A close associate of the Max Planck Institute for European Legal History for many years, the first article in the new issue of the Rg is also one of António Manuel Hespanha's very last publications. Unfortunately, he passed away only a few weeks before the publication of this issue. His contribution summarises the prosopographical work on Portuguese lawyers of the early modern period that have been carried out in the last three decades. The second essay in the Research section is by Jean-Louis Halpérin. It deals with the surprising connection of criminal law and the law of nations at German-speaking universities from the 16th to the early 20th century - long before the advent of international criminal law.The starting point of the first thematic topic (Focus "Tridentine Marriage") is the Council of Trento (1545-1563). Ten authors examine the effects and implications of the marriage law reforms enacted by the council in a variety of different regions around the world (Europe, Pakistan, Japan, the Philippines, Latin America) up to the 19th century. To mark the 100th anniversary of the Weimar Constitution, the Focus section "Translating Weimar" addresses its transnational resonance. Five contributions analyse local perspectives from Asia, Latin America and the Common Law World.
This year's Forum takes a closer look at two books, namely the handbooks on legal history published last year by Oxford University Press. Focusing on specific themes related to their own research interests, researchers from our institute have reviewed the volumes and offered their own comments to the discussion on the status of the discipline.
Luckily, the book review section treats more than just two books. As always, the books have been published within the past two years and are discussed in order to facilitate the transfer of knowledge beyond linguistic, regional and historical borders.
Finally, Anette Baumann shares her observations on the evidentiary inspection practices of the Reichskammergericht (1495-1806), and she has selected a number of inspection maps (Augenscheinkarten) to illustrate the print edition of the journal.
--posted by Dan Ernst
