legal profession
This late Roman pattern of legal organization profoundly influenced the Europe that began to arise from 1000 ce after the barbarian invasions; even during the invasions the methods of Roman imperial administration never ceased to be used in some parts of southern France and in central Italy. The Christian church, which became the official Roman imperial church after 381 ce, developed its own canon law, courts, and practitioners and followed the general outline of later Roman legal organization. Because of its success among the invaders, the church was in a position to establish its jurisdiction in many matters of family law and inheritance. Hence, both the idea of a legal profession and the method of its operation retained sufficient force to offset Germanic and feudal objections to legal representation. After the revival of learning in the 12th century, in particular the renewed study of Roman law at Bologna, the influence of the late Roman professional system was greatly strengthened. From then on, every country in continental Europe acquired, by various stages and with numerous local variations, a legal profession in which four main constituents could be observed. Procurators attended to the formal and especially the ... (200 of 8,023 words)Medieval Europe