Papers by Dave De ruysscher
in N. VAN DIJK and G. GONZALEZ FUSTER (eds.), Liber amicorum S. Gutwirth. , Brussels, VUB Press, 2023, 201-210., 2023
In one of his latest writings, Serge Gutwirth takes into consideration the historical background ... more In one of his latest writings, Serge Gutwirth takes into consideration the historical background of the demise of the commons, in reference to Paolo Grossi’s work. This contribution aims to question Grossi’s argument on the eradication of the commons by extending the scope of the issue. It argues that the problem of the commons, and their crisis, should not be considered exclusively in terms of ownership and resource management but should also be assessed from a broader angle, one encompassing risk management and entrepreneurialism. “Common pool institutions” were not only involved with shielding resources from individualist and extractive behaviour but also typically embedded and enshrined individualism with the goal of public interest protection – and this was within a strict framework of rules. The paper highlights some examples of cooperative ventures and common good associations in the Low Countries of the later Middle Ages.
Over the past decades, legal historians have become more cautious
when it comes to rules that in ... more Over the past decades, legal historians have become more cautious
when it comes to rules that in the Middle Ages and the early
modern period were defined as ‘(old) customs’. Earlier optimistic
appraisals as to the age of such rules have been challenged. This
article argues that efforts of debunking should be combined with a
more thorough analysis of the legal consciousness of past societies.
It proposes to look at old municipal private law, not as a set of rules
fixed by tradition, but rather as a malleable body of norms. The
symbolic qualities of law were such that renewal and rephrasal
could be combined with an ideology of conservation. It was perfectly
possible for administrators to promote new rules as being a
part of an ‘age-old law’ of the city or the land, without breaching
the implicit conventions as to the qualities of law. However, as will
be demonstrated further, there were limits to the agency of administrators
in this regard. The codes as to the features of law marked
boundaries that had to be taken seriously.
DE RUYSSCHER, D., “The PVBA/SPRL in Belgium” in M. LÖHNIG and A. MOSZYNSKA (eds.), Reception of the Limited Liability Company (GmbH), Cologne, Böhlau, 2023, 163-174. , 2023
In 1935 Belgium introduced the PVBA/SPRL. This stood for 'limited partnership of persons' (person... more In 1935 Belgium introduced the PVBA/SPRL. This stood for 'limited partnership of persons' (personenvennootschap met beperkte aansprakelijkheid/société personelle à responsabilité limitée). The SPRL was a combination of a company with legal personhood and what nowadays is called a 'light vehicle'. It had the characteristics of both a commercial and a civil company. The SPRL became a popular type of company after World War II, even though the mentioned blending of features was not without problems.
“Changes in sovereignty concepts of cities of trade and the impact on diplomatic relations (Low Countries, 15th-16th centuries)”, in L. BRUNORI (ed.), La dynamique juridique des réseaux marchands: hanses, nations, agences, filiales et comptoirs, Toulouse, Toulouse University Press, 2023, 83-98., 2023
It is clear that in the sixteenth century cities of commerce, amongst themselves, had contacts, e... more It is clear that in the sixteenth century cities of commerce, amongst themselves, had contacts, even when they did not qualify as city-states. And these contacts had political and economic significance. The economic clout of commercial hubs could transpire in the diplomatic arena, with delegates acting largely independently and without prior or formal authorization from the central level of government. The interactions between Antwerp, the Florentine natio and the city of Florence confirm what has been labelled as “new diplomatic history”. In a period preceding the arrival of permanent diplomacy, correspondence and talk could involve officials, prominent merchants, and even scholars. The example of Lodovico Guicciardini shows that such persons not only belonged to the same class, but also often combined these profiles. Moreover, the legal categorizations of the powers of cities mattered; new concepts could be chosen to explain higher levels of independence. What is needed is close scrutiny of the contacts between commercial cities. Insights to be derived from the analysis of letters and requests may result in a picture that will add new views to legal-historical understandings of the public law and institutions of the early modern period. A re-appraisal of the legal status of cities, in practice, may contribute to a more nuanced comprehension of state formation processes.
Here is a bibliography of literature on the history of commercial, economic, and trade law, from ... more Here is a bibliography of literature on the history of commercial, economic, and trade law, from the Middle Ages until the present day, with a focus on Europe and the Americas. This bibliography, containing literature in English, French, German, Spanish, Italian and Dutch, will be updated regularly.
