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This article addresses the question of whether and how the Lutheran Reformation led to a (further) pluralisation of legal systems. Since the beginning of the early modern period, primarily in the course of the 16th century, a wave of legal records and legal codifications can be observed throughout Europe. The connection with the reception of Roman and Canon law is obvious. On a completely different level, an epochal church schism took place from the early 16th century onwards, triggered by Martin Luther’s (1483–1546) fundamental criticism of the Roman Church. The term “pluralism of legal systems” is used here in the sense of diversity as well as the accepted coexistence and togetherness of cultural phenomena in the field of law. The article is divided into three sections: In the first section, an overview of legislation, primarily in the Holy Roman Empire, from about 1517 to the end of the 16th century will be given. Among the many examples will be the famous Czech city law codification of Pavel Koldin, which was newly edited and annotated a few years ago. A second section will deal with those legal norms that are related to the Lutheran Reformation and can be seen as consequences of the Reformation. In a third section, some substantive innovations that have had an impact up to the current legal system will be presented. The conclusion will be a short summary and some further observations.

Obituary

An important impetus for the development and dissemination of the Saxon Mirror, the most famous and influential German law book of Central Germany between 1220 and 1235 by one Eike von Repgow, was the municipal law of the town of Magdeburg, the so called Magdeburg Law. It is one of the most important German town laws of the Middle Ages. In conjunction with the Saxon Mirror with which it was closely interconnected, the Magdeburg Law reached the territories of Silesia, Poland, the lands belonging to the Teutonic Order, the Baltic countries (especially Lithuania), Ukraine, Bohemia, Moravia, Slovakia and Hungary. The peculiar symbiosis between Saxon Mirror and Magdeburg Law on the way to Eastern Europe has been expressed in the source texts (ius Teutonicum, ius Maideburgense and ius Saxonum in the early originally carried the same content). Ius Maideburgense (Magdeburg Law) has reached the foremost position as a broad term, which encompassed the Saxon territorial law as well as the Magdeburg town law, and, quite frequently, also the German Law (ius Teutonicum) in general. Modern scholarship recognizes this terminological overlapping and interrelatedness through the notion of Saxon- Magdeburg Law. In a very complex process of legal transfer, the Saxon-Magdeburg Law became a fundamental source of the legal systems in several Eastern European states during the late Middle Ages and the early modern period. In this sense the Saxon-Magdeburg Law contributed to the groundwork of the development of law in Europe. Milestones achieved in the process included the formal concession of Magdeburg Law to the capitals Krakow (Poland), Kiev (Ukraine), Minsk (Belarus), Vilnius (Lithuania) and other towns by kings and princes between the 13th and 15th centuries.

Rezensiertes Werk: Bernd Kannowski, Die Umgestaltung des Sachsenspiegelrechts durch die Buch’sche Glosse (MGH Schriften 56), Hannover: Hahnsche Buchhandlung 2007, XLVI, 655 S., ISBN 978-3-7752-5756-5

Viduramžiais ir ankstyvaisiais Naujaisiais laikais iš vidurio Vokietijos pasklido skirtingi impulsai, turėję svarbią įtaką Europos kultūros istorijai. Teisės srityje jiems priklauso Saksų veidrodis ir Magdeburgo miesto teisė. Abu teisės šaltiniai ne tik kūrė teisės gyvenimą vidurio, rytų ir šiaurės Vokietijos erdvėje, bet ir padarė didelę įtaką daugeliui Vidurio Rytų Europos kraštų. Straipsnyje aptariami miesto teisės atsiradimo raida vidurio Vokietijos erdvėje ir šio kompleksiško proceso Magdeburge vystymasis. Abu savo ištakomis vokiški teisės šaltiniai, Magdeburgo miesto teisė ir Saksų veidrodis, radosi Elbės vidurupyje, Magdeburge, ir buvo iš čia skirtingomis formomis perimti ir pasklido daugybėje vietų, kurios driekėsi tarp Elbės Vokietijoje, Dniepro Ukrainoje ir Dauguvos Latvijoje. Nei vienas vokiškos teisės tekstas nepadarė tokios įtakos iki šiol.