The Legal Status of foreigners ad the ‘Albinaggio’ Right in the Intermediate Age: Between Doctrine and Practice

Abstract

From a legal and historical point of view, the condition of the foreigner can be investigated in multiple ways. Here we are considering the ‘albinaggio’ right, which allowed the King or the feudal lord (according to countries and times) to collect the inheritance of any non-naturalized foreigner who had died in the territory under his Lordship. The Church excluded this right within its territory and in 1220 Frederick II released the constitutio Omnes peregrini - later included by the jurists from the Bolognese school in the Codex Justiniani - that implemented the common rules of succession to foreigners’ possessions. The historical evolution of the ‘albinaggio’ right has been the aim of several studies, but it is necessary to investigate the theories elaborated by the legal science which after 1220 had to deal with the contents of imperial and ecclesiastical law. In addition, the contents of the articles of statute law of this era will be analyzed.