Zeitschrift für neuere Rechtsgeschichte, 2023
On the one hand merchants wanted flexibility, on the other hand they always strived towards gover... more On the one hand merchants wanted flexibility, on the other hand they always strived towards government support. The history of commercial law can be considered along these lines as well. Merchants were often in charge; they were the bourgeois that Marx and Pirenne were talking about. In the course of the early modern period, when state formation processes were intensifying, they wanted to keep their privileged position. This could then result in separate jurisdictions and the idea that commercial law was different. However, for some regions in Europe, it has been found out that what happened in merchant courts was not all that different from the practices of official courts.
This tension was an interesting one, from the vantage point of economic professionals. They could play a trump card, referring to the specificity of trade, when being confronted with legislators that wanted to impose rules. The double discourse mentioned has a parallel in the image of the merchant in late-medieval canon law and scholastic literature. On the one hand merchants could be considered personae miserabiles, on the other they could be usurers. But they were equally considered useful, since they were supplying communities with necessary goods. It is likely that merchants did not merely navigate between these conflicting views but also made use of them. Since they were close to power they could most probably instrumentally pretend to be independent; their importance made it possible that different, even contradictory, images of their profession could last.
A first part of this article presents an overview of stages in the legal-historical analysis of commercial law. A second section goes into three changes in the methods and perspectives of legal historiography on commercial law, dating from the later nineteenth century (that is, contextualism, class orientation and the connection to liberty and feudalism). In a third paragraph, it is discussed to what extent the new approaches were reductionist. In the final part, all what precedes is brought back to “state and trade”.
There is little point that legal history literature on cities in the Middle Ages and early modern... more There is little point that legal history literature on cities in the Middle Ages and early modern period maintains the distinction between seigneurial or central jurisdiction on the one hand and independent, local jurisdiction on the other. A city’s jurisdiction was grounded in the symbolic unity between the city community and the sovereign. In practice, a city could represent its sovereign, and vice versa. The norms relating to the authority and operating range of cities evolved in an ongoing interaction between government levels that frequently overlapped. This made the development of city sovereignty dynamic rather than hierarchical, and part of an evolving normative tradition that was more than the sum of legal texts and treaties.
This necessitates a fresh approach to legal history, not just regarding this theme, but also more broadly. To properly reflect the dynamics of the relations between trading cities with their sovereigns and with other cities, domestic as well as cross-border, more scholarly attention should be paid to correspondence and to administrative practice. This will shed new light on the legal status of pre-modern cities.
Urban communities were established in the twelfth and thirteenth century with the aid of legal co... more Urban communities were established in the twelfth and thirteenth century with the aid of legal concepts that comprised early notions of the rule of law. Cities were envisaged as "communes", which referred to popular sovereignty. In a first period, urban citizenship was flexible and closely related to place of residence. From around 1220 this model came under increasing pressure. In order to safeguard the interests of the most affluent citizens, large guilds were established. Status determined rights, and there were significant inequalities even among citizens. Ideas of democratic democracy and the civic virtues of citizenship were fostering reforms after 1250. Existing urban governments were expanded to include councils and burgomasters. A framework of checks and balances developed because the commune, now considered as the body of citizens and residents, was seen as a force coexisting with metropolitan institutions. The medieval examples show that, in response to economic and even global conditions, community-building and rule-of-law thinking were solutions offering a "unity-in-diversity".
Ente di afferenza: () Copyright c by Società editrice il Mulino, Bologna. Tutti i diritti sono ri... more Ente di afferenza: () Copyright c by Società editrice il Mulino, Bologna. Tutti i diritti sono riservati. Per altre informazioni si veda https://www.rivisteweb.it Licenza d'uso L'articoloè messo a disposizione dell'utente in licenza per uso esclusivamente privato e personale, senza scopo di lucro e senza fini direttamente o indirettamente commerciali. Salvo quanto espressamente previsto dalla licenza d'uso Rivisteweb,è fatto divieto di riprodurre, trasmettere, distribuire o altrimenti utilizzare l'articolo, per qualsiasi scopo o fine. Tutti i diritti sono riservati.
