Editorial

Abstract

This journal invites readers to explore law in different jurisdictions and time periods. Comparative legal history–as a discipline–takes readers in journeys across the axes offered by time and space, triggering self-awareness and understanding of otherness, alike. The European Society for Comparative Legal History (ESCLH) takes pride in offering this forum, aiming to foster the study of the development of legal science, the circulation of legal ideas, and the dialogue that takes place across time and space. Issue 1 of Volume 9 invites readers to revisit existing understandings, looking at law and history through novel perspectives. The articles section of this issue takes readers to explore different parts of the mappa mundi, with special attention on events that took place during the Middle Ages and early modern period. The first article, by Tamar Herzog, lays a bridge across the Atlantic Ocean, revisiting the prior understanding of customs. The author offers an enriching dialogue between narratives, noting that actors in Europe and the Americas can learn from each other. The second article, by Paolo Astorri, focusses on European developments that had an impact across the Christian world. The author studies Catholic and Lutheran scholars and the decision-making function of judges. Dialogues, disputes, and different positions remind readers that law is a social (and dynamic) science. The third article, by Kiran Chaudhuri, takes readers to Japan. It looks at developments in criminal law and criminal justice, crossing from the Middle Ages until the twentieth century. The author depicts the dialogue of Japanese legal culture with otherness, looking at the circulation of legal ideas across continents and centuries. The three articles in this issue alert readers that some understandings are not to be considered uncontested dogmas. There is indeed value in revisiting prior understandings, while exposure to otherness can only be beneficial for the disciplinary growth of comparative legal history. The literature on comparative legal history continues to develop. It is the result of the work of scholars who look at the law in different times and spaces. Further, it is nurtured by the publications that derive from academic meetings that take comparative legal history as their main theme. For example, the ESCLH organizes biennial conferences since 2010, while in recent years comparative legal history was the topic of the XXIVth British Legal History Conference and of the 2020 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Comparative Law. The literature also grows as the output of research grants awarded to scholars that devote their efforts to comparative legal historical research. This journal helps to draw attention to recent publications and evaluate their place within the disciplinary literature particularly through its book reviews section. The first book review deals with a study of death penalty in Catalonia, placing developments