CFP: Rudolph Sohm Revisited, Vergentis 4 (2017)
Submissions Due: 1 March 2017
2017 marks the centennial of the death of Rudolph Sohm (1841-1917), jurist, eminent scholar in civil law, canon law and church history. Sohm authored, among many works Kirchenrecht (1892/1923) and Das Altkatholische Kirchenrecht und das Decretum Gratiani (1918), one of the most remarkably influential works ever written on the subject of ecclesiastical law. Despite decades of criticism by legal scholars, Sohm’s argument for a three-part development of canon law, with the key transition from “sacramental” to “institutional” law in the twelfth century, continues to be debated, and appropriated, by historians, sociologists, and theologians. Contemporary debates surrounding Sohm range from his influence on, and also how he differed from, Weber’s concept of “charismatic authority,” to the discussion of his thought in the fields of political theology/political thought of the middle ages and early modern times. The transition between sacramental and institutional law, the suggestion of the latter being somehow rooted in the former, the particular understanding of “forum internum” and “forum externum”… are only a few of the themes central to Sohm’s work that remain relevant to contemporary research. Taken together, these themes point out the cultural and historical significance of the tension between sacramentology and law. Sohm can also help us better understand how concepts such as ‘institution’ or ‘community’ originate from the tension between the competing discourses of sacramentology, liturgy and law.
This volume, to be published as a special Issue of the newly established journal Vergentis (vergentis.ucam.edu), invites papers in the fields of (history of) canon law, theology, political thought, history and sociology to revisit Sohm’s work and the way it continues to inspire and thus may offer refreshing insights. Papers (either between 7000-8000 words, or, between 11.000-12.000 words (in the latter case, without notes)) are accepted in English, Spanish, Italian, German and French. The deadline for sending in abstracts is 1 October 2016 and for sending in papers is 1 March 2017.
Greta Austin (University of Puget Sound), Dominique Bauer (Catholic University of Leuven), Bruce Brasington (West Texas A&M University), and Javier Belda Iniesta (Catholic University of Murcia/Lateran University).
Papers should be sent to dominique.bauer@law.kuleuven.be.