Publication details
Society and Law between Continuity and Discontinuity
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2014 |
| Type | Article in Proceedings |
| Conference | SGEM Conference on Political Sciences, Law, Finance, Economics and Tourism. Conference Proceedings. Volume I. |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Doi | http://dx.doi.org/10.5593/sgemsocial2014B21 |
| Field | Law sciences |
| Keywords | continuity; discontinuity; the socalled Book of Rosenberg (Book of Rožmberk); Czech legal history; ordeals |
| Description | History of human society is driven by mutuality of continuity and discontinuity. The manner in which society keeps its permanent inner order and passes it on further generations is realized substantially via law, legal norms and concepts. On the other hand, law is confronted by the changing conditions for its application in practice, and it has to adjust to the situations it regulates. Therefore, in law, just like in society, there is being drawn a line between the obsolete and new, a line between the world of the perishing and arising world of law. The exceptional connection between social phenomena and processes, on the one side, and legal reality, on the other, justifies the reason why one should very carefully observe the continuity in discontinuity or discontinuity in continuity in the history of law. In our case, we will focus on the legal source of Bohemian provenance traditionally called the Book of Rosenberg (Book of Rožmberk), which was written after 1337, most likely between the years 1343 and 1346. The objective of our article is the effort to characterize the then society of the era in which the so-called Book of Rosenberg was created based on the abovementioned categories of continuity and discontinuity. We will base our research on both the explicit references in the Book of Rosenberg about the old and new law and on the particular legal concepts documenting the transition from the old, pagan world practicing ordeals to the new judicial proceedings influenced by the Christian faith. Final conclusion should generally indicate the coexistence and mutual penetration of the elements of continuity and discontinuity, the society´s approach to the obsolete and the ways of overcoming it and creating the new by establishing new structures and models of behavior. |