Introduction - Law, Christianity and Secularization in the Low Countries

W. Decock, J. Oosterhuis

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterAcademic

Abstract

What impact has Christianity had on law and policies in the Lowlands from the eleventh century through the end of the twentieth century? Taking the gradual 'secularization' of European legal culture as a framework, this volume explores the lives and times of twenty legal scholars and professionals to study the historical impact of the Christian faith on legal and political life in the Low Countries. The process whereby Christian belief systems gradually lost their impact on the regulation of secular affairs passed through several stages, not in the least the Protestant Reformation, which led to the separation of the Low Countries in a Protestant North and a Catholic South in the first place. The contributions take up general issues such as the relationship between justice and mercy, Christianity and politics as well as more technical topics of state-church law, criminal law and social policy.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationGreat Christian Jurists in the Low Countries
EditorsWim Decock, Janwillem Oosterhuis
Place of PublicationCambridge
PublisherCambridge University Press
Pages1-18
Number of pages18
ISBN (Electronic)9781108555388
ISBN (Print)9781108429849
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2021

Publication series

SeriesLaw and Christianity

JEL classifications

  • k19 - Basic Areas of Law: Other

Keywords

  • Legal history
  • Christianity
  • Netherlands

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