A group of people sit in a room and attentively follow a presentation by Stefan Vogenauer.

Max Planck Lecture in Legal History and Legal Theory

To mark the extension of the mpilhlt’s disciplinary profile, the Institute has created a new lecture series, the Max Planck Lectures in Legal History and Legal Theory.

Six times a year, renowned scholars in the fields of legal history and legal theory are invited to present their current research.

The lectures are open to the public and will be held at 4.15 pm (on changing weekdays) at the Max Planck Institute for Legal History and Legal Theory.

Several people are standing and walking on a large, artistically intertwined light-colored circular or loop structure set into a dark, glossy floor. The shapes resemble interlinked rings, with overhead light reflecting off the surface.

Boundary Objects in Private Law

Max Planck Lecture in Legal History and Legal Theory

Date: Jan 14, 2026
Time: 04:15 PM - 05:45 PM (Local Time Germany)
Speaker: Thilo Kuntz
(Heinrich Heine Universität Düsseldorf) & Seth Davis (University of California Berkeley / online)
Location: mpilhlt
Room: Lecture hall (Z01)
Host: Marietta Auer

[more]

historical simple drawing in black and white showing Don Diego de Almagro, Don Francisco Pizarro, and Friar Vicente de Valverde kneeling before Atahualpa Inka at Cajamarca, with the Indian Felipillo acting as interpreter

Testing the limits of derecho indiano & the decolonial turn: when Caciques answered the Requerimiento

Max Planck Lecture in Legal History and Legal Theory

Date: Dec 3, 2025
Time: 04:15 PM - 05:45 PM (Local Time Germany)
Speaker: Arnulf Becker Lorca
European University Institute Florence
Location: mpilhlt
Room: Z01

[more]

Mis-uses of comparative law in international development

Max Planck Lecture in Legal History and Legal Theory

Date: Jul 2, 2025
Time: 04:15 PM - 05:45 PM (Local Time Germany)
Speaker: Fernanda G Nicola
(American University)
Location: mpilhlt
Room: Z01
Host: Stefan Vogenauer
Contact: ruether@lhlt.mpg.de

[more]

Black-and-white printed page with Chinese characters, large calligraphic character on the left, vertical columns of text on the right.

Reconsidering 'Law' in Traditional China and Beyond: A Shift of Approach from Judicature to Governance

Max Planck Lecture in Legal History and Legal Theory

Date: Jun 11, 2025
Time: 04:15 PM - 05:45 PM (Local Time Germany)
Speaker: WANG Zhiqiang
Fudan University
Location: mpilhlt
Room: Z 01
Host: Thomas Duve

[more]

Historical map featuring handwritten notations and symbolic illustrations.

Future-making and Custom in Indigenous Land Claims in Colonial Mexico

Max Planck Lecture in Legal History and Legal Theory

Date: Jan 15, 2025
Time: 04:15 PM - 05:45 PM (Local Time Germany)
Speaker: Yanna Yannakakis
(Emory University)
Location: mpilhlt
Room: Z01
Host: Thomas Duve
Contact: ruether@lhlt.mpg.de

[more]

Historical drawing of a group of people in a room with decorative walls.

From protection to jurisdiction: extraterritoriality and legal change in the nineteenth-century mediterranean

Max Planck Lecture in Legal History and Legal Theory

Date: Dec 3, 2024
Time: 04:15 PM - 05:45 PM (Local Time Germany)
Speaker: Jessica Marglin
(USC Dornsife)
Location: mpilhlt
Room: Z01
Host: Thomas Duve
Contact: ruether@lhlt.mpg.de

[more]

Colorful painting of a harbor scene with boats and an arching bridge.

The Property/ License Interface

Max Planck Lecture in Legal History and Legal Theory

Date: Jul 4, 2024
Time: 04:15 PM - 05:45 PM (Local Time Germany)
Speaker: Larissa Katz
(University of Toronto)
Location: mpilhlt
Room: Z01
Host: Marietta Auer
Contact: ruether@lhlt.mpg.de

[more]

Abstract painting with chaotic black, white, and red splatters on a beige background.

Legacies of Empire and the Study of Law

Max Planck Lecture in Legal History and Legal Theory

Date: May 28, 2024
Time: 04:15 PM - 05:45 PM (Local Time Germany)
Speaker: Philipp Dann (Humboldt Universität)
Location: mpilhlt
Room: Z01
Host: Stefan Vogenauer
Contact: ruether@lhlt.mpg.de

[more]

Detailed view of a hand resting on a knee from a dark-colored statue.

Slaves as Outsiders, Slaves as Property: Understanding Enslavement in a Global and Early Modern Context

Max Planck Lecture in Legal History and Legal Theory

Date: Apr 30, 2024
Time: 04:15 PM - 05:45 PM (Local Time Germany)
Speaker: Tamar Herzog (Harvard University)
Location: mpilhlt
Room: Z01
Host: Thomas Duve
Contact: ruether@lhlt.mpg.de

This talk seeks to de-center existing narratives regarding enslavement, which traditionally focus on how it was practiced in North America and instead observe it both in the long durée and more globally. It asks about the various roles enslaved persons played in different times and geographical locations, as well as questions the assumption that slaves were property by setting enslavement on a larger canvas and by observing early modern debates regarding both the household and labor relations. [more]