The Roots of our Liberties: On the Rise of Civil Society in the Medieval West

Boudewijn R.A. Bouckaert

doi:10.62374/q8dpx654

Authors

Boudewijn R.A. Bouckaert Ghent University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.62374/q8dpx654

Keywords:

civil society, medieval society, humanism, peace and labour, associative life

Abstract

This article deals with the genesis of civil society in medieval society in the hope that this might elucidate the general conditions in which a civil society can flourish. We are, moreover, well aware that some of the viewpoints espoused have strong contenders with opposed views. We mention them in order to indicate to the reader the major dilemmas, which arise on the concerned historical subject. In order to avoid misunderstandings on the main tendency of our historical analysis, we deal briefly with the notion of civil society as it appears in political philosophical literature because this notion is used with strongly diverging meanings. Then we build a picture of European society at the dawn of the emergence of civil society, during the period 843-1073 . We deal subsequently with crucial factors in the emergence of civil society in the Middle Ages such as peace and labour, associative life, the medieval “nomos”, including medieval humanism, the ”ius commune” of Europe and the rule of law in the Middle Ages. We conclude with some considerations about the late medieval era, in order to bridge the gap with the modern conception of civil society.

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