SOME REMARKS ON LEGAL REGULATION OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN THE LATE MIDDLE AGES
The author analyzes main issues of legal regulation of entrepreneurship in the late Middle Ages. At the beginning, the concepts of “law merchant” and “commercial law” were compared. The author then indicated the signifi cance of Roman law and its reception for the law used by entrepreneurs and presented the basic information about maritime law, borough rights and market jurisdiction. The issues of typology of commercial companies, development of banking and beginnings of the bankruptcy law were also studied. Finally, the author concluded that without a ruling factor, it was impossible to regulate entrepreneurship in the Middle Ages. The ideas about the self-regulating of merchant estate, autarkic lex mercatoria and exclusive trade courts are not completely false, but they are exaggerated. The participation of public authorities in the regulation of entrepreneurship has been irreplaceable.