VUB Contextual Research in Law

(image source:  CitéPhilo ) Introduction by Laurent de Sutter. Abstract: Constitutions have good press. Associated with marks of progress, they have nourished since their appearance the political imaginations of peoples aspiring to emancipation. The history of constitutionalism is however far from the story that is commonly made of it. Constitutional texts have never had the virtues that they are given: rather than promoting social progress and equality, they have most often been tools of domination. Despite their seductive rhetoric, these writings are indeed powerless to bring about the ideals they proclaim. Unable to limit the power of constituted interests, they served above all the assertion of an economic rationality indifferent to the fate of the populations, under the guise of defense of the rule of law and freedoms. Tracing the history of writing constitutions and their effects, Laureline Fontaine offers an innovative criticism of this foundation of liberal societies. It sh...

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     Dr. Marie-Sophie Silan  (PhD in Law, Assistant Professor at the University of Liège, Service de droit romain et droit privé comparé, Centre Liégeois d’Histoire du Droit) Wives and Mothers: The Legal Position of Women within Marriage in Early Modern Liège  (16th-17th centuries) Abstract This contribution explores the legal status of married women in Liège during the 16th and 17th centuries. It first examines the role of women as wives, particularly their legal relationship with their husbands. Central to this discussion is the  mainplévie  regime, which governed married women unless otherwise stipulated in their marriage contract. This system not only subjected wives to marital authority—requiring obedience to their husband and restricting their legal capacity—but also stripped them of ownership over the assets they brought into the marriage, typically through their dowry. The second part of this study focuses on the legal relationship between moth...

  (image source: author) Prof. Laurent De Sutter announced the forthcoming publication of L'Art de l'ivresse  (series Perspectives critiques , edited by Prof. Laurent De Sutter) at the Presses universitaires de France. More information on the Perspectives critiques   page .

     Dr. Marie-Sophie Silan  (PhD in Law, Assistant Professor at the University of Liège, Service de droit romain et droit privé comparé, Centre Liégeois d’Histoire du Droit) Wives and Mothers: The Legal Position of Women within Marriage in Early Modern Liège  (16th-17th centuries) Abstract This contribution explores the legal status of married women in Liège during the 16th and 17th centuries. It first examines the role of women as wives, particularly their legal relationship with their husbands. Central to this discussion is the  mainplévie  regime, which governed married women unless otherwise stipulated in their marriage contract. This system not only subjected wives to marital authority—requiring obedience to their husband and restricting their legal capacity—but also stripped them of ownership over the assets they brought into the marriage, typically through their dowry. The second part of this study focuses on the legal relationship between moth...

  (image source: Brill ) Brill announced the forthcoming publication (24 July 2025) of former CORE member dr. Wouter De Rycke's monograph Justifying Utopia. A Legal History of the International Peace Movement (1815-1873). Abstract: When and why did international law begin to oppose war? For centuries, sovereignty implied the right to wage war. Yet over the past hundred years, a remarkable succession of treaties, courts, and organisations sprang to life that sought to prohibit war. From a fringe ambition, the ideal of ‘peace through law’ became the foundation of international law. This book traces part of this evolution back to the small peace movement of the early nineteenth century, recounting how the earliest organised pacifists built their legal case against war. The stories of this diverse social movement are told from numerous perspectives, and each sheds further light on how ordinary men and women helped lay the groundwork for one of the greatest shifts in legal thinking abou...

     Dr. Marie-Sophie Silan  (PhD in Law, Assistant Professor at the University of Liège, Service de droit romain et droit privé comparé, Centre Liégeois d’Histoire du Droit) Wives and Mothers: The Legal Position of Women within Marriage in Early Modern Liège  (16th-17th centuries) Abstract This contribution explores the legal status of married women in Liège during the 16th and 17th centuries. It first examines the role of women as wives, particularly their legal relationship with their husbands. Central to this discussion is the  mainplévie  regime, which governed married women unless otherwise stipulated in their marriage contract. This system not only subjected wives to marital authority—requiring obedience to their husband and restricting their legal capacity—but also stripped them of ownership over the assets they brought into the marriage, typically through their dowry. The second part of this study focuses on the legal relationship between moth...

In the second semester, the Contextual Research in Law research group will host a series of guest lectures and symposia: February 25, 2025 : Dr. Marie-Sophie Silan (Visiting Professor, ULiège) on Gender and Law in the Prince-Bishopric of Liège (English) [B 4.08, 12:30] March 13–15, 2025 : EUTopia Connected Learning Community Legal History Peak Event: Individual and Collective Rights in Legal History [Warwick] – For more information, contact Prof. Dr. Frederik Dhondt March 18, 2025 : Dr. François Pierrard (Postdoc, FRNS/UCLouvain) on Goswin de Fierlant and the Enlightened Codification of Criminal Law (Dutch) [B 4.08, 12:30] March 31, 2025 : Prof. Dr. Lauréline Fontaine (Université Paris 3 – Sorbonne Nouvelle) on The Constitution as a Social Fetish (English, Legal Theory Seminar) [C 4.09, 16:00] – For more information, contact Prof. Dr. Laurent De Sutter April 1, 2025 : Book presentation Coudenberg. Th...

  (image source: SOAS ) On 7 February, Dr. Stefano Cattelan will present at the symposium Freedom of the Seas and Individual Freedom, 15th-19th Centuries , organized at the School for Oriental and African Studies (University of London), funded by the British Academy. More information here .