Le consuetudines trahendi laicos ad forum ecclesiasticum. Note su un problema di lungo periodo nelle relazioni fra giustizia secolare e giustizia ecclesiastica

The essay is concerned with a particular aspect of the confict between ecclesiastical and secular jurisdiction: the Middle Ages customs that allowed the clerics to convene the laity for civil cases before the bishop courts, an exception to the principle of Roman law that actor sequitur forum rei. The phenomenon, which developed in diferent parts of Europe (and especially in italian context), found a textual and legal support in a decretal of Pope Alexander III, broadly interpreted by the canonists, most notably by Niccolò de Tedeschi. Finally, we try to provide some explanations of the fourishing of this customs, which exacerbated relationships between the princes and the Church throughout the Modern Age.