Gelaagdheid van gewoonterecht in Amterdam en Lyon

Description

It is said that customs were very important for organizing international trade in the early modern period. The legal question, however, is how these customs can be defined. The Roman’s already distinguished between consuetudines and mores. In medieval and early modern ius commune it seems that rationality of customs became an increasingly important criterium. How do these distinctions appear on a grassroots level? To answer this question I have analyzed pleadings of proctors and lawyers in both Amsterdam and Lyon (for the period 1700-1730). These sources should be studied in their procedural and institutional context. Such analysis reveals that customs among merchants had different manifestations, often very closely linked to the city’s specific institutions (e.g. guilds, weighing houses, etc.) and economic activities. This made it hard to understand them as ‘overarching’ instruments particularly suited to facilitate international trade.

Period	23 May 2023
Event title	Forum Romanum
Event type	Conference
Location	Universiteit van AmsterdamShow on map
Degree of Recognition	National