The Inquisitorial Revolution of the 13th — 14th Centuries in the “Roman de Renart” and its Illuminated Manuscripts

The article explores the Roman de Renart, an anonymous satirical poem, different part of which were composed during the 12th and 13th centuries. The poem reflects significant characteristics and contradictions of the procedural law in force in the French Kingdom during that period. The author of the article notes that for the period preceding the so-called Great Ordinance of Louis IX the Saint (1254) historians do not have materials of criminal practice, which can be used to judge with confidence the development of law. Thus, it is fiction that becomes the main source of knowledge in this field. The author of the article concludes that the earliest parts of the “Roman de Renart”, which are called “judicial”, show the existence of a mixed procedure that included elements of both God’s judgment (judicium Dei) and investigative procedures in the French Kingdom of the 12th — 13th centuries. At the same time, the system of evidence of God’s judgment (the cleansing oath, unilateral ordeals, judicial duel) in the “Roman” was criticized as clearly outdated. This was evidenced by the adventures of Fox Renart themselves, and by the miniatures from the illuminated manuscripts of the “Roman”. Thus, the author calls into question the dating accepted in historiography of the so-called Inquisitorial revolution, i.e. of the final transition to the investigation procedure in the courts of Western Europe.