What happens when you're expected to follow rules that contradict each other? That question is at the center of a lecture by historian Hillard von Thiessen (University of Rostock), taking place on April 23 as part of the series Frankfurter Rechtshistorische Abendgespräche. His talk, titled ‚The Age of Ambiguity. Concurrence and Competition of Norms in Early Modern Europe‘, begins at 18:15 in Room Z01 at our institute. At the heart of Thiessen’s talk is the concept of Normenkonkurrenz - the overlapping and often clashing expectations from different sources of authority: religious teachings, legal rules, and social codes. In early modern Europe, these weren’t neatly aligned. Quite the opposite - they pulled people in different directions. According to Thiessen, this wasn’t just confusing. It shaped an entire way of life. 

Der neue Band der Studien zur europäischen Rechtsgeschichte untersucht, wie sich zentrale Rechtsbegriffe wie Urteil, Jurisdiktion, Recht und Gerechtigkeit im Dialog zwischen Rechtswissenschaft und Moraltheologie herausbildeten. Am Beispiel des in Hispanoamerika geltenden Rechts („derecho indiano“) zeigt Orazio Condorelli, wie sich im Zusammenspiel weltlicher und kirchlicher Macht spezifische Formen rechtlicher Ordnung entwickelten. Im Mittelpunkt stehen die mittelalterlichen Wurzeln des „derecho canónico indiano“, die Machtverteilung zwischen Kirche und Krone sowie die Rolle gemischter Gerichtsbarkeiten.

Submissions are now open for a workshop on the Mixed Courts of Egypt, to be held on 23–24 February 2026 at the Max Planck Institute for Legal History and Legal Theory. Organized by Dr Michel Erpelding and Aya Bejermi, the event invites reflection on an institution that stood at the crossroads of empire, international law, and everyday justice. Established through treaties between Egypt and 14 Western powers, the Mixed Courts operated for over seven decades with foreign judges and French-inspired legal codes. Their legacy stretches from Cairo to Strasbourg, and still prompts fresh questions today.