Johannes Wamesius (1524-1590), a professor of law at the Leuven university, was often asked for his expert opinion on concrete legal cases. Two volumes of (altogether) 600 so-called consilia de iure pontificio were published posthumously by his successor Étienne Weyms. After a short introduction, this article focuses on twenty canonical consultations. Those twenty consilia all concern questions of credit and money-dealing. This contribution first discusses Wamesius’ method and presents the parties and competent authorities involved. Secondly, attention is paid to how Wamesius deals with the plurality of legal sources. In a third step, Wamesius’ views on usury, as well as his consultation on a case of coinage are discussed. Finally, some concluding observations are offered.
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E.g.: Wamesius, cons. can. 303. In that case a deposited bag of money was reclaimed. The bag had been consigned to councillor Adrianus de Grave in the context of a procedure with the Council of Brabant (Cancellaria Brabantiae). De Grave had been professor of canon law at the Leuven university as of 1531 and was appointed as extraordinary councillor to the Council of Brabant in November 1533, before being appointed as ordinary councillor in September 1542. He died in October 1547. For information on Adrianus de Grave, see: A. Gaillard, Le conseil de Brabant, Histoire, organisation, procédure, III, Brussels 1902, p. 352; P. Delsaerdt, Suam quisque bibliothecam, Boekhandel en particulier boekenbezit aan de oude Leuvense universiteit (16de-18de eeuw), Leuven 2001, p. 110 (who discussed the control by the Council of Brabant on privileged university printers). This consultation does even not contain one single reference to the ius canonicum.
L. Waelkens, Amne adverso, Leuven 2015, p. 111-113. Of course, such an entanglement of secular and ecclesiastical rules had already started in the late Middle Ages, see: P. Prodi, Una storia della giustizia, Dal pluralismo dei fori al moderno dualismo tra coscienza e diritto, Bologna 2000, p. 129-132.
Wamesius, cons. can. 500. For a discussion, see infra, n. 148.
E.g.: Wamesius, cons. can. 306. This dispute had been started by the margrave of the city of Antwerp against money dealers. Therefore, probably, the competent authority was the Council of Brabant. See also, for instance: Wamesius, cons. can. 590: as it was about a judicial recognition of a debt (a kind of recognizance or voluntaria condemnatio), we can presume that a secular tribunal was competent. Cons. can. 592-594 do not entail any indications as to the competent authority, nor as to the parties involved.
E.g.: Wamesius, cons. can. 590. Even though the bond mentioned the term mutuum, in fact it was a perpetual annuity, which could be redeemed at any time by the sellers, i.e. debtors of the annuity. See: Ibidem, nr. 2: ‘Nec quicquam facit mutui mentio, nam verba curanda non sunt, cum de re, quae agitur, constat (…). Constat autem agi de annuo reditu constituendo, eoque perpetuando, donec sors mille centum florenorum dicto Henrico integre persoluta erit. Qua conventione aperte colligitur, non mutuum hic fuisse contractum, quod ad nutum revocabile et repetibile est; sed reditum constitutum, abalienata perpetuo sorte, et facultate luendi dictis venditoribus ac constituentibus relicta ad eorum arbitrium; nullo adjecto pacto, quod ipsi Henrico, aut ejus haeredibus liceret cum vellet repetere’. Henricus was the buyer of the annuity, i.e. the creditor. On redeemable annuities, see: Wamesius, cons. can. 499, 500, 503 and 507.
Wamesius, cons. can. 303. Maybe, Wilhelmus Martinis in the same consilium was of non-Dutch origin. The debtor’s name in that case, Jacobus vander Scheuren, sounds Dutch.
L. Waelkens, Hoofdstuk 2: Een zestiende eeuw (supra, n. 5), p. 51-88.
In an edict of 15 March 1571, Philip II had ordered that debtors (sellers) of grain annuities which had been constituted through payment of a sum of money, could redeem those annuities. The debtors could also decide to convert the grain annuity into a monetary one, in which case the annual payment was 6,25% (‘au denier seize’) of the initial purchase price. Wamesius stressed in cons. can. 507 that the pecuniary constitution of the annuity had to be proven and was not presumed. In case of ancient annuities, such a pecuniary constitution was even very unlikely. For this edict, see: Antonius Anselmo, Tribonianus Belgicus sive Dissertationes forenses ad Belgarum principum edicta, ed. Balthasaris Vivien, Bruxellis 1662, p. 81-86.
In 1648, the Council of Frisia had for instance given a copy of the second edition of Wamesius’ canonical consultations to the Franeker university. See: R. Feenstra, De Libri juridici van de Franeker universiteitsbibliotheek in de zeventiende eeuw, in: De Franeker universiteitsbibliotheek in de zeventiende eeuw, Beleid en belang van een academiebibliotheek, ed. by J.M.M. Hermans, G. Jensma, J. van Sluis and L. Wierda, Hilversum 2007, p. 41.
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Johannes Wamesius (1524-1590), a professor of law at the Leuven university, was often asked for his expert opinion on concrete legal cases. Two volumes of (altogether) 600 so-called consilia de iure pontificio were published posthumously by his successor Étienne Weyms. After a short introduction, this article focuses on twenty canonical consultations. Those twenty consilia all concern questions of credit and money-dealing. This contribution first discusses Wamesius’ method and presents the parties and competent authorities involved. Secondly, attention is paid to how Wamesius deals with the plurality of legal sources. In a third step, Wamesius’ views on usury, as well as his consultation on a case of coinage are discussed. Finally, some concluding observations are offered.
All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
---|---|---|---|
Abstract Views | 357 | 28 | 1 |
Full Text Views | 280 | 4 | 0 |
PDF Views & Downloads | 95 | 10 | 0 |