The European natural law codes: the age of reason and the powers of government

This article will focus upon the codification movement in Europe as it unfolded in Prussia, Austria and France in the 18th and early 19th centuries. Natural law as it was understood by the philosophers and lawyers of the Enlightenment gave impetus to the codification and simplification of legal systems, particularly as they affected private relations. The codification movement is one of the few philosophical theories ever to have been translated into practical law and politics. The rulers, particularly Frederick the Great of Prussia, and Joseph II and Leopold II of Austria, embraced these aims not only because they aspired to join the ranks of great historical lawmakers but also because they saw the power of reason as a new political principle superior to those that had gone before. American and French revolutionaries gave effect to an equality principle which was radical by the standards of the time and which became one of the cornerstones of the Code Civil of 1804. With Napoléon Bonaparte, the codification story began to be dominated by centralism, nationalism and imperialism