THE PLACE AND RANK OF IUS COMMUNE IN THE MEDIEVAL COUNTY OF VRSAR

Abstract

The paper examines the hierarchical role of ius commune in the County of Vrsar, a small 
ecclesiastical jurisdiction in north-western Istria (modern Croatia) during the late medieval and 
early modern period, based on the 1768 transcription of its statutory collection, which explicitly 
refers to both Jus Commune and Leggi Communi as subsidiary sources of law. The legal system 
of the County was created and maintained by the Bishop of Poreč as a territorial lord, with 
statutes he issued forming the highest-ranking source, customary law as secondary, and ius 
commune applied only subsidiarily to fill the legal gaps. Unlike Venetian communes in Istria, 
Vrsar explicitly acknowledged the limited applicability of ius commune, though reserved for 
exceptional cases. The statutes reflect a clear hierarchy of legal sources, while Roman, canon, 
Roman-canon, feudal, and local customary law also influenced the system, demonstrating the 
substantive presence of ius commune despite its subsidiary formal status. Following Bellomo’s 
and Pennington’s definitions of ius commune, the paper highlights that ius commune represents a 
shared jurisprudential culture rather than narrowly codified law, functioning practically to 
resolve normative gaps. Its presence in Vrsar confirms its operative relevance even in small, 
semi-autonomous and sui generis jurisdictions. Vrsar thus provides a valuable microcosm for 
understanding the real-life application of ius commune, showing its interaction with local 
statutes, customary law, and ecclesiastical authority within a highly structured, context-specific 
legal order.