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Legal history: western Europe & Scandinavia: Italy

Legal history in Italy: before and after unification

You are welcome to browse the collection with shelf mark beginning Italy on Level 3. However there may be useful books in the collection with shelf marks beginning General on Level 2. Thorough searching of SOLO is recommended - as in this topic you may well discover that other parts of the Bodleian also have mateirals to support your studies.

The Law Bod does have some issues of the journal Rivista di storia del diritto italiano at Italy 300 R290 but our run is not complete, and ends in 2008.

A Germanic tribe recorded in contemporary Latin records as Longobardus or  Langobardus ruled most of the Italian peninsula from the late sixth to eighth centuries AD/CE.(Longobardia Major and Langobardia Minor). In the vernacular, they became known as Lombards.  (During later periods, Lombardy lingered on as a term for Northern Italy - it still survives today as one of the northern most provinces of Italy.)

Leges Langobardorum

Rothair's edict.--The laws of King Grimwald.--The laws of King Liutprand.--The laws of King Ratchis.--The laws of King Aistulf.

Charlemagne, already King of the Franks, was King of Italy from 774 (prior to this he had had a brief marriage to the daughter of the King of the Lombards) His descendants (Carolingians) held power in Italy until c888, after which there was about 80 years of political instability. This dynasty principally used capitularies to "legislate."

It may be also worth checking the 300 - 1000 AD: Roman law survival page in this guide.

Law in the medieval Italian City-States.

As Italy, its scholars, universities, libraries & practitioners, played prominent roles in the development of western European legal culture, please consult the other pages in this guide for various aspects of pre 1500 Italian law & teaching.
Legal scholarship
MA: Roman law
MA: Canon law
MA: Libri Feudorum
MA: Law merchant

Some examples of works on later periods in the development of Italian law and legal system - unification as one state was established over 1848-1871.

Guide to current Italian law