Itinera Fiduciae

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Property can be held for various purposes, primarily for personal enjoyment or to administer it for someone else's benefit or a specific purpose, often referred to as holding it "in trust." This arrangement has been utilized for numerous legitimate and illegitimate reasons. European legal systems have historically needed to establish rules and institutions to address the legal issues arising from these arrangements. Terms such as fiducia, fideicommissum, Treuhand, foundation, executorship, and the trust have each provided necessary legal frameworks at different times and places. This volume offers a comparative historical analysis of these fiduciary devices, tracing the concept of "holding for others" or holding property in a fiduciary capacity—referred to as itinera fiduciae. It concludes that historical connections exist between the English trust and the Continental legal tradition, highlighting common features and sources across both sides of the Channel. This challenges Otto von Gierke's remark to F. W. Maitland about the English law of trusts, suggesting that no significant barrier of misunderstanding separates the English trust from similar institutions in Europe. As modern European law increasingly incorporates the trust, it appears to be building on these historical foundations.