On the differences between the two streams of the German Historical School: the Pandectists and the Germanists. The example of possession: the Roman concept and Albrecht's German alternative to it, the Gewere.

The other stream of the Historical School: the Germanists and their focus on ancient German law. The parallel between the search for original legal ideas and the one for German literature: the task of the brothers Grimm. The importance of community in German tradition.

A presentation of the nineteenth-century German model: the impossibility to adopt a generally shared codification, Savigny’s claim for the supremacy of the “Volksgeist”, the adoption of Roman institutes of private law by the Germans and the new stream of “Pandectists”.

The situation in the United States of America analysed by Alexis de Tocqueville, the influence of France model in Europe and the new-born “Historical School” in Germany.

This podcast analyses how France has been a model for the whole Europe. Spain, Portugal, Italy, later Germany, Austria, Netherlands, Belgium and Switzerland: all adopted the model of a similar codification.

Napoleon’s reform of legal studies: the study of the Civil Code in schools. The birth of the École de l’Exégèse and the triumph and the defeat of the Code: the abrogation of other concurrent sources but the need for a doctrinal interpretation. Other Codes issued by Napoleon in the first years of 19th century.

This episode explains how the French Civil Code had the ambition to reduce the role of the judge to a passive force, a "mere mouth of the law", and how this attempt was doomed to fail. 

The Code Napoleon: was it clear, rational and straightforward as it was meant to be? What differentiates it from other codes? What significant innovations did it accomplish?

This episode analyses the connection between absolutism and codification, presenting the Tuscan Criminal Code and the Prussian Civil Code as examples of a power strong enough to impose a new codification to the nation without a revolution.

This podcast deals with the wars in Europe during the 19th century. It is mainly focused on French military history during the Napoleonic wars and the strength of Napoleon’s army.

In this podcast Kim Thao Le deals with the the so-called "intermediary law", developed in France between the 1789 Revolution and Napoleon's Civil

Code of 1804 and based on revolutionary ideas.

Kim Thao Le explains how the Enlightenment influenced the French Revolution. She offers an analysis of the Ancién Regime and how the events of this period led to the Revolution.

Kim Tao Le introduces the Enlightenment, analysing its most important ideas and presenting the figures of Voltaire, Montesquieu, and Rousseau.

Emanuele Conte and Andrew Cecchinato discuss about revolutions, comparing the American and French ones and analysing some of their peculiar aspects, like the influence of Enlightenment and their ideas of economy.

The American Constitution represented a model for later claims of independence, and was followed by many other countries, including Italy.

The American Constitution issued in 1787, based on Enlightenment ideals, introduced the separation of powers and the idea of the superiority of the written Constitution over any other law, but showed the contradiction between principle of equality and the reality of slavery.

In this episode, Andrew Cecchinato examines some of the ideas behind the American Revolution and the Declaration of Independence. In particular, he focuses on Jefferson's thoughts on tyranny and how these were influenced by the medieval European tradition.

The Declaration of Independence of 1776 draft by Thomas Jefferson and its key principles. The episode argues that, contrary to European countries, American identity was not based on a common historical tradition, but on a shared set of values and beliefs.

This podcast examines the role of the Enlightenment and of the British Common law on American revolutionary ideals, focusing respectively on the idea of individual rights and on the influcence of English Parliamentarism.

This episode introduces America as a great laboratory where European ideas were tested in an exterior space, framing the situation in North America at the dawn of the revolution, with a focus on slavery and the figure of Thomas Paine.