This volume contains the proceedings from the conference ”Custom. The Development and Use of a Legal Concept in the Middle Ages” which was held at the Law School at the University of Aarhus in May 2008.
The volume covers topics from local case studies and studies of learned law to broader reflections on the development and use of the legal concept consuetudo and its connection with other sources of law, with the balance between local and regional power structures, and secular and ecclesiastical societies in medieval Europe. Combining the approaches of several historical disciplines – political, social, intellectual, and legal – a group of eminent scholars offer their views on central aspects of the function of legal customs and of the development of one of the most debated concepts in legal historiography.
This volume will be of interests to students and scholars working with in European legal culture and cultural, social, and economic history of the Middle Ages and the early modern period.
The publication of this volume is funded by The Carlsberg Foundation.