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Batselé Filip. Liberty, Slavery and the Law in Early Modern Western Europe. Springer International Publishing,2020. — 221 p.. 2020

This book investigates the legal evolution of the “free soil principle” in England, France and the Low Countries during the Early Modern period (ca. 1500–1800), which essentially stated that, as soon as slaves entered a certain country, they would immediately gain their freedom. This book synthesizes the existing literature on the origins and evolution of the principle, adds new insights by drawing on previously undiscussed primary sources on the development of free soil in the Low Countries and employs a pan-Western, European and comparative approach to identify and explain the differences and similarities in the application of this principle in France, England and the Low Countries. Divided into four sections, the book begins with a brief introduction to the subject matter, putting it in its historical context. Slavery is legally defined, using the established international law definition, and both the status of slavery in Europe before the Early Modern Period and the Atlantic slave trade are discussed. Secondly, the book assesses the legal origins of the free soil principle in England, France and the Low Countries during the period 1500–1650 and discusses the legal repercussions of slaves coming to England, France and the Low Countries from other countries, where the institution was legally recognized. Thirdly, it addresses the further development of the free soil principle during the period 1650–1800. In the fourth and last section, the book uses the insights gained to provide a pan-Western, European and comparative perspective on the origins and application of the free soil principle in Western Europe. In this regard, it compares the origins of free soil for the respective countries discussed, as well as its application during the heyday of the Atlantic slave trade. This perspective makes it possible to explain some of the divergences in approaches between the countries examined and represents the first-ever full-scale country comparison on this subject in a book.

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Acknowledgements

1. Introduction

1.1 Research Question and Research Goals

1.2 Status Quaestionis

1.3 Methodology and Heuristics

2. The Legal and Institutional Framework of Slavery

2.1 Defining Slavery in International Law

2.2 Slavery in Europe—From Antiquity to the End of the Middle Ages (Ca. 1500)

Before starting with a discussion on the freedom principle in Europe during the Early Modern Era, we need to know what the situation was at the end of the Middle Ages.

2.2.1 Legitimising Slavery Before the Atlantic Slave Trade: Between Aristotle and the Romans

2.2.2 Institutional Realities: From Slavery to Serfdom in Medieval Europe

2.2.3 Conclusion: Slavery in Europe at the End of the Middle Ages: Legally Justified but Institutionally Marginalised

2.3 The Continued Legality of Slavery: Europe’s Atlantic Endeavours in the Early Modern Era

By 1500, slavery was thus practically dead in England, France and the Low Countries but theoretically still alive in legal writing.

2.3.1 Legitimising Slavery During the Atlantic Slave Trade: Continuity from Beginning to End

2.3.2 The Slave Laws of the European Colonisers

2.4 Conclusion: Slavery as a Sempiternal Institution

3. The Development of a Legal Freedom Principle, Ca. 1500–1650

3.1 Introduction

3.2 England: End of Domestic Unfreedom, No Clear Freedom Principle

3.2.1 The Final End of English Villeinage and the Favor Libertatis of the Common Law

3.2.2 Slavery and the English Legal Order in the Sixteenth Century: Vagrants, Cartwright and the Tudor Galleys

3.2.3 Conclusion: The English Legal Order at the Dawn of Black Slavery: Freedom for Englishmen, or for Every Men?

3.3 France: From a Municipal to a National Freedom Principle

3.3.1 Serfdom: Decline, Persistency and an Anachronistic Édit Royal

3.3.2 Local Origins: French Municipal Freedom

3.3.3 From Municipality to Country: The Development of a National Freedom Principle

3.3.4 Conclusion: The French Legal Order at the Dawn of Black Slavery: French Freedom as a National Principle

3.4 Low Countries: Developing the Freedom Principle Along French Lines: From Antwerp to the XVII Provinces

3.4.1 The Decline of Serfdom in the Low Countries

3.4.2 “City Air Makes Free”: Cities and the Decline of Serfdom

3.4.3 The Low Countries: The Development of a National Freedom Tradition: Theoretically Created, Practically Ignored

3.4.4 Ignoring the Precedent: Antwerp and Middelburg

3.4.5 Conclusion: The Legal Order of the XVII Provinces at the Dawn of Black Slavery: Limited Precedent, Extended Freedom Principle

4. England Ca. 1650–1800: Neither Emancipated nor Fully Enslaved

4.1 Introduction

4.2 England: Neither Emancipated nor Fully Enslaved

4.2.1 The Historiography of Black Slavery in England

4.2.2 Early Encounters: A (not so) Confused State of Slavery Before Somerset?

4.2.3 Somerset’s Case: High Expectations, Limited Judgment

4.2.4 After Somerset: The End of de Facto and de Jure Slavery in England

5. Strains on French Freedom: Turks and Nègres in Metropolitan France

5.1 French Galley Slavery: An Unexplored Exception to the French Freedom Principle?

5.1.1 Louis XIV’s Galley Fleet

5.1.2 Turks and the Freedom Principle: An Unspoken Exception?

5.2 Black Slaves in France: The Freedom Principle Versus Slavery, Paris Versus the Atlantic

5.2.1 The Historiography of Black Slavery in France

5.2.2 The Earliest Cases: Upholding the French Freedom Principle

5.2.3 The Edict of 1716: First Limitations to the French Freedom Principle

5.2.4 Conclusion

6. The United Provinces: Abandoning the Freedom Principle Sub Silentio(?)

6.1 The Historiography of Black Slavery in the United Provinces

6.2 Pre-1776: Mixed Outcomes(?)

6.3 Regulating Slavery in the Metropolis: The Placaet of 1776

6.3.1 Jan Nepveu’s Request: Does the Metropolitan Soil Render Free?

6.3.2 Liberty Is Good, but Property Rights Are Better: The Placaet of 1776

6.3.3 Enforcing the Placaet of 1776

6.4 Black Slavery in the United Provinces After the Batavian Revolution: Unexplored and Unproblematic?

6.4.1 The Batavian Republic and the Kingdom of Holland: Unclear Situation

6.4.2 Codifying the Dutch Freedom Principle: The Dutch Civil Code of 1838

6.4.3 The Road to Abolition: The Case of the Slave Virginie

6.6 The Southern Netherlands: A Tradition Largely Untested

7. A Legal Comparison of the Freedom Principle—Similarities and Differences

7.1 Introduction

7.2 The Legal Origins of the Freedom Principle

7.3 The Freedom Principle and the Atlantic Slave Trade

Before the second half of the seventeenth century, in each of the countries under discussion, the number of slaves coming from other countries was negligent, if not almost non-existent in the case of England.

7.3.1 The Reaction of the Legislators

7.3.2 The Reaction of the Courts

7.3.3 Other Differences and Similarities

7.3.4 Law in Books Versus Law in Society

8. General Conclusion—The Soil of Europe: Free or Unfree?

Books and textbooks on the discipline History of state and law:

- History of state and law - Roman law -

- Advocacy - Agricultural law - History of the state and law - Theory of state and law -

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