The main task of the PhD-student will be to conduct investigations within the research project The Impact of Canon and Roman Law in Frisia: Continuity or Discontinuity?, resulting in a PhD thesis. It will include a limited amount of undergraduate lecturing. For the performance of these tasks teaching modules will be applied.
 
The research is aimed at the reception of canon law and Roman law in the medieval Frisian law of the 15th century. In the Middle Ages Frisia had an autonomous tradition of indigenous law, characterized by a strong continuity. From the beginning of the 12th century Frisian monks set off for the newly established universities of Paris and Bologna to study law. From around 1400 the influence of learned law increased considerably.  A text tradition emerged, that of the Excerpta Legum or Jurisprudentia Frisica, which fused together elements of indigenous Frisian law and learned law. The investigations of the PhD student will focus on this text tradition. How did this tradition come into being? Which were the sources used? Which concepts were problematic in the dialectical encounter of indigenous and learned law? To what extent was this tradition determinative for legal practice?
 

• A Master Degree in Law and/or History;
• Demonstrable affinity with legal historical research;
• Sound knowledge of Latin;
• Knowledge of Old Frisian or willingness to amess this knowledge within the first year of appointment;
• Capability of reading secondary literature in Dutch; 
• Readiness to perform part of the investigations at the Fryske Akademy in Leeuwarden;
• Demonstrable good writing skills;
• Good analytical skills.

The appointment will be initially for one year. After satisfactory evaluation the appointment can be extended with at most another three years. You can find information about our excellent fringe benefits of employment at http://www.workingatvu.nl like:
• remuneration of  8,3% end-of-year bonus and  8% holiday allowance;
• a maximum of 41 holidays, in the case of full-time employment;
• a wide range of sports facilities which staff may use at a modest charge. 
   
The salary will be in accordance with VU University regulations for academic personnel and amounts € 2.222,- gross per month in the first year up to € 2.840,- in the fourth year, based on a full-time employment.
 

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU) is a leading, innovative and growing university that is at the heart of society and actively contributes to new developments in teaching and research. Our university has ten faculties, and provides work for over 4,500 staff and scientific education for more than 23,000 students.

http://www.vu.nl/en/index.asp

This research will take place in a cooperation between the Fryske Akademy in Leeuwarden and the Faculty of Law of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.

The Faculty of Law is an inspiring organization with over 300 employees and 3.000 students.
The faculty offers various courses in Dutch Law, Notarial Law and Criminology. The faculty's research focuses on social issues and the relevance of law in everyday life. 
 
The Department of Legal Theory & Legal History, section Legal History, is looking for a PhD researcher. The Department offers an active and stirring working environment for both teaching and researching. The Department sets great store by the quality of its achievements and a pleasant and fruitful work climate. The section Legal History is responsible for the teaching of legal historical courses within the studies of law, notarial law and criminology. The investigations of the section are embedded in the programme ‘Public and private interests in financial and corporate law’ of the Kooijmans Institute, more specifically the sub-program ‘Legal certainty’.