Judicial reforms in Italy during the Enlightenment

Volume 354 of the Studien zur europäischen Rechtsgeschichte now published

In the Italian territories of Naples and Milan during the 18th century, the judicial system was a main area of reform efforts aimed at bringing the courts further into the sphere of influence of the respective territorial ruler. Drawing on three reform initiatives from each territory, the book traces the institutional changes within the courts. It reconstructs these reforms as historically open processes of negotiation, thereby offering a new perspective that takes into account the complexity of these processes. The study shows that these judicial reforms were not the work of individual “enlightened” rulers, but rather an expression of an institutional and social struggle between various actors for power and influence over the courts.

 

The thesis was awarded the Werner Pünder Prize by Goethe University Frankfurt am Main in 2025.