VUB Contextual Research in Law

(image source: UniMC ) Dr. Stefano Cattelan wil present at the University of Macerata on 22 April, with replies by Prof. Luigi Lacchè (Macerata) and Prof. Andrea Caligiuri (Macerata). See poster here . (source: University of Macerata )

  The EUTopia Connected Learning Community Legal History is delighted to welcome Prof. dr. Miloš Vec (Universität Wien) for its annual opening lecture on Friday 14 November 2025. Within the framework of this year's theme The End of War, Prof. Vec will address the following topic: After 1919 and after 1945: How two World Wars shaped German Thinking on International Law More information on the EUTopia CoLeCo Legal History's blog . 

  (click on image to enlarge) Dr. Stefano Cattelan will present on Venetian maritime policies between justice and sovereignty, at the lecture series History & Law Encounters , organised by prof. Elisabetta Fusar Poli and Federica Paletti at the University of Brescia. more information on the image above.

  (image source:  ESCLH Blog )   On the book: More than half of the world's population lives under law codes. Yet, defining the concept of codification remains elusive. Rather than delving into abstract theories, this book provides a rich and contextual comparative legal history of codes in France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Belgium from the late eighteenth century to the present. The author starts by examining the evolution of French, German, Dutch, and Belgian codes in their political and comparative context, thus challenging deeply rooted national narratives. He covers the well-studied civil codes and the often-overlooked commercial and procedural codes and drafts that failed to become law. Against this backdrop, the book embarks on a comprehensive analysis of the factors contributing to the success or failure of codification efforts. Employing an innovative method of comparative legal history, Redefining Codification explores the key players and objectives behind c...

  Dr. Stefano Cattelan  will present at the University of Padova on his upcoming monograph, with Antonio Del Vecchio (Università di Bologna) and Cristina Setti (Università di Padova) as discutants. Click on the image to enlarge. More information with michele dot basso at unipd dot it and clauda dot passarella at unipd dot it.

  Dr. François Pierrard   Hervormingen en plannen voor de codificatie van strafrecht en gerechtelijk recht in de Oostenrijkse Nederlanden (tweede helft 18e eeuw) Abstract In de 18e eeuw werd het codificatieproces geïntensiveerd, vooral in Germaanse en Italiaanse landen. De Belgische provincies, die sinds 1713 in handen waren van de Oostenrijkse Habsburg-dynastie, werden ook getroffen door dit codificatieproces. In tegenstelling tot andere landen, lukte dit niet. Het is belangrijk om de redenen hiervoor te achterhalen, nu België opnieuw een codificatieproces kent. Een onvoltooid manuscript, de  Premieres idées sur la reformation des loix criminelles , van Goswin de Fierlant (1735-1804) bevat het eerste ontwerp van een wetboek van strafrecht en strafvordering voor de Oostenrijkse Nederlanden. Dit werk werd geschreven tussen 1770 en 1782 in opdracht van de Prins van Starhemberg, gevolmachtigd minister van Maria Theresia in de Oostenrijkse Nederlanden. De Fierlant pleitte voo...

     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...

(Source: Harvard Univeristy )   A Short History of European Law: The Last Two and a Half Millenia Prof. Dr. Tamar Herzog, Monroe Gutman Professor of Latin American Affairs, Harvard University Organised by the Interdisciplinary Studies of Law Department. Introduced by Prof. Dr. Laurent de Sutter. A Short History of European Law , Tamar Herzog’s new, best-selling, monograph, she brings to life 2,500 years of legal history, tying current norms to the circumstances of their conception. Tamar Herzog describes how successive legal systems built upon one another, from ancient times through the European Union. Roman law formed the backbone of each configuration, though the way it was used and reshaped varied dramatically from one century and place to the next. Only by considering Continental civil law and English common law together do we see how they drew from and enriched this shared tradition. An unconventional reading of European Law seen from the other side of the Atlantic,...

