Testamentary Freedom, 'ius commune' and Particular Law (c. 1400-1620): Volume 31 (Iuris Scripta Historica)

As one of the remnants of Roman law, acts of last will have played an important role in European history. Last wills offer many opportunities for interdisciplinary research, as they are positioned at the crossroads of law, social history, economic history and the history of mentalities. Despite being formally the expression of a testator’s ultimate wishes, the last will was subject to restrictions and formalities from various sides, such as princely laws, family interests and stipulations from ius commune.( )This volume collects nine papers by an international group of scholars on the legal status, use and restrictions of acts of last will, with a special focus on various European regions that in the fifteenth to seventeenth centuries constituted a periphery within the ius commune tradition. The papers are structured around three major themes: the study of testamentary practices as a lens for the study of social life; the position of ius commune in comparison to local legal discourse and practice; and the relation between particular law and testamentary freedom. Cover Title Copyright TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION PART I TESTAMENTARY PRACTICE AS A LENS FOR STUDYING SOCIAL LIFE PRACTICING PARTIBLE INHERITANCE IN LATE MEDIEVAL FLANDERS AND BRABANT 1. Introduction 2. Inheritance, marriage and generational dynamics 3. Making inheriting conditional 4. Disinheritance? 5. Conclusion TESTAMENTARY INHERITANCE IN THE LATE MEDIEVAL POLISH COUNTRYSIDE: SOURCES AND LEGAL PRACTICE* – 1. 2. Donations 3. Social reception of the testaments 4. Final comments BETWEEN THEORY AND PRACTICE: THE LVIV MODEL OF INHERITANCE LAW IN THE LIGHT OF THE TOWNSPEOPLE’S WILLS FROM 1541-1599 2. Wills whose provisions go beyond the accepted model of inheritance 3. Distinction 4. Ingratitude 5. Venality 6. Conclusions PART II AND LOCAL LEGAL DISCOURSE AND PRACTICE BY THE LEUVEN LAW PROFESSORS ROBERTUS DE LACU († 1483) AND NICOLAUS EVERARDI (c. 1462-1532) ON THE LAW OF LAST WILLS 1. Introduction 2. Testamentary freedom 3. Validity requirements 4. Conclusion ‘AS GOOD AS POSSIBLE ACCORDING TO THE LAWS’ TESTAMENTARY WITNESSES IN FIFTEENTH-CENTURY FRISIA 1. The Frisians and their freedom 2. The Frisian sources 3. Last wills in classical Frisian law 4. Last wills in late medieval Frisia and the 5. The number of witnesses in fifteenth-century law texts 6. The number of witnesses to Hotnya’s last will 7. Conclusion ON LEGAL PRACTICE AND THE SCHOLARLY DISCOURSE OF 1. Introduction on the 2. 3. Legal practice and theoretical discourse of 4. Conclusion: the dynamics of the relation between legal practice and scholarly discourse PART III PARTICULAR LAW AND TESTAMENTARY FREEDOM LAST WILLS, POSTMORTAL DISPOSITIONS AND TESTAMENTS IN EARLY MODERN SAXONIAN LAW: WITH FROM TO THE 1. Introduction 2. Questions and sources 3. Jurymen’s votes concerning last wills 4. Conclusions TESTAMENTARY FREEDOM IN SIXTEENTH-CENTURY BOHEMIAN LAW 1. Introduction 2. Testamentary capacity 3. Property excluded from testamentary capacity 4. Content limits of the will 5. Necessity of consent of a higher authority 6. Conclusion LAST WILLS OF KRAKÓW UNIVERSITY PROFESSORS AND THE SCOPE OF TESTAMENTARY FREEDOM IN POLAND IN THE SIXTEENTH AND SEVENTEENTH CENT 1. Professors’ wills: in search of the proper law 2. Scope of testamentary freedom 3. Freedom of wills in practice 4. Conclusions INDEX ABOUT THE AUTHORS