Throughout the past century many legal historians have concerned themselves with the adoption of foreign law as it supplements or replaces local law. The question asked is: In what ways did Roman & Canon law lay the groundwork for common European law? Notarius publicus contributes to the answering of this question by pointing out the role of notaries in temporal and ecclesiastical courts in the Middle Ages. Their influence was in their ability to give more evidential weight to documents of their choosing. Ars notariae, the notarial art has not previously been treated in such a complete and...