The devil at law in the middle ages

Abstract

By the 12th century, the rise of legal science fostered canonists' and theologians' attempts to defi ne the mystery of divine justice using the rules of procedural law. During the last two centuries of the Middle Ages, this interest was refl ected in particular through the dissemination of trial stories (Processus Sathanae) opposing Mary to the devil over the salvation of men. The expression of Marian theology set in juristic terms also confi rmed the intrinsic value of Romano-canonical procedure as an institutional foundation of the authority of justice.