Printing, Law, and the Republic of Letters
Venice as a Crossroads of Legal Knowledge
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33178/SHJ.3.1.3Keywords:
Legal History, Italian History, Italy, LawAbstract
This paper examines the central role of Venice in shaping the circulation of legal knowledge during the early modern period, positioning the city as a crucial nexus within the Republic of Letters. It argues that Venice’s dominance in printing transformed law from a localised, manuscriptbased discipline into a standardised and transnational system of knowledge. Through its unique combination of commercial power, republican governance, and intellectual openness, Venice fostered an environment in which legal texts could be produced, disseminated, and systematised on an unprecedented scale.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Rebecca Bourke (Author)
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