Cittadinanza originaria, domicilio e diritti: dottrine canonistiche e decisioni di grandi tribunali tra medioevo e prima età moderna

This paper aims to deal with some stages of the debate about original citizenship in the tradition of the ius commune and canon law. In this perspective, it focuses on citizens by birth in the place of paternal origin (ius sanguinis) and their own (ius loci). Native-born citizenship is immutable, and is connected to the domicile in the place (or places) of origin. Citizens, however, can move freely and establish their domicile elsewhere. This kind of domicile is distinct from the citizenship, because it is voluntary and changeable. One can therefore live in more places. What happens if a citizen permanently lives outside his place of origin? To what obligations is he still bound in his place of origin? May he continue to enjoy the rights, benefits and privileges linked to the status of civis originarius? In the first part of the survey, the doctrines of citizenship and domicile elaborated by Nicolaus Tudeschis and Marianus Socinus sr are examined. The paper focuses on the patrimonial rights of the original citizens living elsewhere, taking into consideration some consilia of Franciscus Zabarella, Marianus Socinus sr, Iohannes Cephalus, Alexander Tartagnus. In the second part of the essay, it is shown that in the early modern age alternative theories emerged regarding the renunciation and loss of original citizenship by citizens moving permanently elsewhere. The paper deals with the debate in three territorial contexts (the Kingdom of Naples, the Kingdom of France, the German Empire) and identifies new theories with respect to the tradition of canon law and the ius commune, which is analyzed in the first part of the research.