18.10.2019
13:00-14:00
Room 229, Psychologicum (Siltavuorenpenger 1 A, 00170 Helsinki)
Martin Avenarius: What can we learn from Savigny’s exegetical courses?
Abstract
In the 19th century, exegetical courses in Roman law were based on a concept developed by Gustav Hugo. While in the most prominent courses on the ius commune, e.g. Savigny’s famous “Pandektenvorlesung”, the legal institutions and principles of applicable law were explained by tracing them back to the sources, exegetical courses in the narrow sense focused on the explanation of the sources themselves. As far as Savigny is concerned, we can reconstruct his lectures on the Fragmenta Ulpiani as well as – after the discovery of the Codex Veronensis in 1816 – on the Institutes of Gaius. Savigny's own manuscripts and the notes of his disciples allow us to follow the explanations of the great legal historian. With regard to Gaius’ Institutes it was the course where Savigny developed his first ideas about the still unpublished text and taught his hermeneutical method and science of legal history at the same time.