Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online

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Agency (law)
(984 words)

1. Early modern period

Agency in its legal sense is an individual’s power under the law to carry out legally significant actions for and against another person, especially declarations of intention.

The modern period took from Roman and canon law numerous institutions that, in today’s parlance, conferred a right of agency. Down to the present day, terminologies used in European languages document the abundance and variety of traditions spread throughout Europe (French représentation, English agency, German St…

Cite this page
Schmoeckel, Mathias, “Agency (law)”, in: Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online, Editors of the English edition: Graeme Dunphy, Andrew Gow. Original German Edition: Enzyklopädie der Neuzeit. Im Auftrag des Kulturwissenschaftlichen Instituts (Essen) und in Verbindung mit den Fachherausgebern herausgegeben von Friedrich Jaeger. Copyright © J.B. Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung und Carl Ernst Poeschel Verlag GmbH 2005–2012. Consulted online on 19 March 2024 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2352-0272_emho_COM_028252>
First published online: 2015
First print edition: 20160321



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