Pro Memorie, Dec 11, 2015
Tussen flexibiliteit en continuïteit 1 Inleiding 1 Gedurende de voorbije twintig jaar werd door e... more Tussen flexibiliteit en continuïteit 1 Inleiding 1 Gedurende de voorbije twintig jaar werd door economisch historici veel aandacht besteed aan de relatie tussen de Industriële Revolutie (ca. 1760-ca. 1840) en de juridische vorm en invulling van vennootschappen. Historici zoals Naomi Lamoreaux (Yale) en Pierre-Cyrille Hautcoeur (École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales) hebben aangetoond dat een oudere nadruk op het belang van de corporatie-de Engelse joint stock company of de Franse société anonyme (NV, hierna SA)-overdreven is. Cijfers wijzen erop dat in Frankrijk, de Verenigde Staten, Engeland en de Duitse gebieden doorheen de hele negentiende eeuw de aantallen 'kleinere' vennootschappen steeds veel aanzienlijker zijn geweest dan corporaties en dat ze ook voor industriële activiteiten werden gebruikt. 2 Voor de Zuidelijke Nederlanden 1 Dit artikel bundelt de eerste resultaten van het lopende FWO-postdoctoraal onderzoeksproject 'Rechtspersoonlijkheid gedifferentieerd: de juridische kwalificatie van contractuele vennootschappen met een handelsdoel (België, negentiende eeuw)' (2013-2016). Mijn dank gaat uit naar Luisa Brunori (Lille II) voor het toesturen van Franse literatuur over negentiende-eeuwse vennootschappen en naar Johan Dambruyne (Rijksarchief Beveren) voor de toelating tot digitalisering van notariële vennootschapscontracten. Verder dank ik de deelnemers van de workshop 'The Small, Medium-Sized and Large Company in Law and Economic Practice (Middle Ages-Nineteenth Century)' (Brussel, 20-21 mei 2015) en Hilde Greefs (Universiteit Antwerpen) voor hun opmerkingen bij een eerdere versie van deze tekst.
Tijdschrift voor Privaatrecht, Jun 12, 2012
Le cas d'Anvers démontre que les règles sur les garanties et sûretés doivent être étudiées d&... more Le cas d'Anvers démontre que les règles sur les garanties et sûretés doivent être étudiées d'un point de vue large, en raison des interactions entre les normes concernant la saisie, l'expropriation et l'insolvabilité, et celles portant sur les gages et hypothèques légaux. Les hésitations des échevins anversois concernant la priorité des dettes mettent notamment en évidence que les législateurs urbains devaient créer des règles en matières commerciales, et non les copier de la pratique marchande.
ABSTRACT In this article it is demonstrated how in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries Dutch... more ABSTRACT In this article it is demonstrated how in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries Dutch rules concerning negotiable credit instruments (i.e. bills obligatory to bearer and bills of exchange) transformed financial law throughout the European continent. The Antwerp and Amsterdam authorities devised precepts of law on such issues that went against substantial principles of the academic ius commune. In the course of the seventeenth century, the former’s success brought about their insertion into financial legislation of German cities. This phenomenon came along with a new comparative approach of legislators in the whole of Europe, which was typical of that period. During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the continental ius commune system was indeed increasingly reoriented towards adoption of legal solutions existing alongside the traditional university-based literature. These developments facilitated the introduction of the Dutch norms of law into legal treatises and codifications, to the disadvantage of older theories of civil law. As a result, by 1800, Dutch rules relating to the assignment of commercial paper and recourse liability of assignors had become firmly established. Even today, they form a part of the private law of many continental-European countries. However, the implementation of these modern ideas has never been complete. As a result, some existing and inconvenient differences between arrangements of transfers of debts and claims could be harmonised in the spirit of the work of the early modern Dutch jurists.
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research), Aug 2, 2021
In the course of the sixteenth century, in the Low Countries maritime law was changing. At first,... more In the course of the sixteenth century, in the Low Countries maritime law was changing. At first, damages caused during maritime transport ("averages") were compensated on the basis of customs of limited scope and calculation, starting from "facts and figures". From the 1550s onwards, legal scholars developed new views; they revised norms, some of which came from below, while others were imposed by the sovereign. Both in legislation and in jurisprudential commentaries, the Roman rules of general average were revived. The legal authors made use of a more principled, humanistic method of interpretation. Their views did not contradict mer cantile opinions; instead, merchants called for necessary adjustments of the law. The changes in doctrine and legislation responded to developments in the organization of the maritime industry. Although the legal scholars could have doubts about the older rules and how to rec oncile them with a principled approach, their contribution to updating the rules was crucial.
Leiden/Boston : Brill eBooks, 2020
An electronic version of this book is freely available, thanks to the support of libraries workin... more An electronic version of this book is freely available, thanks to the support of libraries working with Knowledge Unlatched. More information about the initiative can be found at www.knowledgeunlatched.org.
