| 1）Critical edition, based on a collation of manuscripts, of the quaestio disputata by Iacopo de Belvisio. |
| 2）Critical edition, basede on a collation of manuscripts and printed sources,
of seven consilia written by Baldus de Ubaldis, one of the most prominent medieval jurist. |
| 3）Focused mostly on the consilia medica, the academic discussion and research on the origins of legal medicine
has neglected two important sources in tracing the history of this descipline:
the quaestiones disputatae of the jurists of the XIII and XIV century and the consilia written by
the jurists on behalf of the courts and private clients. The discovery
of a substantial number of consilia written by Baldus de Ubaldis on questions
of legal medecine has permitted to see how medieval jurists incorporated
in their opinion the knowledge of a medical expert and dressed it in a
form compatible with the theoretical positions of the ius commune. The
study of Baldus theoretical works and his consilia has shown first that
he stressed the importance of the professional preparation of the experts
selected by the courts to asses cases involving medical knowledge and established
a hierarchy among the experts ranging from the doctor of medicine who possessed
the title of doctor, to the master, including the licentiatus. He also
established the rules for accepting the depositions of midwifes and the
criteria for their validity. Second, that the elaboration of the figure
of the judicial peritus, especially in the field of medicine, was one of the great achievements
of medieval jurisprudence and was unknown to Roman law. In addition, the
research shows how this jurist assessed the value of a medical depositon
in court. Extremely important was the discussion of how much the judge
was bound to pronounce his ruling according to, or on the base of, the
opinion of the physician. Interestingly, Baldus held that the opinion of
one expert could be overruled by that of a better expert. |
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