ABSTRACT
This article considers the scope of Latin non-noble jurisdiction in fourteenth-century Famagusta. More specifically, it describes the competences and formal procedures of the royal and Genoese courts, determining the extent to which Roman legal principles were the foundation of their legislation. Based on examination of the notarial registers of this period, in particular those of the Genoese notary Lamberto di Sambuceto, it is argued that the Roman principles of obligation and defence, which can be seen prescribed in the formulae of private contracts, established the rights and responsibilities of sellers and buyers, creditors and debtors. Importantly, private agreements were not merely symbolic; they were also probative, in other words, such documents could serve as legally-binding evidence in the courts of the city. It is further demonstrated that the adoption in Famagusta of ancient legislation drawn from contemporary legal treatises in the possession of the courts contributed to a degree of legal uniformity. In the final section of the paper, a number of Roman laws governing sales and credit loans are examined within the context of women acting as sureties and interceding on behalf of other family members.
