RICERCA ITALIANA     

Law of the ‘Prince’, law of the Church: the problem of secularization and tolerance from the perspective of legal history.

Università degli Studi di Genova

Abstract

The research intends to address the historical problem of secularization (a subject of great historiographical importance and still of considerable topicality) from the late Middle Ages until the beginnings of the contemporary age.
The research will involve various levels, periodizations and areas of inquiry, which will be partly closely connected and partly deliberately ‘non-coincident’ in order to furnish the most composite perspective possible.
The scenario comprises the consequences for European history of the Protestant reformation: from the wars of religion to the problems consequent on the application of the Council of Trento in the Catholic countries, from the crucial issue of tolerance to the problem of constructing the state apparatuses. These matters were accompanied (as well known) by outstanding cultural production in different domains and periods. But this also raises the crucial topic of the formation of an European culture in an age of political, juridical and religious fragmentation.
A first body of research will be conducted by two local units, starting from the historical experience of the construction of the Savoy state and examining a broad range of issues, from the Waldensian question, through matrimonial, fiscal and jurisdictional issues, to the Jansenist problem. The Savoy state, also for geopolitical reasons, was undoubtedly an original arena of encounter among different cultures and experiences: for example, the problem of the >>>

Principal Investigator

Rodolfo Savelli Università degli Studi di GENOVA

Research Objectives

The overall objectives of the research project (given the characteristics of its scientific-disciplinary sector) can be rapidly summarized: advancement of knowledge on a problematic central to contemporary civilization in its historical-genetic dimension.
It is not the intention to revert to periods excessively distant in time (but still influential, given the theme). Yet it should be pointed out that, after the breakdown of unity in the ‘respublica christianorum’, there arose in Europe the problem of conflict and religious peace, and therefore of tolerance and secularization in the policies of states. The project’s proponents therefore consider analysis of episodes which contributed to the current system of relations between states and churches, between states and citizens, to be an objective worth pursuing.
In factual terms, the aim of the project is to produce articles and/or books setting out the results of the research.

First Results

The project intends to contribute to knowledge of important episodes in legal history between the fifteenth century and the end of the 1800s, the intention being to furnish substantial results on matters which are not only historically significant but have acquired increasing importance in recent decades. The worldwide debate on issues such as tolerance, secularization, marriage, and the relationship between states and churches, demonstrate the extent to which the themes addressed by the project are of urgent topicality. Without thorough knowledge of events which for centuries have conditioned the civil and legal evolution of European society, it is difficult to understand the complexities of the present day. As has been stressed in a recent book on the history of law in Europe, “vita magistra historiae” (Padoa Schioppa 2007).
Obviously, because this is basic research, immediate applications are not envisaged, but only an advancement of scientific knowledge which may have impact at the level of university teaching or (mediated) influence in various institutional sectors.

Timescale

24 months

National and international background

Recent decades have seen a proliferation of publications on the theme of secularization, especially in the fields of theology, philosophy, political science, and sociology. And the same applies to the other theme stated in the project title: tolerance. But the historical-juridical perspective has remained in the background, particularly in Italian historiography, and despite past research of notable importance (for instance, the studies by Ruffini and Jemolo, those by Margiotta Broglio or Paolo Prodi, to name only some of the best-known authors).
Two recent conferences, one organized by the Michele Pellegrino Foundation and the other by the University of Milan Bicocca, have evidenced that legal, political, constitutional and religious analysis must be flanked by an indispensable historiographical dimension (Chiese cristiane, pluralismo religioso e democrazia liberale in Europa Bologna, Mulino, 2006; Laicità e stato di diritto, Milan, Giuffrè, 2007).
Symptomatic from this point of view is the publishing history of a short but illuminating article by the German jurist Böckenförde, “La formazione dello stato come processo di secolarizzazione”. Originally published in 1967, this article first appeared in Italian in 1986, and was reprinted in rapid succession by two different publishing houses in 2006 and in 2007. The article’s fortune is indicative of the currency of the topic when examined along a historical dimension (as given to it forty years ago by the >>>