Caenegem van R.C.. An historical introduction to private law. Cambridge University Press,1996. — 224 p.. 1996

In this book one of the world's foremost legal historians attempts to explain what produced the private law of the western world as we know it today. Professor van Caenegem pays particular attention to the origin of the Common Law civil law dichotomy, and how it arose that England and the continent of Europe, although sharing the same civilization and values, live under two different legal systems. The chronological coverage extends from the Germanic invasion in the early Middle Ages to the present day, incorporating analysis of the medieval Roman and canon law, both products of the law schools, and that of the School of Natural Law which inspired the great national codifications of the modern age. Professor van Caenegem evaluates the role of the lawgivers - emperors, kings and parliaments - and that of the judges, particularly, of course, in the lands of the English Common Law. He deals with the great phases of legal development and the main bodies of doctrine and legislation, rather than offer ananalysis of the legal norms themselves; substantive private law —family and status, property, contract, inheritance, trade - and with the organization of the courts and the forms of process. An Historical Introduction to Private Law is based on both an extensive secondary literature in several languages, and on evidence accumulated by Professor van Caenegem over the past forty years.

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Contents

Preface to the English-language edition

CHAPTER I The origins of contemporary private law, 1789-1807

the Codecivil of 1804: an end and a new beginning

the Codecivil in Europe

COMMON LAW AND RECEPTION

the codecivil: ancient and modern

COURTS AND PROCEDURE

THE MERITS OF CODIFICATION

OPPOSITION TO CODIFICATION