Wim Decock, THEOLOGIANS AND CONTRACT LAW: THE MORAL TRANSFORMATION OF THE IUS COMMUNE (CA. 1500–1650) Leiden: Brill (www.brill.com/lhl), 2013. xvi + 724 pp. ISBN 9789004232846. €179.00.
| Pages | 155-157 |
| Published date | 01 January 2015 |
| Author | Dot Reid |
| DOI | 10.3366/elr.2015.0264 |
| Date | 01 January 2015 |
The influence of the so-called Spanish scholastics on the development of the
Wim Decock's
Freedom of contract is the book's central organising theme, perhaps chosen because it naturally opens up larger debates about the relationship between law and morality, the sacred and the secular, and it provides an ideal framework in which to explore what the author describes as “a vibrant tradition of scholastic contract law” (Prologue). Decock covers a broad sweep of intellectual thought across the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. He examines the writings of major scholastic theologians such as Suárez, de Soto, Sanchez and Lessius; the canonists Navarrus and Covarruvias; many civilian and humanist jurists; and an array of other texts too numerous to mention, as well as extensive secondary literature in English, French, Italian and German. Particular emphasis is placed on Lessius who is regarded as a “gateway” (18) to a much larger literature. His work not only points back, showing the influence of the writers who preceded him, but also forward as a source of inspiration for the work...
To continue reading
Request your trial