FACTORS
58 Without detracting from the importance of the learned lawyers, we should note some general political, intellectual and material developments which were decisive for the developments which have been described.
In the first place, it must be recognized how important it was that power was concentrated in the church and in the states. The modernization of legal studies and the administration ofjustice fits perfectly in a policy of centralization and bureaucratiÂzation. The free cities were also in favour of a modernization of law. In the last centuries of the Middle Ages, it was these political institutions which abandoned the old feudal framework, and resoÂlutely created new political structures.Transformations in the law were clearly influenced by the intellecÂtual climate in general, notably the revival of interest in ancient culture and the role of scholasticism, which attempted to combine rational criticism with faith in the absolute authority of sacred texts. Especially important was the increasingly rational character of western thought, under the influence of the works of Aristotle in
w Often in criminal matters it led to the use of torture: for instance when there was a single eyewitness (who counted for half proof) and a negative indication (such as running from the place of the crime, which counted for a quarter), the total was reached by declarations made under torture (worth a quarter) in order to arrive at a complete proof. G. Alessi Palazzolo, Prova legale e pena. La crisi del sistema tra evo medio e modemo (Naples, 1979; Storia e Diritto: studi e testi raccolti da R. Ajello e V. Piano Mortari, 6). particular.^8 Aristotelian social analysis was a fundamental factor in the shaping of modern society. The will to understand social organization rationally and to analyse it in depth had a stimulating effect which also had a significant impact on jurisprudence.
Finally, the development of law was influenced by material factors. The revival of cities and the development of a monetary economy assured the church and the states the financial means for reorganization (salaries for magistrates and officials educated in law) and allowed them to cover the expenses of the long (not directly productive) university studies of thousands of students. The socioÂeconomic crisis of the agrarian and feudal world caused a crisis in the legal structures and conceptions of that society. The complexity of new economic structures, which from now on had an industrial and commercial dimension, also demanded a better-adapted and more complex system of justice. In particular, commerce and the moneÂtary system could not develop without greater contractual freedom, a better system of credit, and the liberation of landed property from feudal and family charges. These demands exceeded what the western world in the early Middle Ages could possibly supply. It could offer the interminable discussions of village leaders, and a traditional wisdom which varied from one region to another. Growth of a new economy based on rational investment and an international market now depended on a single certain system, a system that was foreseeable and predictable.