Ius comune and civil legislation in civil procedure: the administration ofcivil law under Este rule

At the start of this essay, the author points out the main features of the system of ius commune, and their importance to civil procedure. It must fir st be understood that the system was not entirely customary, but incurred m any (and important) statutory interventions. For that reason one must read with great care deliberations on this topic that confine themselves to the concepts of ius commune, because local legislation could have modified to a great degree the general university doctrines. Consilium sapientis, ground s for sentencing, and summary procedure are good examples of this problem. Another fundamental issue concerns the powers of the judge in civil litigat ion. Only by combining local rules with those of ius commune is it possible to understand the range of the judge's powers along with the scope of the judicial activity of litigants. A second consideration is that political au thorities were always usually aware of the importance of this problem - a p oint always underestimated by modern historians. Late medieval and early mo dern public opinion was more sensitive to civil cases than criminal ones. T he primacy of law in litigation was of critical importance to ensure both e quality among the privileged and the guardianship of their estates. For thi s reason there were numerous laws on civil procedure, and interventions wer e delicate matters. The example studied here is the administration of centr al civil justice in the territories of the Este family: Ferrara, Modena, an d Reggio. In the late Middle Ages and Early Modern period, central courts o perated along with the prince and acquired a wide jurisdiction of equity, h ere considered up to Enlightenment. The question of grounds for sentencing (here not mandatory) is a good standpoint for examining political and socia l problems of the duchy.