This engraving consists of eight distinct scenes tracking the path of a legal dispute from its origins in the concepts of 'Mine' and 'Thine' to the ultimate poverty of the participants. Allegorical figures such as Fraud, Deceit, and Blind Desire populate contemporary courtrooms and city streets, interacting with lawyers and scribes. The final panels depict the litigant reduced to rags, haunted by a personified Bad Conscience and the specter of death.
This work reflects the Northern Renaissance interest in Neostoicism and civic morality, warning against the corrosive effects of discord on the social fabric. It aligns with the humanist tradition of moralizing emblems, similar to themes found in Sebastian Brant’s 'Ship of Fools' or the social critiques of Erasmus regarding greed and the corruption of justice.
LitigiosusPaxConcordiaCharitasFrausFallaciaPauperiesConscientia malaCupidoPatientiamoney bagslegal scrollsscales of justice
LITIS ABVSVS. ABVS DV PROCES. MISBRVYCK VAN'T PROCES.
Quando MEVM atq[ue] TVVM mundo inualuere, fugantur
Pax et Amor, Timor atq[ue] Dei, et Concordia iunctim.
Subdola Fraus, mendax Fallacia, Scriptor aberrans
Accerfunt tettricas Mercatori vndique lites.
Mens Testantis, Opinio praua, et Caeca Cupido,
Atq[ue] MEVM atq[ue] TVVM semper sunt semina Litis.
Tres saccos plenos habeat, qui litigat exspes;
Inuicta Patientia, et Inuerecundia, et Auro.
Deuorat, en fundum Lis: et qui litibus instat.
Familiam, Tempus, Animam quoq[ue] negligit omnem.
Nulla quies homini qui lites pectore versat;
Hinc pellit placidum procul Anxia cura Soporem.
Oppofitas viden' vt currat bona Causa per hastas
Non metuit Iustos Æquum; sed cedit Iniquis.
Quid post hanc vitam comitatur Litigiosum?
Paupertas tumulo hunc et Mens malè confcia condunt.
(Individual labels within panels: Meum, Tuum, Charitas, Pax, Concordia, Fraus, Fallacia, Mercator, Scriptor, Mens testantis, Opinio prava, Cupido caeca, Litigiosus, Impudentia, Patientia, Pauperies, Conscientia mala)
Translation
ABUSE OF LITIGATION. ABUSE OF THE PROCESS. MISUSE OF THE PROCESS.
When MINE and THINE have prevailed in the world,
Peace and Love, the Fear of God, and Concord together are put to flight.
Cunning Fraud, lying Deceit, and the erring Scrivener
Summon grim lawsuits for the Merchant from every side.
The intent of the Testator, perverse Opinion, and blind Desire,
Are ever the seeds of Litigation, both MINE and THINE.
Let him who litigates without hope have three sacks full:
Unconquered Patience, Shamelessness, and Gold.
Lo, the Lawsuit devours the estate: and he who persists in lawsuits
Neglects his family, his time, and his very soul.
There is no rest for the man who revolves lawsuits in his breast;
Hence anxious care drives peaceful slumber far away.
Do you see how a good Cause runs through opposing spears?
It does not fear the Just, nor the Equitable; but it yields to the Unjust.
What accompanies the Litigious man after this life?
Poverty and a guilty Conscience bury him in the tomb.
(Individual labels: Mine, Thine, Charity, Peace, Concord, Fraud, Deceit, Merchant, Scrivener, Intent of the testator, Perverse opinion, Blind desire, The litigious one, Shamelessness, Patience, Poverty, Evil conscience)
Connected Texts
Sebastian Brant
Brant's 'Ship of Fools' (Das Narrenschiff) contains specific chapters satirizing those who find pleasure in endless litigation and legal disputes.
Desiderius Erasmus
The critique of legalistic obsession and the loss of Christian charity (Charitas) echoes the social and religious satires found in 'The Praise of Folly'.