  (bron: ifese.be ) Op woensdag 20 maart 2024 organiseert het Instituut voor Filosofische en Sociaalwetenschappelijke Educatie (Ifese) i.s.m. Historia een lezing met prof. dr. Frederik Dhondt (VUB) over de constitutionele identiteit van de Oostenrijkse Nederlanden in de 18e eeuw. De activiteit behoort tot de lezingenreeks over constitutionalisme in de Nederlanden. Ze zal te Leuven plaatsvinden in aula 01.16 van het Mgr. Sencie-Instituut (Erasmusplein 2 , 3000 Leuven), starten om 19.30 uur en eindigen om 21.00 uur. Nadien is er de gelegenheid om na te praten op café. Tijdens deze lezing zal professor Frederik Dhondt aan de hand van de werken van Goswin Arnould de Wynants (1661-1732) een dieper inzicht verschaffen op de institutionele organisatie van de Oostenrijkse Nederlanden toen destijds onder gezag staand van keizer Karel VI van Habsburg. Hiervoor levert het werk van Wynants getiteld als “Mémoires contenant des notions générales de tout ce qui concerne le Gouvernement des ...

  (Source: Centre de Droit International - ULB ) On 28 September at 12h15 Raphaël Cahen will give a lecture at  Le Centre de Droit International (ULB)  on  « Les jurisconsultes/publicistes du Ministère des affaires étrangères (1789-1941) ». The lecture will take place at La salle de réunion du Centre de Droit International (6, Av. Paul Héger, 1050 Brussels, Building H, 5th floor, room H5.159) Registration and more information:  Centre de Droit International - ULB .

(Source:  vub.be ) Lezing Rudi Vranckx: De evolutie van veiligheid en terrorisme sinds 9/11 Introductie Op dinsdag 2 mei 2023 zal oorlogscorrespondent en eredoctor Rudi Vranckx op uitnodiging van CORE-member Maarten Colette een publieke lezing geven over de manier waarop onze samenleving de voorbije twintig jaar is veranderd in verhouding tot veiligheid en terrorisme. Inschrijven en meer informatie via  vub.be Korte samenvatting Sinds 9/11 is de wereld aan enorme veranderingen toe op het vlak van veiligheid, terrorisme en mensenrechten. Uit de assen van de smeulende Twin Towers zou een nieuwe wereldorde verrijzen, een radicale omslag in denken & doen, een talig onvermogen om de gebeurtenis te begrijpen. Angst en terreur (en de terreur van de angst) zouden voortaan de agenda van het beleid gaan bepalen, niet alleen in Amerika maar ook in Europa en de rest van de wereld. Niet enkel ondergingen justitie, politie en veiligheidsdiensten een transformatie, ook de acceptatie van ...

(image: the former Mulhouse Town Hall, currently museum of the Republic of Mulhouse ) Prof. Dhondt gave a lecture at La Forge de L'Histoire , a history popularisation initiative animated by professors, lecturers and students of the Université de Haute Alsace (Mulhouse) on 8 February 2023, organised on the campus "La Fonderie". Read more on the initiative on its website . The student team edited and published a podcast of the recording, which can be consulted on Spotify .

(image source: Prof. Bastos )   Prof. Cristiana Bastos (Lisboa, ERC Advanced Grantee) will hold this year's opening lecture for the EUTopia Connected Learning Community Legal History:Labour Migration. The topic is "Across empires: plantation labour in the aftermath of abolition". Background reading can be found on Prof. Bastos' project website , and will be shared at registration. The Connected Learning Community Legal History:Labour Migration brings together the VUB, UPF Barcelona, Ljubljana, Warwick, Nova Lisboa and CY Paris. Five to eight students per institution work together on the common theme of Labour Migration .  The event will take place on Friday 21 October at 15:30 Brussels Time . Registration is mandatory with dr. Elisabeth Bruyère  (Elisabeth dot bruyère at vub dot be).