The Wheels of Watermills and the Wheel of Fortune

• Main Author: Osvaldo Cavallar
• Format: Article
• Language: deu
• Published: Max Planck Institute for Legal History and Legal Theory 2008-01-01
• Series: Rechtsgeschichte - Legal History
• Subjects: MPIeR
• Online Access: http://data.rg.mpg.de/rechtsgeschichte/rg13_2008-recherche-cavallar.pdf
• ISSN: 1619-4993; 2195-9617

Along with two well rehearsed quaestiones disputatae, Bartolus de Saxoferrato’s repetitio ad l. Quominus constitutes the cornerstone of the medieval elaboration of legal issues relating to rivers. Ranging from the construction of watermills to protective embankments, and from the maintenance of water canals to the reconstruction of run-down structures, the eighteen questions of the repetitio prepared students for situations they would likely encounter when practising law. A legal opinion (consilium) penned by one of Bartolus’ disciples, Donato Aldighieri, in response to the doubts the Abbot of Vallombrosa had concerning damage inflicted on his monastic estate by the Arno river, illustrates the legal fertility of Bartolus’ seminal discussion. In addition, the consilium also attests to the complexity of the efforts of a medieval commune, Florence in this specific case, to gain control of a resource like the Arno, essential for the economic development of the city. Unable to shoulder alone the financial burden of preventing floods, the commune had no other option than to enlist the help and know-how of a monastic institution. Though the whole city benefited from the preventive work of the monks, the new embankment engendered an unexpected conflict with other adjacent land owners. The politically prominent Donato was called in to negotiate the abbot’s rights against the claims of the adjacent owners and the policy of the city.