Customary Law, Legal Consciousness and Local Agency. From Sumatra to Beauvais circa 1100 and back
In this paper I compare two field studies of customary law in action. Minangkabau in Western Sumatra is home to the largest population with matrilineal property transmission rights in the world. I show how customary law, the so-called »adat«, has been an essential part of the...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | deu |
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Max Planck Institute for Legal History and Legal Theory
2016-01-01
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| Series: | Rechtsgeschichte - Legal History |
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| Online Access: | http://data.rg.mpg.de/rechtsgeschichte/rg24_266miramon.pdf |
| Summary: | In this paper I compare two field studies of
customary law in action. Minangkabau in Western
Sumatra is home to the largest population with
matrilineal property transmission rights in the
world. I show how customary law, the so-called
»adat«, has been an essential part of the identity of
this population, next to Islamic law, since the
17th century. Adat was also shaped by the efforts
of the Dutch colonisers to write it down. My
second case is set in the French medieval town of
Beauvais at the turn of the 12th century, when the
town was thriving. I focus on one judicial conflict
surrounding a water-mill. The document pertaining
to this case is the oldest to provide information
about customs in Beauvais. This document illuminates
the evolving legal consciousness of competing
groups in the city and the process by which a
medieval judge wrote custom down. |
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| ISSN: | 1619-4993 2195-9617 |