AGATE

In addition to Roman and canonical law, the Sachsenspiegel (reported in the Eastern Harz foreland between 1220 and 1235) and the famous town charter of Magdeburg (developed in the town of Magdeburg and decisively shaped by the spellings of the local court chair between the 13th and 15th centuries) form the common foundations of Central and Eastern European legal systems. Simultaneously with the accession of several Eastern European countries to the EU, an academy project for the reception of Saxon-Magdeburg law in Eastern Europe is being launched. It is dedicated to the dissemination of the Sachsenspiegel and the Magdeburg City Law: two legal sources of European rank emanating from Central Germany, in the countries of Eastern Europe (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Ukraine, Hungary, Belarus).

The project has a cultural-historical and interdisciplinary approach and seeks to link it with the ongoing relevant research in these countries. Objectives of the project are: Obtaining an accurate and source-supported overview of the distribution of the Sachsenspiegel and Magdeburg city laws in Eastern Europe, knowledge of the legal and linguistic processes involved in the adoption of Saxon-Magdeburg law in landscapes, towns and villages in the distribution area, as well as legal institutional and legal-linguistic analyses of the laws based on Saxon-Magdeburg law (also known as “Magdeburg law”).

The internationality of the project is ensured by an internationally composed project-related commission and targeted cooperation. In addition to its scientific orientation, the project aims to make a contribution to highlighting similarities in cultural history in a modern Europe.