The Humanist Context of Junius’s De politiae Mosis observatione: The Early-Modern Politia-Judaica Literature
Junius's De politiae Mosis observatione (1593) was part of the so-called politia- Judaica literature of his day. In fact, this historical context of the politia-Juda- ica literature has often been overseen in research, mainly because the releÂvant body of literature as such has been subject of a yet unfinished scholarly debate.
The sixteenth and more particularly the seventeenth century saw the creation of an unique â€?text genre of the respublica-hebraica’ or â€?respublica Hebraeorum’? This text genre is often understood as part of a â€?Hebrew revival' and the flourishing Christian Hebraism at that time.[265] [266] Tracts like Junius's De politiae Mosis observatione have consequently been interpreted as part of â€?political Hebraism'.[267] However, it is important to take the whole body of the genre into account: Books and tracts entitled â€?respublica Hebraeorum’ or holding a similar title were themselves only part of the more comprehensive politia-judaica literature and authors who, other than Junius, had no Hebraist background made major contributions to this politia-judaica literature as well.The politia-judaica literature had juridical, historiographical, as well as theoÂlogical roots.11 Franciscus Junius is to some extent exemplary for how these different roots came into interplay in the writing of one author.
The history of the politia-judaica literature sets in during the last third of the sixteenth century and was, in the beginning at least, primarily a juridical and historiographical endeavour of Christian humanists. These humanists were highly interested in ancient legal sources and viewed the corpus of the Mosaic law as the oldest of all legal codices. For them, Moses stood in line with the eldest lawgivers of ancient timesi2 and, drawing on biblical and extra-biblical Mosaic traditions, they were eager to demonstrate that Mosaic law was on a par with other legal traditions, Roman law in particular.
The first tracts of the politia-judaica literature, from the last third of the sixteenth century onward, belonged to what is called â€?humanist jurisprudence.43 The first humanist authors of the politia-judaica literature were highly devoted to the model of the Mosaic legislation and many of them even went so far as to demonstrate that the Mosaic code was not only the ideal origin of Roman law, but also of many other legal traditions and the law of other nations. This had already to some degree drawn the attention of French humanist authors such as Frangois Baudouin (1520-1573), Jean Bodin (1529/30-1596),14 and the so-called ars hisÂtorical5 For a number of these humanists an inspiration was also Pierre Pithou's [268] [269] [270] [271] [272] edition of the fourth century Collatio legum Mosaicarum et Romanarum (also going under the title of Lex Dei) in 1573, an ancient compilation of Mosaic law and Roman law prior to the codification of Roman Emperor Justinian, who ruled from 527 to 565.[273] Pithou's Collatio was yet a further step towards the first writings of the politia-judaica literature, i.e. comparative legal studies and historiographical works with a clear focus on the Mosaic legislation as a model for legislation as such. The first comparative legal study in this sense would be the Leges politicae, ex sacrae iurisprudentiaefontibus haustae (1577) of the Frenchjurist Frangois Ragueau (Franciscus Raguel[lus], d. 1605).1[274] [275] [276] His book was followed by Henri Estienne's (or Etienne/Henricus ιι. Stephanus, 1528Â1598) legal compilation Iuris civilis fontes et rivi (1580);^ Iuris divini Iudaeorum ac iuris civilis Romanorum parallela (1594) by the Scottish jurist William Welwood (1578-1622)^ and Themis Hebraeo-Romana (1595) by the Heidelberg law professor Johann Kahl (Calvinus/Calvus, d. 1614).[277] [278] Aside from this comÂparative legal interest of humanist jurists, a similar historiographical branch of the politia-judaica literature emerged almost at the same time. This histoÂriographical branch of the politia-judaica literature was linked with the book De politia judaica (1574; entitled De republica Ebraeorum in the new edition of 1641 by Constantijn L'Empereur) written by the French Hebraist and theoÂlogian Corneille Bonaventure Bertram (1531-1594),21 De republica Hebraeorum libri vιι[279] of the first-ranking Italian humanist Carlo Sigonio (c.1522-1584), and De Iurisdictione, et qualis fuit in politiaJudaica (1582) of the German law profesÂsor Joachim Stephani (1544-1632), which was only the first volume of his major work De Iurisdictione (4 vols, 1604).2[280]Junius's De politiae Mosis observatione lacks any direct references to the above-mentioned early tracts of the politia-judaica literature, but there is enough evidence that the book belongs in this very literary branch. Most obviously,Junius's study and the other early tracts all have their main topic in common: the uniqueness and role model of the politia judaica (or politia Mosis) and the political laws of Moses. Consequently, later bibliographies mentionJunius's De politiae Mosis observatione under the same rubric poliÂtia judaica[281]^ But there is also more indirect evidence concerning the way in which the Mosaic legislation is seen and interpreted. Here, Junius remains very close to the approaches of the above-mentioned â€?humanist jurisprudence' in comparing the Mosaic corpus of law to other ancient legal corpora, especially Roman law. Junius's own legal studies in Bourges, a centre of humanist jurisÂprudence at the time with well-known teachers such as Frangois Douaren and Hugues Doneau (Donellus),2[282] may have encouraged him to follow this comÂparative approach. A plethora of citations from ancient legal sources with many references to the Roman civil law (the Corpus Iuris Civilis)[283] [284] reveal this humanistic context?7 Junius carried forward the very first comparative and historiographical studies of the polltla-judalca literature with his own systemÂatic approach to the subject of the Mosaic polity. He intended to give a final answer to the question which of the discussed political Mosaic laws still were valid and binding for Christians in the present - this question originated from theological debates during the Protestant reformation, as we will see in the following. For this purpose he introduced legal principles and classifications (types of law; objects of law (persons, actions, circumstances), general/indi- vidual laws) and systematically distinguished between the eternal (natural and reasonable) and transient laws of the Mosaic polity. In a first step, however, Junius had to prove the uniqueness and exemplarity of the Mosaic legislation and its political laws as the basis for all his arguments. 2