Section I distinguishes custom from authority in the context of an examination of the spontaneous evolution of customary commercial law in early medieval Europe, a period when authority had virtually no influence. Since then, however , the evolution of commercial law has generally invlved an...

Lex Mercatoria, the Law Merchant, generally refers to the custiomary law governing European commercial interactions during the medieval period. Despite its customary nature, however, the Law Merchant constituted a true system of law in the sense defined by Hart (1961), as there were well known...