JOURNAL: Rechtsgeschichte XXXIV (2026) [OPEN ACCESS]
(image source: MPILHLT ) Prof. Dave De ruysscher published an article on "The Bill of Exchange and the Dynamics of Legal Interpretation (15th–18th Centuries)" Abstract: This article analyses the developments of the law of bills of exchange in the later Middle Ages and early modern period from the vantage point of »legal dynamics«. From the 14th century onwards, the bill of exchange developed in interactions between international mercantile practice, legislative approaches and juristic interpretation. Close attention to mercantile documents and sources of practice allows us to nuance a largely »monolithic« image of the emergence of bills of exchange and their corresponding norms. For a long time, financial instruments have been presented as mere functional creations, derived from mercantile practice. This presentation went together with an assumption of continuity. With regard to bills of exchange, this resulted in the identification of the late medieval varieties with the st...
