early modern period + humanism

1. rise of natural law 2. rise of humanism 3. rise on int law

what was the importance of start of colonisation

TL:DR - it created an understanding of how to make law universal amongst different countries + sparked a debate on the existance of universal rights

imp ppl who defended the natives: Bartholomé de Casas and Vitoria

what characteristic of roman law allows it to be used universally?

1. it is not tied to a time or place, but rather on the understanding that humans have some sense of rationality and reasonability

2. at the point where one believes that rationality and reasonability is innate to human beings (it is bc acquinas + aristotle tell you so), ius genitum is innate to ppl

   1. whether or not certain ppl have rationality is under debate!

3. ius gentium being used as national natural law arose during the time the whole of roman empire converted to Christianity

   1. @ the point God put rationality and reasonableness and possibility to know right from wrong into your heart, natural law is derived from God

      1. impact:

         1. natural law holds even more power at the point it can be actively used to criticise human made law (bc God > human)

         2. it ties the possibility to operate under a law system directly to ones religion - difficult if you have many

who protected native’s rights the most? what was the MAIN justification?

• Aquinas was base - Casas and Vitoria

• MAIN MECH: natives had a society before Spain marched in - this is empirical evidence of rationality and structure. thus they must have some type of natural law that they use, spain cannot just jump in and claim domination.

  • that esp bc men are created equal (Casas says this directly, Vitoria makes an indirect link between existence of rationality and thus having dignity twrds those individuals)

• SPAIN RULE CAN BE LEGITIMATE only if opted in with consent

define humanism

ideological philosphical theory, which emphasizes the dignity and value of individuals and their rights. It emphasizes a humanistic understanding of the legal system, promoting the advancement of human freedoms and opportunities. started in 14th cent in Italy, became important from 15th onwards

what is the main criticism humanists give to scholasticism school thinkers

1. trying to make everything coherent is wrong

   1. contradictions are good bc they rise from the evolution of society or form societal differences - e.g. one old guy believes gay is ok, other doesn’t - difference in societal upbringing

   2. avoiding contradictions = you never understand the law, bc you need to contextualise each point in correct society and time in order to understand a) what that law wants to say and b) what its’ importance was

2. application to IRL is also wrong

   1. bc if you only work for the aim of pragmatic use, you are again never able to fully understand what the law says or what do those ppl believe

what was the protestant reformation? why is it important?

• protestant reformation happened in the beginning of the 16th century after martin luther questioned pope’s authority. it led to a division of the christian church that split to catholics and protestant

• importance - it was difficult to understand whether unified views in europe can exist, at the point everything was so divided

  • bc ius commune (that relied on unified religious beliefs) had a shaky ground & a ruined reputation, humanist thinkers were influenced to believe that smth w/ a stronger legitimacy exists

  • at the point they were studying local law and severly criticising how Corpus Iuris Civilis was interpreted - it gave rise to the belief on the hierarchy of laws - local came first, ius commune goes down bc it does not match everything the ppl there believe

  • thus the impact is also very heavy development of local law systems

english common law evolution - what is the historical context, what influenced the development the most

• context:

  • country has succession crisis

  • country has civil war + stupid kings

  • reformation reached England - split between churches and English Church created

• important actions

  • 16th and 17th century ppl start to hate monarchy - reformation teaches them to dismantle authority, king is fucking up bad, understanding of feudal system teaches us to have obligations and keep them

    • in order to save the common law system, it must be untiwined from the monarchy - i.e. give in more statutes, limit the king within the common law system, etc

  • Dutch king + Mary invited to take the crown so that the crown would stay protestant, but bc king previously had fucked up so bad, the invitation to the crown was accompanied by set of demands (limitations) that later became Bill of Rights 1689