Hermann Conring (1606-1681) - Lutheran in Service of Absolute Monarchy of Early Modern Period

The author focuses on Hermann Conring (1606-1681), one of the most important intellectuals and last polyhistors of European history, who - although he was not educated in law - contributed to better understanding of German legal history so much that he is sometimes considered to be direct founder of that field of study. This was mainly due to the fact that Conring significantly contributed to refuting the so-called Lotharian legend according to which the Emperor Lothar III declared Corpus iuris civilis legally binding in the Holy Roman Empire in 1135. Thus, logically, he also made room for an unbiased examination of German legal history. However, the author of the article sees the main merit of his work primarily in the fact that Conring, in particular by using the comparative method, also significantly contributed to the formation of modern state-system science, while he was a decisive supporter of princely absolutism in Germany and (as he was Lutheran) opponent of the imperial concept realized by the government of the Catholic Habsburgs.