Ambassadorial treatises allow us to trace the long - and slow - process of maturation, still unfinished at the beginning of the sixteenth century, which allowed the figure of the ambassador to acquire greater importance and take on clearer contours in legal and political thought. These writings, written by or for ambassadors, are among the sources that allow us to reconstruct and understand the conditions in which a series of norms relating to diplomatic activity emerged. Particular attention will be paid to the manuscripts that provide us with the treatises of Guillaume Durand (1230-1296), Bernard de Rosier (1400-1475) and Ermolao Barbaro (1454-1493). The study of the manuscripts allows us not only to establish links between the various witnesses, but also to reconstruct the stages of the writing process, which are most often linked to the personal experiences of the authors.
This video explores the marginal notes found in a manuscript of Guillaume Durand's Speculum legatorum, a diplomatic treatise written around 1279. These marginalia offer additional insights into how medieval readers engaged with the text, often reflecting legal, diplomatic or theological commentary. The annotations highlight specific diplomatic and normative aspects of the treatise, enriching our critical understanding of the work and its practical application in the medieval context.
Lecture 2: Le coutumier Hory by Adrien Wyssbrod
Commissioned by the Orléans-Longueville family at the beginning of the 17th century from the chancellor Jean Hory, the Hory Code was a highly successful project to put the customs of Neuchâtel into writing. Due to the opposition of the Petit Conseil, this customary law never came into force. However, it remains a privileged testimony to the law of Neuchâtel, as well as an ambitious attempt to systematise custom and even an early attempt at codification. The large number of copies of this manuscript testifies to the importance of this customary law, despite the refusal to formalise it. The complete edition of the Hory Customary is available online.
Short video: Le droit coutumier à Neuchâtel [Customary law in Neuchâtel] by Adrien Wyssbord
The functioning of the customary law of Neuchâtel can be understood thanks to the declarations of custom, which contain the points of custom. These sources are valuable for understanding the oral law, but they also have their limitations. Only the legal issues discussed are presented. The digital edition (XML/TEI) of all the customs of Neuchâtel is available online.
Although the foundation of Fribourg (Switzerland) by Berthold IV of Zaehringen dates back to 1157, it was not until almost a hundred years later (1249) that the freedoms and rights granted to the people of Fribourg were set down in writing. This document was drawn up by the chancery of Fribourg itself (!) and has an unusual appearance: 3 sheets of parchment bound together by the 2 seals attached to them, with the text presented in two columns. Its form is an excellent textbook for the study of palaeography, codicology and sigillography, and its content offers an opportunity to study diplomacy, medieval law and administrative history. Throughout the Middle Ages, the manuscript was held in high esteem: it was copied, authenticated by the most important monarchs and translated into the vernacular.
Residence permit, identity card, travel visa: in paper or digital form, the various passports are part of our daily lives. On the one hand, they attest to a state, an identity or a status to which rights are attached. On the other hand, they are a means of controlling identity and restricting movement. Where does this ambiguity between protection and surveillance come from? First of all, when, how and why did passports, and more generally instruments of personal identification, come into being?
Using documents from the Geneva archives that were produced in a variety of contexts (plague epidemics, vagrancy, the army, criminal justice, etc.), this video examines the transition in modern times from a face-to-face society based on inter-acquaintance to a society of remote identification.
1. What type of document does the hand seal belong to?
2. The rightholders have drawn up this charter themselves: could this be a legal problem?
3. What means of validation were used to guarantee its authenticity?
4. Why was the Charter translated into French and then into German in the 15th century, when most of the legal provisions it contained had been renewed and were no longer in force?
5. How can we explain and understand the particular care taken to preserve the Handfeste?
6. Holes are still visible in the margins of the charter: what are they?
7. What are the reasons given in the preamble for writing the Handfeste, and how does this relate to the concept of law in general?
Historians have coined the term "information ceremony" to describe the communication of laws in the streets and squares of cities in medieval and modern Europe. Using Geneva as an example, this video describes the issues involved in this ritual and the way in which printed posters posted in the streets reproduce the effects of the town crier's oral proclamation.
Founded at the beginning of the 13th century near Neuchâtel, Fontaine-André Abbey is a religious institution of the Prémontrés order. It played an important role in the spiritual, economic and social development of the region and was a centre of influence for the transmission of religious and administrative knowledge. Its foundation charter is remarkable for the variety of its aspects and is of remarkable pedagogical interest from three points of view: diplomatic, palaeographic and sigillographic (chirography, transfix, litterae elongatae, forms, dating, chancery practices, seals, etc.). Some other documents from the archives of the same abbey complete the picture. As a founding document, it bears witness to the administrative and legal practices of the early 13th century, providing information on the local organisation, the power structure and the rights granted to the inhabitants.
