The History of International Relations During Antiquity and the Middle Ages

1911 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 901-933 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amos S. Hershey
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
International Community ◽  
Law Of Nations ◽  
History Of ◽  
Independent States ◽  
Full Sense ◽  
General Recognition ◽  
The Law ◽  
History Of International Law ◽  
The Middle Ages

The history of international law is essentially a history of the law governing the members of the international community of states in their relations with one another. Inasmuch as the observance of well-established customs of the law of nations implies the existence of an international community of states based upon a general recognition of the fundamental principles of territorial sovereignty and legal equality of independent states, such a law (in the strict and full sense of this term) could not possibly have been developed prior to the rise of the modern European state system, at the close of the Middle Ages or during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries of our era. Nevertheless, we are by no means without evidence of the observance in intercommunity intercourse of certain rules and customs, even during antiquity and the Middle Ages, mainly with a religious sanction. This was especially the case in Greece, where there were developed rules and customs of intermunicipal law which, in many respects, bear a truly remarkable resemblance to our modern system of international jurisprudence.

A Short History of International Law

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen C Neff
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Middle Ages ◽  
Natural Law ◽  
League Of Nations ◽  
Ancient World ◽  
Classical Period ◽  
Law Of Nations ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Law ◽  
History Of International Law

This chapter presents a brief history of international law. It proceeds chronologically, beginning with an overview of the ancient world, followed by a more detailed discussion of the great era of natural law in the European Middle Ages. The classical period (1600–1815) witnessed the emergence of a dualistic view of international law, with the law of nature and the law of nations co-existing (more or less amicably). In the nineteenth century—the least-known part of international law—doctrinaire positivism was the prevailing viewpoint, though not the exclusive one. For the inter-war years, developments both inside and outside the League of Nations are considered. The chapter concludes with some historically oriented comments on international law during the post-1945 period.

The Use of Vattel in the American Law of Nations

2012 ◽  
Vol 106 (3) ◽  
pp. 547-571 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian Richardson
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
International Law ◽  
International Peace ◽  
Founding Fathers ◽  
Law Of Nations ◽  
American Law ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Law ◽  
History Of International Law

Although careful scholarly treatment of the history of international law is now thriving, within U.S. courts that history now begins with one eighteenth-century treatise published in Neuchâtel, Switzerland, in 1758 and published in translation for modern readers under the aegis of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in 1916. This treatise is Emer de Vattel’s Droit des gens ou principes de la loi naturelle, appliqués à la conduite et aux affaires des nations et des souverains. My aim in this article is to appraise the elevation of Vattel to vaunted originalist heights in U.S. law. The claim that Vattel’s theory of the law of nations completely represents how the Founding Fathers (Founders) understood the law of nations should be rejected as a matter of history.

The Authority of Vattel

1913 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 395-410 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles G. Fenwick
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
International Law ◽  
The Political ◽  
Law Of Nations ◽  
The World ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Law ◽  
History Of International Law ◽  
Political Philosopher

There is no more significant commentary on the growth of international law, both in precision and in comprehensiveness, than an estimate of the relative authority of the name of Vattel in the world of international relations a century ago and in that of today. A century ago not even the name of Grotius himself was more potent in its influence upon questions relating to international law than that of Vattel. Vattel's treatise on the law of nations was quoted by judicial tribunals, in speeches before legislative assemblies, and in the decrees and correspondence of executive officials. It was the manual of the student, the reference work of the statesman, and the text from which the political philosopher drew inspiration. Publicists considered it sufficient to cite the authority of Vattel to justify and give conclusiveness and force to statements as to the proper conduct of a state in its international relations.At the present day the name and treatise of Vattel have both passed into the remoter field of the history of international law. It is safe to say that in no modern controversy over the existence and force of an alleged rule of international law would publicists seek to strengthen the position taken by them by quoting the authority of Vattel. As an exposition of the law of nations at a given period of its growth, the work can, it is true, lose nothing of its value, but in saying that it has thus won its place irrevocably among the classics of international law, we are merely repeating that it has lost its value as a treatise on the law of the present day.

scholarly journals XXII.—Some Historical Aspects of the English Law of Attainder and Forfeiture for High Treason

Archaeologia ◽  
1883 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. 409-428
Author(s):  
Alfred Bailey
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Proper Understanding ◽  
Historical Aspects ◽  
Wars Of The Roses ◽  
History Of ◽  
English Law ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Middle Ages

A knowledge of the working of the English Law of Attainder and Forfeiture for High Treason is essential to a proper understanding of the History of England in the Middle Ages, especially during the period of the Wars of the Roses.Perhaps the working of the law can be shown best in individual cases. Let us select as examples the fortunes of the dignities and estates which but for forfeiture and other intervening circumstances would have centred in the ill-fated Edward Earl of Warwick, last male scion of the splendid House of Plantagenet.

scholarly journals Greckie wpływy na powstanie Ustawy XII Tablic : (na marginesie glosy Accursiusa do D. 1,2,2,4)

1994 ◽  
Vol 37 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 39-45
Author(s):  
Witold Wołodkiewicz
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Roman Law ◽  
Roman Society ◽  
History Of ◽  
Total Lack ◽  
The Creation ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Middle Ages

The problem of Greek influence on the creation and the content of the Twelve Tables appeared several times in Roman lawyers’ records. Amongst few jurists, Pomponius wrote about the influence of Greek cities law on the Twelve Tables in the famous fragment on the history of Roman law from his Enchiridion (D. 1,2,2,3-4). Accursius gave an ample gloss to the fragment. He cites an anecdote on the creation of the Twelve Tables: „Greeks had delegated a wise man to visit Rome in order to estimate, after a discussion with its inhabitants, whether they are mature enough to be presented with the law that was prepared. Romans reached the decision that a fool should confront the Greek: there would be no damage to them if he lost, they thought. Obviously, both had to speak by signs. „The Greek started the duel raising one finger what meant that he believed in one God. The Roman took it as an attack on his eye and showed two fingers, which made three with his thumb, in order to be dangerous for both eyes of his adversary. However, the visitor understood the gesture as an acceptance of faith in one God with addition that He is triune. Referring to that, the Greek showed an open palm - it signified that everything is known to the Almighty. Yet, the fool thought that it is to strike his hand and raised the fist to demonstrate that he was going to defend himself. The wise man from Greece understood it as a statement that God has human fortune in His hand and reigns over all affairs of this world. „After this conversation, the Greek concluded that Roman society is developed in the degree they can be gifted with the prepared statue” . The story is one of the first notes on Greek influence on the Twelve Tables. It shows the total lack o f historic perpsective that was shared by glossators in the Middle Ages. The article contains also some references to the historiography of the Greek influence on the Twelve Tables.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document