Strategic Litigation: Legal Culture and Daily Life in Sixteenth- Century Normandy
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STRATEGIC LITIGATION: LEGAL CULTURE AND DAILY LIFE IN SIXTEENTH- CENTURY NORMANDY BY KATHERINE GODWIN DISSERTATION Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History in the Graduate College of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2019 Urbana, Illinois Doctoral Committee: Professor Clare Crowston, Chair and Director of Research Professor Emeritus John A. Lynn Professor Dana Rabin Associate Professor Carol Symes Abstract This study is about how people interacted with the legal system and navigated different forms of recourse for civil disputes in late fifteenth- and early sixteenth- century Normandy, an important transitional period for the legal system in France. Broadly conceived (across a range of activity), yet narrowly focused (on records from 1500 and 1510), it traces practices along a spectrum of negotiation, conflict, and resolution. Using qualitative and quantitative analysis of notarial records as well as court records from the vicomté of Elbeuf and the Échiquier (Parlement) in Rouen, it shows that the courts played a limited role in civil dispute practice and resolution relative to their over-representation in historiography of the French legal system, and I argue for a broadening of perspective on the legal system and records utilized in order to more completely capture how people interacted with it. This study begins with an overview of laws and institutions and analysis of commentaries by jurists to set up the evident disconnect between theory and practice. It moves to an analysis of contracts to show how individual wants and communal norms may be reconciled with the letter of the law, the commemorative and defensive functions of contracts, and the coexistence of oral and written practices. Delving into actions in and out of court-- from instigating maneuvers such as seizing goods and clameurs to patterns of court appearances, defaults and obstruction tactics to new complications posed by documentation to settlements, arbitration, and court rulings to enforcement practices and challenges to them—reveals civil dispute practices to be non-linear and variant as people took advantage of the opportunities created by their pluralistic system. ii Acknowledgements I wish to express my gratitude to the following organizations for funding my research: the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, the Society for French Historical Studies, the Western Society for French History, and the Institut Français d’Amérique. I also wish to thank the Meeter Center at Calvin College and the Center for Renaissance Studies at the Newberry Library for hosting essential paleography seminars. Special thanks also go to Marc Smith and the École Nationale des Chartes for allowing me to sit in on his paleography course. All errors and idiosyncrasies in transcription are, of course, my full responsibility. Heartfelt gratitude also goes to the archivists and staff at the Archives Départementales de Seine-Maritime for their patience and generosity in helping me navigate the archive. My committee—Dana Rabin, Carol Symes, and John Lynn—and especially my advisor, Clare Crowston, deserve my deep gratitude for their patience, support, encouragement and feedback during a very long writing process, interrupted by intermittent personal tragedies. Shannon Croft also deserves my heartfelt gratitude for her patience and support, and timely information, often going above and beyond to assist me during my years of working remotely. I also need to thank the following individuals for their moral and intellectual support over the course of researching and writing this dissertation: Heather Freund, Michael Brinks, Anca Mandru, Julia Gossard, Adam Duker, Isaac Curtis, Matthew Rivera, Scott Harrison, Edrina Rashidi, Steven Del Corso, Bertrand Baudin, Vincent Radigois, Elizabeth Quick, Ryan Bean, Greg Bereiter, Elisa Jones, Geraldine Lewandowski, and Jacquie Baird. Last, but definitely not least, iii special thanks go to my family, especially Adam Taylor, Jo Ann Ringwelski, John Ringwelski, James Godwin, Steve Godwin, Brian Godwin, Lori Ringwelski, my late aunt Mary Anne Taylor and my late mother Jane Glasco (both of whom never saw the end of this project, may they rest in peace), and above all my dad Carl Godwin, without whose love, patience, support, and encouragement through some very difficult years I cannot imagine having finished this dissertation. iv Table of Contents NOTE ON TRANSLATIONS AND TRANSCRIPTIONS………………………….…….vi INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………………………………..1 CHAPTER ONE IN THEORY: PERSPECTIVES ON THE LEGAL SYSTEM FROM ABOVE…………28 CHAPTER TWO AN OUNCE OF CONTRACT IS WORTH A POUND OF LITIGATION……………….88 CHAPTER THREE INSTIGATING A DISPUTE: OFFENSIVE BEHAVIORS AND INITIATIVES TAKEN PRIOR TO APPEARING BEFORE A COURT.