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A Comparative History of Insurance Law in Europe
A Research Agenda
Editors: Hellwege, Phillip
(2018)
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Prof. Dr. Phillip Hellwege M.Jur. (Oxford) ist seit 2010 Inhaber des Lehrstuhls für Bürgerliches Recht, Wirtschaftsrecht und Rechtsgeschichte an der Universität Augsburg. Zuvor war er von 2003 bis 2010 wissenschaftlicher Referent am Max-Planck-Institut für ausländisches und internationales Privatrecht in Hamburg. 2015 erhielt er einen Consolidator Grant des European Research Council (ERC) für ein auf fünf Jahre angelegtes Projekt zur vergleichenden Geschichte des Versicherungsrechts in Europa. Seine Forschungsschwerpunkte liegen im Bürgerlichen Recht, im Europäischen Privatrecht, in der Historischen Rechtsvergleichung sowie in der Geschichte des Wirtschaftsrechts und des Versicherungsrechts.Abstract
The history of insurance law has fallen into neglect. It is only recently that the topic has again received attention from legal historians. However, the state of research is still unsatisfactory. Foremost, there are distinct national narratives of insurance (legal) history. And these narratives give the impression of insurance (law) being developed differently in the single European countries. The present volume works out a research agenda for a comparative history of insurance law in Europe. For that purpose the contributions to this volume present the state of research in different European countries and identify possible points of interactions between the national developments of insurance law. Future research will focus on these points of interactions. The present volume is, thus, the starting point and framework for future research in the history of insurance law in Europe.The history of insurance law has fallen into neglect. It is only recently that the topic has again received attention from legal historians. However, the state of research is still unsatisfactory. Foremost, there are distinct national narratives of insurance (legal) history. And these narratives give the impression of insurance (law) being developed differently in the single European countries. The present volume works out a research agenda for a comparative history of insurance law in Europe. For that purpose the contributions to this volume present the state of research in different European countries and identify possible points of interactions between the national developments of insurance law. Future research will focus on these points of interactions. The present volume is, thus, the starting point and framework for future research in the history of insurance law in Europe.
Table of Contents
| Section Title | Page | Action | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Preface | 5 | ||
| Summary of Contents | 7 | ||
| Phillip Hellwege: Chapter 1: Introduction | 9 | ||
| A. A comparative history of insurance law in Europe: two possible points of departure | 9 | ||
| B. The first point of departure: the history of insurance law in Europe in need of being re-told | 11 | ||
| C. The second point of departure: harmonizing insurance contract law in Europe | 16 | ||
| D. A comparative history of insurance law in Europe: a research agenda | 17 | ||
| E. The objective and structure of the present volume | 20 | ||
| I. The concept of ‘possible points of interaction’ | 21 | ||
| II. Europe and beyond | 21 | ||
| III. The development of insurance as an institution and the development of insurance law | 22 | ||
| IV. The time period covered | 23 | ||
| V. An interdisciplinary approach: problems and necessities | 23 | ||
| VI. The concept of insurance | 25 | ||
| Maura Fortunati: Chapter 2: Italy | 27 | ||
| A. State of the research | 27 | ||
| B. The origins and development of insurance in Italy | 31 | ||
| C. A comparative history of insurance law: an Italian perspective | 33 | ||
| I. Legal literature and case law between the Ancien Régime and the early 19th century | 33 | ||
| 1. From the 15th century to the first half of the 18th century | 34 | ||
| 2. From the second half of the 18th century to the early 19th century | 36 | ||
| II. Legislation concerning insurance law | 37 | ||
| III. Standardized insurance practices and customs | 37 | ||
| IV. Three further possible points of interactions: insuring lives, tontines, and mutual insurance companies | 40 | ||
| Sophie Delbrel: Chapter 3: France | 45 | ||
| A. The concept of, and the sources and literature on, insurance: from the Ancien Régime to the 20th century | 46 | ||
| I. The concept of insurance | 46 | ||
| 1. The mercantile dimension of insurance | 47 | ||
| 2. The social dimension of insurance | 47 | ||
| II. The sources and literature on the history of insurance | 49 | ||
| 1. A short guide to insurance history sources | 49 | ||
| 2. A short guide to insurance history literature | 50 | ||
| B. The evolution of insurance: from adaptation to generalization | 52 | ||
| I. The Ancien Régime | 53 | ||
| II. From the Revolution to the Second Empire | 55 | ||
| III. The Third Republic | 58 | ||
| C. A history of insurance law in France in a European context | 63 | ||
| I. Mercantile insurance | 63 | ||
| II. Social insurance | 64 | ||
| III. The case of Alsace-Moselle | 65 | ||
| Miguel Ángel Morales Payán: Chapter 4: Spain | 67 | ||
| A. Introduction | 67 | ||
| B. The different roots of insurance in Spain | 70 | ||
| I. The ecclesiastical origins of insurance in medieval Spain | 70 | ||
| II. Guilds and the first development of mutual insurance in Spain | 71 | ||
| III. Maritime and commercial insurance | 73 | ||
| 1. The origins of maritime insurance in Spain | 73 | ||
| a) The Mediterranean area: Barcelona’s influence | 73 | ||
| b) The Atlantic area: Burgos, Bilbao, and Seville | 74 | ||
