarea autorității statului, a părinților, cadrelor didactice, autoritățile judiciare și administrative. Prezentată, din punct de vedere semantic, ca o putere limitată de instituțiile de drept, este în prezent subiectul principal al dezbaterilor din "vie politique institutionnelle". Este un termen specific european, și se referă la o idee politică specifică. Auctoritas justifică putere, dar conceptul s-a transformat de-a lungul istoriei de la o concepție romană și raționalistă la concepții bazate pe credința creștină, și din nou spre Rule of Law a statului modern, laic de drept.

Cuvinte cheie: Autoritate, Putere, Imperium, Istoria dreptului, antropologie, jurisprudență și doctrina autorității, Rule of Law.

The nature of consensual contracts, emptio-venditio and the ius commune. Although considered to be a mixture of canon and Roman law, the ius commune stands out as a product of the middle Ages. Having powerful resonance of Roman law sometimes in the guise of theological concepts it offers a very blurred image of medieval society. My study is focusing on the consensual contract, its birth, evolution and applicability in different time frames. From the classic Roman law to the ius commune of the XIV century, contracts have had a steady evolution. Despite the tumultuous history of ius after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, I bring arguments to prove that Roman law has found its way into the Curia Regis of the kings of Hungary not long after its rebirth in the heart of Christianitas, and by the end of the XIV century it was a fully fledged apparatus.

In this brief study of the medieval jurisprudence, customary law and contracts during the thirteen century I have presented some of the basic ideas of Bartolus, Baldus, Hostiensis, and exposed the two different opinions that were formed in the canonistic literature on the enforceability of contracts: Johannes Teutonicus and Innocent IV. During this “rebirth” of law in the thirteen century, roman and canon law witness the rise of the ius commune and its subsequent impact upon equity and justice. The influence of Roman law upon the canon law is well-known, however starting with Bartolus and Baldus, from the XIV century a new ius commune emerges based on the influence of the doctrine and jurisprudence of contemporary institutions and enhanced by the medieval mutations.

The paper brings forth several possible points of origin for the concept of the „state”, emphasized in the works of several of the great medieval philosophers: Marsilius, Bartolus, Dante. I bring arguments in the favor of an objective, law centered study, to clarify certain historiography theories for and against the original birth place of the state. Another focus of the research is the legitimacy of power and the legal applicability of canonical and imperial doctrines, and a presentation of the vicariate, territorial sovereignty, and the new man emerging from the turning of the XIII-century, in the background of the ideological fight between the Unam Sancta of Boniface the VIII and Dante’s  De Monarchia.

This paper brings into focus two major innovations of European identity: the Liber Augustalis (1231) and Paneuropa (1923). It discusses several concepts of modern Europe and their possible medieval origins in the first written constitution of government in the Western tradition. The purpose of the constitutiones was to reign in these regimes and unite them under a single rule of law that defined the rights, powers, and duties of each of the components, purpose that mirrors the labors of the European Union today. We gaze into the ideological and terminological correspondences between the Liber Augustalis and Paneuropa in order to understand the origins of the best example of Pan-Europeanism: the European Union. Introspection on the machinations of the main European power of the thirteenth century that had one language (i.e. Latin) and wanted to create one law, offers a better understanding of the signs manifested by the Pan-European movement, with English serving as main language, slowly heading towards Europeanism. We contest the hypotheses regarding the primacy of the Paneuropa manifesto as the first popular movement for a united Europe, and we bring arguments that Europeanism is an heirloom of medieval origins, and that these constitutiones were not confined to defining the structures, procedures, rights, powers, and duties of government as later constitutions would be.

Cette étude essaye de clarifier quelques conceptions de l'historiographie moderne pertinentes pour l`Europe de l'Est, les mutations régionales et les rapports féodaux-vassaliques, du royaume de Hongrois pendant le 14 e siècle. À partir de la prémisse de la division entre nobles et non-nobles, nous avons essayé de montrer que la société médiévale hongroise est influencée par le modèle importé de Naples (par Charles Robert), et que les institutions du pays de droit écrit ne sont pas étrangères à la frontière orientale du Christianitas.