Papal Jurisdiction and War as Judgment under the ius gentium: Raphael Fulgosius on Dig. 1.1.5

Raphael Fulgosius (1367–1427) in his comment on Dig. 1.1.5 appears to advance a revolutionary notion: In certain cases, the outcome of a war is itself a just verdict. In prior work, the emphasis rests almost entirely on his argument about the impossibility of judging the different sides’ claims to justice in a formal bellum. In fact, Fulgosius developed two frameworks: One of dissensiones, to be applied to conflicts within Christendom, where there would always be a common superior at least de iure, and another for conflicts between Christian and non-Christian gentes (or perhaps entirely between non-Christians), to which papal jurisdiction does not extend, with the acquisition of territory and captives being ratified by the legal effects of bellum as an institution of the ius gentium. This interpretation also holds up for reexamination the writings of jurists who relied on Fulgosius.