Law and Religion: An Imaginary Conversation with a Medieval Jurist

Extract

Like ourselves, people in the medieval world took law seriously. They had great law schools such as Bologna where professors expounded the Roman law of Justinian's corpus iuris civilis. They regarded the rule of law as a model for the social order. They explained their political disputes in terms of constitutional questions and their personal quarrels in terms of rights violated. Without this heritage the modern world would be inconceivably different.

They, however, lived in an Age of Faith while we live in a secular society. Surely, one would think, they must have conceived of law quite differently than we do. It would be illuminating to travel back in time and speak with a medieval jurist.

I have tried to imagine what that experience would be like. What follows is a report of a conversation between a modern student of law and legal history and a 14th century Bolognese law professor. My rule in constructing it was to allow my medieval jurist to stray as little as possible from opinions that prominent men of his age actually did express. His views on law reflect those of Bartolus and Baldus who wrote in his own century. His views on theology reflect those of Thomas Aquinas who wrote in the century before and with whose works Bartolus, Baldus and other 14th century jurists were familiar.