Ascesa e caduta di un paradigma: itinerari storico-giuridico sul consenso nel contratto

The history of contractual consent can be read as a double movement of ascent and decline, unfolding from the late Middle Ages to the contemporary Era. Its ascent marked the gradual recognition of the vis obligatoria of mutual agreement: from vestimenta pactorum to the development of procedural and doctrinal tools that rendered promises enforceable and grounded the modern idea of contract in the binding force of consent. This principle left a deep imprint on the early nineteenth-century civil codes, affirming the notion of the contract as having the force of law between the parties. Yet it soon faced its decline, with the emergence of unilateral termination and other self-help mechanisms, reflecting the pressures of evolving labor markets, commercial practices, and consumer relations. Thus, while the legal system continued to preserve consensual forms, the authority of consent itself became subject to constant renegotiation. The result is a controversial legacy—one deeply rooted in the past, whose multiple paths between continuity and rupture call for careful reconstruction by legal historians, and for renewed dialogue between scholars of legal antiquity and contemporary jurists.