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1. Definition and significanceA surety is a guarantee in which a party (also the “surety,” or “guarantor”) undertakes to guarantee the obligation of a debtor (the “principal”) to a creditor (the “obligee”). The normal practice today, whereby the surety’s liability is purely financial, is the outcome of a long evolution away from the imposition of debt bondage that was completed only in the 15th century [3]; [4]. Legislation on sureties from the 16th to 18th centuries reflects the move away from regional legal concepts to those of Roman law. This reception pr…

1. Legal scopeThroughout the early modern period, maritime commercial law was the branch of private law that regulated shipping by sea. It covered the legal relations of those involved in deep sea navigation: (1) the ship owner or shipping company as proprietor of the ship; (2) the skipper or captain of the ship as the highest authority on board and the proprietor’s representative; (3) the crew, which stood under the captain’s authority; and (4) finally the merchants shipping their wares. Seafarers’ articles of agreement ( Heuervertrag) were concluded between the proprietor …

1. ConceptSelf-defense is legitimate defense against an attack. Consequently, where such a defender otherwise fulfills the criteria of having committed a crime, for example, by inflicting physical harm or killing, he or she is neither punishable for it in criminal law nor liable for damages in civil law.Martin Löhnig2. Criminal lawMedieval legal collections contain only regulations concerning individual cases of defense. The Bamberger Halsgerichtsordnung of 1517 and the  Constitutio Criminalis Carolina (CCC) of 1532 then proceeded to a comprehensive regulation der…

1. ConceptThe law of pledge establishes security for a debt, particularly as incurred in the provision of credit. In effect, the pledge serves as protection for the debt secured. The pledgee may sell or exchange the object pledged in order to satisfy his claim from the proceeds if the pledgor fails to repay the debt. A pledge may be made through a contractual provision (bailment; see below, 3.) or as a creditor’s act of enforcement (see below, 4.). Beginning in the late Middle Ages, ecclesiastica…

1. Wirtschaft 1.1. Grundprinzip Der auf antiken Vorläufern aufbauende, im Italien der Kommerziellen Revolution (12.–14. Jh.) entwickelte W. (ital. lettera di cambio, franz. lettre de change, engl. bill of exchange), »eine der wichtigsten Errungenschaften der Wirtschaftsgeschichte« [4. 415], stellte in seiner seit dem 14. Jh. existierenden, klassischen Form einen Zahlungsauftrag dar, mit welchem der Aussteller (Trassant) des W. den Bezogenen (Trassaten; Akzeptanten des W.) damit beauftragte, andernorts eine Schuld an seiner statt a…

1. Economics 1.1. Basics The bill of exchange (Italian lettera di cambio, French letter de change, German Wechsel), “one of the most important achievements in the history of economics” [4], was developed in Italy on the basis of ancient precursors during the Commercial Revolution (12th–14th centuries). In its classic form, dating from the 14th century, it represented an order for payment, in which the maker (drawer) of the bill instructed the drawee (acceptor) to clear a debt elsewhere for a beneficiary or bearer in his pl…

1. Rechtliche Aspekte 1.1. BegriffUnter P. wird heute die auf einem P.-Vertrag beruhende Überlassung einer Sache oder eines Rechts gegen Geld (P.-Zins) auf Zeit zum Gebrauch und – hier liegt der Unterschied zur Miete und zur Leihe – zur Fruchtziehung verstanden. Im Gegensatz zum Mieter obliegt dem Pächter in weitem Umfang die Unterhaltung des P.-Gegenstandes. Von der durch Schuldvertrag (P.-Vertrag) begründeten P., die grundsätzlich jederzeit gekündigt werden kann und die mit dem Tod des Pächters endet, ist die aus dem rezipier…

1. Legal aspects 1.1. DefinitionA lease (German Pacht) today is understood to be the contractual transfer of an object or right in exchange for money (cf. Interest [banking]), whereupon the recipient may use or – in contrast to rent and loans for use (commodatum) – enjoy the fruits of the object for a certain time. In contrast to a renter, the lessee is broadly responsible for the maintenance of the object of the lease. Leases based on loan contract, which could in theory be canceled at any time and la…