Conflict resolution through law in the Middle Ages

Volume 334 of the Studien zur europäischen Rechtsgeschichte now published

This volume presents the results of three trilateral research conferences that took place between 2018 and 2020 at the Villa Vigoni. It sheds light on the question of how the Church used the tools of the law to react to conflicts triggered by various crises between 500 and approx. 1500 CE. The research focused on differences, contested matters, disputes and ambivalent conflicts within the Church at the intersection of internal and external order, as well as on external disputes. What legal mechanisms to react to these issues were at the disposal of the Church? Over the course of history, was this arsenal expanded or limited? Were the Church’s reactions to the various challenges flexible or dogmatic, consequent or dilatory, radical or conciliatory? What was the overall impact of the law on the process of reforms: motivation and support, or perhaps an irritation, even a hindrance?