Who made the laws in the Middle Ages?

Answer 1

Just as today, there are national laws and local laws. In the Middle Ages, the national laws were normally made by monarchs, and the local laws were made by local lords. There were Church laws, and these were made by the popes.

Answer 2

Any and all of the various lords, which translates into anyone with a sword.

Another Answer: The Middle Ages form a period of roughly one thousand years spanning from 500 to 1500 AD. Several different legal systems came into force during this time period. One most notable force of law is known as Byzantine law which begins in 438 with the Codex Theodosinanus which made up 16 books, containing all standing laws from the age of Constantine I until then. Somewhere in between 518 and 533 the Emperor Justinian had the Corpus Civilis Juris compiled and published which codified existing Roman law into three parts, The Institutes, The Digest and The Code. Much of this codified Roman law is still used in parts of Europe today. Byzantine Law was essentially Roman law with Christian influence on the Western practice of jurisprudence. Byzantine law was effectively devolved into two spheres, Ecclesiastical law and Secular law. In terms of Non Secular law, the Catholic Church developed Canon law during the Medieval time and that law still stands today inside the Church. These are the two most notable lawmakers of the Medieval times and because Roman law was such an influence during this time, and because the common law used today relies heavily upon laws existing since time immemorial, the Byzantine law has great influence on our lives and even if you're not Catholic, Canon law has affected our lives as well.

Answer 3

In most places, the laws were made by monarchs or councils representing the monarchs. There were many of the legal codes of different monarchs in different countries.

In some places, the laws were made by guilds, congresses of guild members, or other republican councils or leaders. Such places were sometimes within Empires, and had to obey the laws of the empires. But some of them were independent of any monarchy, Venice being an example.

Answer 4

the nobility