Enlightened Despotism and Revolutionary Enlightenment. Franz von Zeiller (1751–1828) and Francesco Mario Pagano (1748–1799)

The content and the meaning of the criminal law reform in eighteenth century were strictly connected with the intersection of four keywords: law, reason, proportion, and humanity. And this intersection is also the beginning of modern and contemporary criminal law. The Austrian Franz von Zeiller (1751-1828) and the Italian Francesco Pagano (1748-1799) were prominent exponents of the Legal Enlightenment, who faced, each of them in a personal and original way, the themes suggested by the intersection of those four keywords. The richness of the world of ideas in the Criminal Law Enlightenment sprang precisely from these different approaches to the same words and the same principles. Zeiller and Pagano were both jurists and scholars eager to serve the common good and to enlighten with reason the flaws of the legal system in force in their countries, in order to overcome the rules outdated and fight abuses and injustices. That is the reason why they both felt confident in the enlightened reformism and decided to take part in the lawmaking process aimed at creating brand new criminal laws.