La legge della salvezza: Bernardo di Clairvaux e il diritto monastico

Starting from the analysis of Bernard’s of Clairvaux work De praecepto et dispensatione, the article focuses on the ancient and medieval regulae vivendi in order to demonstrate that they represent a specific form of normativity, absolutely different from the classical roman jus and the medieval canon law. I analyze the peculiar way in which Bernard tried to describe the particular normative logic of the Rule of Benedict from the point of view of a western legal history of longue durée. In comparison with the civil law and the ecclesiastical legislation, a “rule of life” (regula vitae) is a special form of law which extends to the complete life of the individual, not a single moment. The juridical institution of the vow has an important place in this special normative logic.