Hague Journal on the Rule of Law
Urban communities were established in the twelfth and thirteenth century with the aid of legal co... more Urban communities were established in the twelfth and thirteenth century with the aid of legal concepts that comprised early notions of the rule of law. Cities were envisaged as “communes”, which referred to popular sovereignty. In a first period, urban citizenship was flexible and closely related to place of residence. From around 1220 this model came under increasing pressure. In order to safeguard the interests of the most affluent citizens, large guilds were established. Status determined rights, and there were significant inequalities even among citizens. Ideas of democratic democracy and the civic virtues of citizenship were fostering reforms after 1250. Existing urban governments were expanded to include councils and burgomasters. A framework of checks and balances developed because the commune, now considered as the body of citizens and residents, was seen as a force coexisting with metropolitan institutions. The medieval examples show that, in response to economic and even ...
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Papers by Dave De ruysscher
when it comes to rules that in the Middle Ages and the early
modern period were defined as ‘(old) customs’. Earlier optimistic
appraisals as to the age of such rules have been challenged. This
article argues that efforts of debunking should be combined with a
more thorough analysis of the legal consciousness of past societies.
It proposes to look at old municipal private law, not as a set of rules
fixed by tradition, but rather as a malleable body of norms. The
symbolic qualities of law were such that renewal and rephrasal
could be combined with an ideology of conservation. It was perfectly
possible for administrators to promote new rules as being a
part of an ‘age-old law’ of the city or the land, without breaching
the implicit conventions as to the qualities of law. However, as will
be demonstrated further, there were limits to the agency of administrators
in this regard. The codes as to the features of law marked
boundaries that had to be taken seriously.
This tension was an interesting one, from the vantage point of economic professionals. They could play a trump card, referring to the specificity of trade, when being confronted with legislators that wanted to impose rules. The double discourse mentioned has a parallel in the image of the merchant in late-medieval canon law and scholastic literature. On the one hand merchants could be considered personae miserabiles, on the other they could be usurers. But they were equally considered useful, since they were supplying communities with necessary goods. It is likely that merchants did not merely navigate between these conflicting views but also made use of them. Since they were close to power they could most probably instrumentally pretend to be independent; their importance made it possible that different, even contradictory, images of their profession could last.
A first part of this article presents an overview of stages in the legal-historical analysis of commercial law. A second section goes into three changes in the methods and perspectives of legal historiography on commercial law, dating from the later nineteenth century (that is, contextualism, class orientation and the connection to liberty and feudalism). In a third paragraph, it is discussed to what extent the new approaches were reductionist. In the final part, all what precedes is brought back to “state and trade”.
This necessitates a fresh approach to legal history, not just regarding this theme, but also more broadly. To properly reflect the dynamics of the relations between trading cities with their sovereigns and with other cities, domestic as well as cross-border, more scholarly attention should be paid to correspondence and to administrative practice. This will shed new light on the legal status of pre-modern cities.
when it comes to rules that in the Middle Ages and the early
modern period were defined as ‘(old) customs’. Earlier optimistic
appraisals as to the age of such rules have been challenged. This
article argues that efforts of debunking should be combined with a
more thorough analysis of the legal consciousness of past societies.
It proposes to look at old municipal private law, not as a set of rules
fixed by tradition, but rather as a malleable body of norms. The
symbolic qualities of law were such that renewal and rephrasal
could be combined with an ideology of conservation. It was perfectly
possible for administrators to promote new rules as being a
part of an ‘age-old law’ of the city or the land, without breaching
the implicit conventions as to the qualities of law. However, as will
be demonstrated further, there were limits to the agency of administrators
in this regard. The codes as to the features of law marked
boundaries that had to be taken seriously.
This tension was an interesting one, from the vantage point of economic professionals. They could play a trump card, referring to the specificity of trade, when being confronted with legislators that wanted to impose rules. The double discourse mentioned has a parallel in the image of the merchant in late-medieval canon law and scholastic literature. On the one hand merchants could be considered personae miserabiles, on the other they could be usurers. But they were equally considered useful, since they were supplying communities with necessary goods. It is likely that merchants did not merely navigate between these conflicting views but also made use of them. Since they were close to power they could most probably instrumentally pretend to be independent; their importance made it possible that different, even contradictory, images of their profession could last.
A first part of this article presents an overview of stages in the legal-historical analysis of commercial law. A second section goes into three changes in the methods and perspectives of legal historiography on commercial law, dating from the later nineteenth century (that is, contextualism, class orientation and the connection to liberty and feudalism). In a third paragraph, it is discussed to what extent the new approaches were reductionist. In the final part, all what precedes is brought back to “state and trade”.
This necessitates a fresh approach to legal history, not just regarding this theme, but also more broadly. To properly reflect the dynamics of the relations between trading cities with their sovereigns and with other cities, domestic as well as cross-border, more scholarly attention should be paid to correspondence and to administrative practice. This will shed new light on the legal status of pre-modern cities.