Verso la formazione di un diritto ecclesiastico patrio napoletano. Giurisdizionalismo e «polizia ecclesiastica» a Napoli nel Settecento. Prime ricerche

In the 18th century, jurisdictionalist theories were applied to the legislation and ecclesiastical policies of several European states. These States increasingly dealt with matters that had traditionally reserved to spiritual power. The Kingdom of Naples, in particular, developed a substantial and significant ecclesiastical legislation regulating various aspects of the religious life of the country. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate how, through this national legislation and on the basis of a consolidated local jurisdictional culture, a truly national ecclesiastical law was created in the Kingdom of Naples, autonomous from other fields of national law. This will be done by analysing the institutions of the Kingdom specifically dedicated to political and legislative activity in ecclesiastical matters, and by examining various collections of royal legislation devoted to ecclesiastical law and published in the second half of the 18th century.