Learning objectives
The course provides an overview of developments and transformations of law over the centuries of the Modern and Contemporary Ages, with the aim of highlighting the essentially historical nature of the legal phenomenon and of underlining the importance of a proper historical framework of current law.
Prerequisites
to take the exam of History of Italian Law II you must first have passed the examination of History of Italian Law I; the two exams may also be taken in the same examination session
Course unit content
The course aims to describe the evolution of legal experience in the Modern and Contemporary period. Taking its cue from the conclusion of the first course, and that is to say from the end of the Middle Ages, we will proceed to examine the changes introduced by Humanism, with the birth of the two different traditions of the mos gallicus and mos italicus. We will then focus on the Enlightenment and its consequences on the world of law, studying jusnaturalism and legal positivism. We will also examine the phenomenon of the codification and the experience of Pandectism. We will illustrate, then, the latest developments in the historical evolution of the legal phenomenon during the twentieth century. Some insights will be dedicated to the study of the jurisdiction during the Ancien Régime, as well as in the revolutionary period, in the Napoleonic age and liberal age. We will also briefly examine some of the most significant constitutional charters of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Full programme
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Bibliography
In order to prepare for the exam it is recommended to use the following textbooks:
M. Caravale: Storia del diritto nell'Europa moderna e contemporanea, Editori Laterza, Bari-Roma 2015;
P. Alvazzi del Frate: Il costituzionalismo moderno. Appunti e fonti di storia del diritto pubblico, Giappichelli Editore, Torino 2007;
G. Minnucci: Jean Hotman, Alberico Gentili, e i circoli umanistici inglesi alla fine del XVI secolo, in Studi di Storia del diritto medioevale e moderno, vol. III, Monduzzi Editore, Milano 2014, pp. 203-262.
Teaching methods
lectures, tutorials, seminars
Assessment methods and criteria
oral examination
Other information
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