Roman Law's Enduring Impact on European Legislation

Moreover, this belief in the perfection of Roman law was strengthened by the efforts of jurists—lawyers trained in universities specializing in Roman law. These experts disclosed the excellence of the legal sources while working in the highest circles of power. Roman law, together with Greek philosophy, literature, and classical Greco-Roman medicine, integrated model cults within European intellectual circles, which never ceased to revere these traditions.

The Influence of Roman Law in Local Legislation

Uniformity began to take hold in areas covered by local law, driven by the growing influence of the Roman principle of the legislator. Initially, this influence was transmitted through legislative anthologies during the Dark Ages. For example, the Breviary of Alaric is a collection of documents organized around civil law.

Between the 5th and 10th centuries, notaries and clerks were the only professionals writing in a legal culture of high prestige in a world dominated by illiteracy. Subsequently, the reception of Roman law occurred as lawyers, present in foreign ministries, utilized actual formulas derived from this right to enforce the political pretensions of kings and emperors. This led to the emergence of real local sources of law strongly imbued with Roman principles.

The Canonist Tradition

Canon law is the law of the Christian Church:

• As an institution, the Church initially derived its law almost entirely from the will of God, as revealed in the sacred books.
• In apostolic times, Christians hoped to resolve issues of internal discipline and relationships among believers based on the word of God, the teachings of Christ, and the demands of brotherly love.
• The clandestine nature of Christianity during its first three centuries made the existence of a formal legal and judicial apparatus virtually impossible. Everything changed when Emperor Constantine consented to freedom of worship in the fourth century.
• Since that time, the jurisdiction of the pope and bishops over the faithful could be openly exercised. This was even encouraged by imperial power, which gave episcopal decisions the force of judgment in litigation voluntarily allocated to them, reserving the trial of purely religious offenses for ecclesiastical jurisdiction.