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Signets Du Juriste
The influx of Germanic tribes into Europe, which had begun even before the turn of the 3rd century, produced many groups who charged for territorial dominance after the collapse of the Roman Empire, wedging against one another to define the areas which would soon characterise the kingdoms of medieval Europe. This process, which stabilised before the end of the 6th century, was a destructive force to many elements of Roman culture.
The vibrant interdependence of cities and territories in the classical world ended, and focus shifted much more locally, with tribal boundaries inhibiting the relative freedom of the Roman empire. There was a decline in countryside settlement, as civilisation moved to hide itself within the more reliable security of city walls in a less certain world, thus shutting itself off inside its strongholds. The heretofore wavering capability of knowledge and learning in Roman Europe collapsed totally, along with rates of literacy.
Decline of Law as an Academic Pursuit
In the Early Middle Ages, which, for purposes here, I will define as the 6th to 11th centuries AD, the legal picture in Europe is difficult to ascertain and varied across the continent, thanks to the inhomogenous and introspective development of its kingdoms. The Roman notion of a jurist, an academic specifically focused on learnedness in law, fell away to be superseded by this local focus: local councils and local authorities concerned with local customs, largely passed on by oral traditions.