………………………………157 CHAPTER FOUR VUIDER LA COURT, OR, PUTTING THE COURT IN ITS PLACE…………………206 CHAPTER FIVE JUGEMENT: CHALLENGES TO RESOLUTION……………………………………...265 CONCLUSION…………………………………………………………………………….308 BIBLIOGRAPHY………………………………………………………………………….320 v Note on Translations and Transcriptions All translations and transcriptions within this dissertation are my own unless otherwise noted. I have opted for a more literal approach to the translations to preserve some of the character of the original and to give the non-specialist reader a taste of the authentic source. Those who are more accustomed to later periods of French writing will also notice, and perhaps experience some discomfort with, the absence of accents and the irregular (phonetic) spelling in the texts, which are typical of the sixteenth century. The major exception to this practice of preserving the original has been in regularizing the spelling of names to make them more searchable. Finally, a note on dates: dates were commonly written in French using a mix of words and Roman numerals, so “mil cccc iiii^xx dix huit” is “mille quatre cent quatre-vingt-dix-huit“ (1498). The exact mix also varies, but a good rule of thumb is to read them in French. vi Introduction “To keep the peace and brotherly love between them…and to avoid further proceedings in court…” Pierre Delamare, residing in the parish of St. Austreberte near Pavilly, and Jean Delamare, residing in the parish of St. Nigaise [Niçaise] of Rouen, appeared, at the behest of their friends, before notaries of Rouen on January 2, 1500 to formalize a settlement to their dispute.1 After a disagreement over division of their inheritance—specifically, Pierre tried to “prevent Jean Delamare his brother from taking possession and enjoying the benefits of a piece of land gifted to Jean by their mother Marion, widow of Romain Delamare their father”—they ended up “before the vicomte of Rouen or his lieutenant in the court session at the sergent’s hall of Pavilly.” The notarial document stipulated that a formal contract, drawn up by a high- level judge had transferred the property with “formal letters of title drawn up on the fourth of July 1497 before Charles Monfault, commissioned lieutenant of the Bailli of Rouen.” Nonetheless, Pierre “contested that his mother had no right” to leave this property to Jean and fought hard to recover it. By the time Pierre and Jean came to the table, the case was stalled and hanging before the court, “after several days of ***A much shorter version of this study appeared as a chapter contribution (“Skipping Court: Civil disputes in sixteenth-century Rouen”) in: Griet Vermeesch, Manon van der Heijden, and Jaco Zuijderduijn, eds., The Uses of Justice in Global Perspective, 1600-1900 (New York, NY, USA: Routledge, 2019): 123-42. I have borrowed, reprinted and expanded upon that chapter throughout the entirety of this dissertation with the permission of the publisher, for which permission I am truly grateful. I am also deeply grateful to the editors of that volume for their insights, criticisms and support which have greatly enriched the work. 1 Archives de Seine Maritime (hereafter ADSM), 2E1 228, January 2, 1500. 1 proceedings,” and was shaping up to be a long, and likely expensive, affair, which both of them wanted “to escape and avoid” as much as they wanted to preserve “the peace and brotherly love” between them. To this end, they came to an agreement whereby Pierre would pay Jean 50 sous per year to Jean for use and hereditary possession of the land on the condition that Pierre could lease the land to one or two parties agreeable to both of them. These terms being formalized before notaries in Rouen, both parties “agree to go without further session in court by which they agree to vacate the court.”2 2 ADSM, 2E1 228, January 2, 1500. The brothers negotiated a rente, which was a type of loan and investment. Rentes and other types of contracts will be examined in depth in Chapter Two. “Comme proces fut meu et pendant es ples de la sergenterie de pavilly devant le viconte de rouen ou son lieutenant entre Pierre Delamare demourant en la parroisse sainte austreberte pres led lieu de pavilly d’une part Jehan Delamare son frere demourant en la parroisse saint nigaise de rouen d’autre sur ce que led Pierre Delamare voulloit et s’efforcoit empescher led Jehan Delamare son frere en la saisie possession et joyssance d’une piece de terre contenant trois acres ou environ assis en lad parroisse sainte austreberte…le droit de laquelle piece led Jehan Delamare soustiennant et disant lui appartenir a tiltre de don et delais a lui fait par Marion veufve de feu Romain Delamare père et mere desd freres ainsi qu’il faisant aparoir par lettres passees l’an