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1. Concept and originsA Schöffenstuhl (Low German  Schöppenstuhl) is an independent college of finders of justice and verdicts (Judgment). The institution developed during the Middle Ages in conjunction with municipal constitutions, municipal law, and kindred systems ( Stadtrechtsfamilien, “families of municipal law”) [2]. The Schöffenstühle dispensed justice on request, and issued legal information (legal notifications; legal guidance; rulings; verdicts;  consilia). A defining feature was that their members were not learned jurists. The  Schöffenstühle were also …

1. ConceptSaxon law (German Sächsisches Recht, Sächsisch-magdeburgisches Recht) was a relatively coherent complex of norms in the Saxon jurisdiction (Saxony, Prince-Bishopric of Magdeburg, Thuringia, Anhalt, Brandenburg, Mecklenburg, Guelph territories, parts of Holstein and Silesia; Particular law), which formed in the late Middle Ages on the basis of the  Sachsenspiegel and Magdeburg municipal law and acquired relatively autonomous form alongside the  ius commune (which had developed from the reception of other legal systems) [19]. During the early mode…

1. Origins and evolution in the Middle Ages University (or academic) jurisdiction dates back to the first university foundations in Europe. Frederick I Barbarossa’s  Authentica habita of 1158, which placed foreign scholars at the University of Bologna under imperial protection, is regarded as the precursor to the relevant legal foundation. The relatively independent jurisdiction of the university corporations resulted from the structure of the university population, comprising clerics and laymen each with their own  forum privilegiatum [5], and especially a wildl…

1. Definition and principlesThe term “Vehmic court” takes its name from the medieval German word  feme (or veme; also given in English as vehm). The meaning of feme  is ambiguous and shifted over time. If we examine the earliest attestations in the sources (1227, Middle High German  vimenoten), it indicated a type of collective association [7]. It also meant a penalty (Punishment), which could be imposed in the form of the death penalty for serious crimes (Middle High German  vemewrogen), albeit not until the end of the 14th century. Finally, feme  was also the name of a special …

1. DefinitionA composition contract was a legal instrument (in criminal law) for dispute resolution. In terms of chronology, it was in use from the time people first lived under law (and thus settled wrongs) until the first two decades of the 17th century. When a crime (such as murder) had been committed, the parties of the perpetrator and victim (family, relatives, friends), who now stood in a relationship that demanded vengeance and satisfaction, reached a contractual agreement, with or without the involvement of a judicial authority ( Gerichtsherr), to pay a wergild, that is, …

1. Definition, origin, and forms In the Western society of estates (see Estates, society of) of the Middle Ages and early modern period, (coats of) arms (German Wappen from Middle High German  wâpen, French armoiries [1]) were important symbols of rank and status, the descent and relationships of an individual, a family (Family coat of arms), or a corporate body. They came into being around 1100 in the regions of (Central) Europe where feudal society had its deepest roots: (northern) France, Burgundy, England, Scotland, and th…