From lex mercatoria to commercial law.

The argument of lex mercatoria because of its important implications mainly in the international and commercial field of great interest to the jurist of civil law is also fundamental to the historian of law. In fact, it can be considered both as a witness of new commercial legal institutions risen from the practice of affairs and defined by an international juridical science, and as a moment of crisis of the consolidated system since the first codes of the juridical sources. The authors of the articles collected in the present volume are historians of law of different cultural background and provenience. The publication at issue was conceived as an almost obligatory intervention in a debate which rather scantily considers epistemology as well as disciplinary boundaries. Each single study highlights a different aspect of the lex mercatoria and its relationship to the ius commune, studying both under different perspectives. The authors explore well-founded historical evidence across a broad chronological period from the Middle Ages until the nineteenth century, acrossing institutional settings differing both politically and operationally. The historical problem of the lex mercatoria is mainly dealt with from the point of view of the sources. The volume collects general studies in relation to the problem of the existence of the lex mercatoria and more specific items many of them dedicated to the maritime law. Thus different keys of interpretation are given concerning the development of the European commercial law.

Klappentext

The argument of lex mercatoria - because of its important implications mainly in the international and commercial field of great interest to the jurist of civil law - is also fundamental to the historian of law. In fact, it can be considered both as a witness of new commercial legal institutions risen from the practice of affairs and defined by an international juridical science, and as a moment of crisis of the consolidated system since the first codes of the juridical sources. The authors of the articles collected in the present volume are historians of law of different cultural background and provenience. The publication at issue was conceived as an almost obligatory intervention in a debate which rather scantily considers epistemology as well as disciplinary boundaries. Each single study highlights a different aspect of the lex mercatoria and its relationship to the ius commune, studying both under different perspectives. The authors explore well-founded historical evidence across a broad chronological period from the Middle Ages until the nineteenth century, acrossing institutional settings differing both politically and operationally. The historical problem of the lex mercatoria is mainly dealt with from the point of view of the sources. The volume collects general studies in relation to the problem of the existence of the lex mercatoria and more specific items - many of them dedicated to the maritime law. Thus different keys of interpretation are given concerning the development of the European commercial law.

Zusammenfassung
"Der besprochene Band gibt ein vielseitiges Bild über einige Kapitel der Entwicklungsgeschichte des Handelsrechts. Aus dem reichen Material konnte der Rezensent nur etliche Grundgedanken hervorheben, während die Details höchstens sporadisch angedeutet werden konnten. Der höchste Wert des Bandes liegt wohl in der ausführlichen Darstellung zahlreicher mittelalterlicher und frühneuzeitlicher Quellen, die sogar den Rechtshistorikern nur wenig oder kaum bekannt sind. [...] Die vom Herausgeber des Bandes empfohlene Forschungsmethode kommt in den einzelnen Abhandlungen zweifelsohne zur Geltung. Aus dieser Forschungsmethode können auch die Romanisten die entsprechenden Lehren ziehen." András Földi, in: Zeitschrift der Savigny-Stiftung für Rechtsgeschichte, Romanistische Abteilung, 124/2007

Inhalt
Inhalt: V. Piergiovanni, Introduction - D. R. Coquillette, "Mourning Venice and Genoa": Joseph Story, Legal Education and the Lex Mercatoria - A. Cordes, The search for a medieval Lex mercatoria - C. Donahue, Jr., Benvenuto Stracca's De Mercatura: Was There a Lex mercatoria in Sixteenth-Century Italy? - R. Ferrante, Codification and Lex mercatoria: the maritime law of the second book of the Code de commerce (1808) - M. Fortunati, The fairs between lex mercatoria and ius mercatorum - K. W. Nörr / K. Schlecht, Zur Entwicklung der Schiedsgerichtsbarkeit in Deutschland: Gesetze und Entwürfe des 19. Jahrhunderts - A. Padoa-Schioppa, The Genoese commenda and implicita in a Discursus by Casaregis - V. Piergiovanni, Genoese Civil Rota and mercantile customary law - J. W. Shephard, The Rôles d'Oléron: a lex mercatoria of the Sea? - A. Wijffels, Business Relations Between Merchants in Sixteenth-Century Belgian Practice-Orientated Civil Law Literature