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Delivering justice on a transnational scale in Europe. The Roman Rota and the enforcement of a legal culture of negotiation (c. 1560-1700).

Project description

Unlocking the mysteries of the Roman Rota

Historically, the Roman Rota was key to the Church’s legal and judicial system. This revered court of appeal, operating in the name of the Pope, held sway over critical civil disputes involving clergy and social elites. But how did it command respect beyond the Pontifical State’s borders? Why did people from Spain, Portugal or Poland seek justice in Rome, despite the complex and costly Rotal procedures? Funded by the European Research Council, the ROTAROM17 project unites experts from diverse fields to breathe new life into the Rota's archives and unearth its hidden treasures. ROTAROM17 not only promises to rewrite the history of this ancient tribunal, but also offers a fresh perspective on the pivotal role of law in shaping European culture.

Objective

ROTAROM17 aims to understand the Roman Rota as one of the essential tools of the Catholic Church’s transnational governance in early modern Europe. How did this Rome-based court of appeal, which judged in the pope’s name important civil disputes involving the clergy and members of the social elites, succeed in having its authority respected outside the pontifical state? Why did men and women from Spain, Portugal, or Poland expect to find in Rome a better justice, in spite of the long, cautious and costly Rotal procedure? On which grounds did challenges and criticisms of Rota’s jurisdiction have political significance? Our aim is to study this institution which remains poorly known for this period, but also to see law in action in the settling of disputes, as well as the way in which the court’s jurisprudence, used as a reference by legal experts and disseminated in libraries, contributed to the making of a legal culture founded on negotiation. The project’s second objective is to open a new research field on Europe’s oldest still-active tribunal and facilitate access to its massive and under-used documentation by producing essential research tolls and reference works, thus laying strong foundations for future developments of scholarship.
ROTAROM17 brings together an international and multidisciplinary team (social, diplomatic, cultural and intellectual history, legal history) and foregrounds primary research, connecting the Rota’s archival funds with a large set of archival funds and libraries in Europe. By renewing approaches to the Roman Rota, its environment, personal, litigants, and jurisprudence, and by opening up access to hitherto untapped documentation, ROTAROM17 will make a major and original contribution to rethinking the structuring role of the law in European culture and offer new opportunities for historians to explore their local or national fields of research from multiple perspectives in a large set of countries.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

Keywords

Programme(s)

Topic(s)

Funding Scheme

HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants

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Call for proposal

(opens in new window) ERC-2022-ADG

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Host institution

UNIVERSITE DE REIMS CHAMPAGNE-ARDENNE
Net EU contribution
€ 858 750,00
Address
2 AVENUE ROBERT SCHUMAN
51100 Reims
France
Region
Grand Est Champagne-Ardenne Marne
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
Links
Total cost
€ 858 750,00

Beneficiaries (3)