L’applicazione della clausola rebus sic stantibus nella decisionistica di prima età moderna

The paper deals with the application of the rebus sic stantibus clause in early modern judicial practice, analysing several decisiones produced by the superior courts of Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries. The difficulties in applying the clause, which were also the result of the thought of legal humanism and the critical judgement expressed by the rationalistic school of natural law, did not prevent it from being constantly referred to in the decisiones and recognised as having general effectiveness with regard to certain matters. The limitations introduced by more modern doctrine would then undermine the extension of the principle and decree a long period of its decline, culminating in the codifications of the 19th century, until the theory was again brought forth in the 20th century, thanks above all to the commitment of doctrine and jurisprudence.