Analysis Of Western European Medieval Roman Law

Roman law occupies an especially important position in western legal history and Western European history.After the collapse of Roman Empire, Roman law had no complete disappearance, but as the whole, it had broken off, as a subject also in the stagnation, decadent appearance. In early Medieval Western Europe, German customary law prevailed, with the establishment and development of feudal system, a great deal of different territorial legal system formed in the feudal society. With the rise and the development of the city, especially the recovery of commodity economy , the social development demanded the unified, perfect law to guarantee. In the end of llth century, the manuscripts of Roman law were rediscovered in Western Europe, from then on, the countries and cities started to study Corpus luris Civilis ,which gathers all the quintessence of Roman law. The study of Roman law is a milestone of Western European legal history, also a major mark of the development of Western Europe into the new period.This thesis takes the fate of Roman law in Medieval Western Europe for a clue, and discusses the process and social background of Roman law decay, survival, and rediscovery in the feudal society.This thesis begins with an introduction, which points out the purpose and significance of the topic, and defines the concept of Roman law and studying contents.The main body of this thesis consists of three chapters: the first chapter, the decay and the survival of Roman law; the second chapter, the historical reason for studying Roman law in the Medieval Western Europe; the third chapter, the process of Roman law study and its significance.The conclusion part is the summary of the full thesis: the decay and the rediscovery of Roman law conform to the political, economicaldevelopment trend in Western Europe, which is inevitable outcome of the development in Western European feudal society.