This article will concentrate on the early seventeenth century contributions by Francisco Suárez (1548-1617) and Martin Becanus (1563-1624) to this debate.

However, against the background of confessional strife and religious wars, a seminal effort was made by Catholic canon lawyers and scholastic theologians to adapt the ius commune to the new historical realities. But what happens when these two notions of fides enter into conflict, as when an agreement has been made with a heretic: can the heretical creditor enforce the promise made by the debtor? Can he count on faith in the contractual sense, even if he has lost the right faith? Traditionally, the ius commune was adduced to argue that an excommunicated or heretical creditor forfeited his rights, including the right to enforce promises.

Fides can denote both the Catholic faith and the trust or confidence that promises will be kept and contracts enforced. Re-Thinking Contracts With Heretics and Excommunicates in Times of Religious War, Rivista Internazionale di Diritto Comune, 27 (2016), 301-328 The starting point for reflection in this contribution is the plurality of meanings attached to the Latin word fides in the late medieval and early modern legal and theological traditions.

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