| c) Maritime insurance in Spanish America | 76 | ||
| d) Public intervention in insurance law | 77 | ||
| e) The financial dimension of maritime insurance | 79 | ||
| 2. The unique origins of life insurance | 80 | ||
| 3. Insurance on slaves | 80 | ||
| C. From individual insurers to insurance companies | 81 | ||
| I. The first commercial insurers: merchants, bankers, insurance brokers, and notaries | 81 | ||
| II. The origins of insurance companies in Spain (16th and 17th centuries) | 83 | ||
| III. The first stock companies (18th century) | 84 | ||
| IV. The development of limited liability insurance companies in 19th-century Spain | 84 | ||
| 1. A time of continuity (1800–1829) | 84 | ||
| 2. The first deregulation and the expansion of limited liability companies (1829–1848) | 85 | ||
| 3. Regulation comes back (1848–1869) | 85 | ||
| 4. A new deregulation period (1869–1908) | 86 | ||
| a) The impact on Spanish insurance companies | 86 | ||
| b) The arrival of multinational companies (1869–1908) | 87 | ||
| Chapter 5: Belgium | 89 | ||
| Dirk Heirbaut: A. Non-marine insurance | 89 | ||
| I. Mutual assistance | 91 | ||
| 1. The older mechanisms of mutual assistance | 91 | ||
| 2. Mutual assistance within the craft guilds | 94 | ||
| II. Offshoots of marine insurance | 101 | ||
| 1. Insurance covering transport over land | 101 | ||
| 2. Life insurance | 101 | ||
| 3. Fire insurance | 106 | ||
| 4. Other types of insurance | 108 | ||
| III. Non-marine insurance in Belgium: a conclusion | 109 | ||
| Dave De ruysscher: B. Marine insurance | 110 | ||
| I. General average, risk allocation, and the dispersal of premium insurance (14th to early 16th century) | 113 | ||
| II. Dispersal, standardization, and professionalization (16th to 18th centuries) | 118 | ||
| III. Codification of marine insurance and standardization of practice (1795 to c. 1850) | 127 | ||
| IV. Marine insurance in Belgium: a conclusion | 132 | ||
| Phillip Hellwege: Chapter 6: Netherlands | 133 | ||
| A. Maritime insurance | 133 | ||
| B. Fire insurance | 137 | ||
| C. Life insurance, funeral insurance, and health insurance | 144 | ||
| D. The Dutch history of insurance law in a European context | 147 | ||
| John MacLeod: Chapter 7: England and Scotland | 149 | ||
| A. Gaps and fragments | 149 | ||
| B. The edges of the subject | 152 | ||
| I. The dominance of marine insurance | 153 | ||
| II. The courts, the arbitrators, and the parliament | 155 | ||
| III. The policy | 156 | ||
| C. Insurance comes to Britain | 156 | ||
| D. Making insurance English | 158 | ||
| I. Jurisdictional conflict | 158 | ||
| II. Custom and the London Code | 160 | ||
| III. The Common Law’s adjustment: case law, treatises and the legislation | 161 | ||
| IV. Institutional change and the rise of fire and life insurance | 165 | ||
| V. 19th and early 20th century legislation | 168 | ||
| Phillip Hellwege: Chapter 8: Germany | 171 | ||
| A. The tale of the three roots of modern insurance (law) | 172 | ||
| I. The first root: maritime insurance | 172 | ||
| II. The second root: cooperative protection by guilds | 174 | ||
| III. The third root: public insurance | 177 | ||
| IV. The merging of the three distinct lines of development | 180 | ||
| B. The tale of the three roots as an oversimplification | 182 | ||
| I. Other classes of insurance | 182 | ||
| II. Insurance legislation: insurance contract law and insurance regulation | 183 | ||
| III. The case of social insurance | 184 | ||
| IV. Further problems with the tale of the three roots | 185 | ||
| C. The tale of the three roots and the history of insurance law | 186 | ||
| I. The regulations of the Hamburg General Feur-Cassa of 1676 | 187 | ||
| II. The development of the duty of disclosure in life insurance | 189 | ||
| D. The German history of insurance law in a European context | 194 | ||
| Martin Sunnqvist: Chapter 9: Scandinavia | 199 | ||
| A. Introduction | 199 | ||
| B. State of research | 200 | ||
| I. The six volumes published by the Wesmann Foundation | 200 | ||
| II. Individual insurance companies | 202 | ||
| III. Economic-historical research and other newer research | 202 | ||
| IV. The state of research in summary | 203 | ||
| C. Outline of the legal development of insurance in the Nordic countries | 204 | ||
| I. Fire insurance before insurance companies | 204 | ||
| 1. Early history of the so-called ‘fire help’ (‘brandstod’) | 204 | ||
| 2. ‘Fire help’ in Swedish legislation from the mid-13th century | 205 | ||
| 3. Contractual ‘fire help’ through guilds | 207 | ||
| 4. Begging and exemption from taxes | 208 | ||
| II. Fire insurance companies | 208 | ||
| 1. Denmark-Norway, 18th century | 209 | ||
| 2. Sweden-Finland, 18th century | 211 | ||
| 3. Freedom of trade in the mid-19th century | 213 | ||
| III. Maritime insurance | 214 | ||
| 1. The Dutch roots of the maritime law codes of the 17th century | 214 | ||
| 2. Maritime insurance companies | 216 | ||
| 3. Development of maritime insurance law | 216 | ||
| IV. Life and income insurance | 218 | ||
| 1. Tontines | 218 | ||
| 2. Income insurance for widows and children | 219 | ||
| 3. Contractual rights and judicial review | 220 | ||
| V. State supervision of insurance companies | 221 | ||
| D. Some interesting questions for further research | 221 | ||
| Phillip Hellwege: Chapter 10: A Comparative History of Insurance Law in Europe | 223 | ||
| Jerònia Pons Pons: Chapter 11: The Economic Historian’s View | 231 | ||
| A. Legislation and practice of marine insurance | 232 | ||
| B. The industrial revolution and economic development: the expansion of the insurance business | 235 | ||
| C. The regulatory models of the insurance business before 1914 | 236 | ||
| Bernard Harris: Chapter 12: The Social Historian’s View | 239 | ||
| List of Contributors | 245 | ||
| Index | 246 |