Judges decide legal disputes. This sentence sounds more natural than it is. Until now, historical justice research has concentrated on numerous aspects of the court system and court proceedings, but neglected the original activities of the court. To examine the role of the judge in the processing, escalation and decision of a court case spanning epochs and comparing Europe in more detail, therefore seemed particularly attractive. The conference volume therefore gathers contributions from historians and legal historians who deal with legal finding in the true sense. The articles span the spectrum from the unlearned decision-making of the cooperative proceedings in medieval law to the modern practice of the highest federal courts. In between there are numerous stations from late medieval canonical court proceedings to the higher appeal courts of the 19th century and the jury and lay judges' courts in reformed criminal proceedings. The common law reference point is not only formed by the Reich Chamber of Commerce and the Reich Court Council, but also by other European higher courts, for example from Spain, England, Scotland and Sweden. In this way, particularities, but also typical similarities of the early modern judicial decision-making activities can be worked out.