Ars dictaminis, ars dictandi

Traetises describing judicial procedure appeared for the first time in the twelfth century, and the expressions De iudiciis, Libellus de ordine iudiciorum and Ordines iudiciarii were among the first titles used to designate them. An ordo iudiciarius or an ordo iudiciorum is devoted exclusively to the procedural law found in Roman and/or canon law. Although the author of an ordo may have had a certain forum in mind, his description of procedure has general validity. An ordo differs in this sense from a stylus, which is the description of the procedure appropriate to a specific court. This volume draws from Ordo iudiciorum vel ordo iudiciarius (1984) by the same author, which describes the procedural texts written before 1234, but encompasses the complete lifecycle of the ordines, from the middle of the twelfth to the end of the fifteenth century.