The Assizes of Ariano were a series of laws for the
Kingdom of Sicily
The Kingdom of Sicily ( la, Regnum Siciliae; it, Regno di Sicilia; scn, Regnu di Sicilia) was a state that existed in the south of the Italian Peninsula and for a time the region of Ifriqiya from its founding by Roger II of Sicily in 1130 un ...
promulgated in the summer of 1140 at
Ariano, near
Benevento
Benevento (, , ; la, Beneventum) is a city and '' comune'' of Campania, Italy, capital of the province of Benevento, northeast of Naples. It is situated on a hill above sea level at the confluence of the Calore Irpino (or Beneventano) and the ...
, by
Roger II of Sicily
Roger II ( it, Ruggero II; 22 December 1095 – 26 February 1154) was King of Sicily and Africa, son of Roger I of Sicily and successor to his brother Simon. He began his rule as Count of Sicily in 1105, became Duke of Apulia and Calabria i ...
. Having recently pacified the peninsula, constantly in revolt, he had decided to make a move to more centralised government. The assizes established the large Sicilian bureaucracy and sought to maintain the
feudal system
Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was the combination of the legal, economic, military, cultural and political customs that flourished in medieval Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of structu ...
under strict royal control. It contained forty clauses that touched on all possible topics of contemporary legal concern: private property, public property, the church, civil law, royal finances, and the military. The work was advanced for its day, deriving its precepts not only from Norman and French, but also Muslim and Byzantine (especially
Justinian
Justinian I (; la, Iustinianus, ; grc-gre, Ἰουστινιανός ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was the Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565.
His reign is marked by the ambitious but only partly realized '' renova ...
) legal theories.
The first half of 1140 was spent by Roger in
Palermo
Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The city is noted for its ...
preparing the Assizes. They were certainly well-planned. Despite having written the legislation in his capital, in July, he traveled in state to
Salerno
Salerno (, , ; nap, label= Salernitano, Saliernë, ) is an ancient city and ''comune'' in Campania (southwestern Italy) and is the capital of the namesake province, being the second largest city in the region by number of inhabitants, after ...
, the capital of the duchy of
Apulia
it, Pugliese
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, and thence to
Abruzzi
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, where he examined the conquests of his sons:
Roger
Roger is a given name, usually masculine, and a surname. The given name is derived from the Old French personal names ' and '. These names are of Germanic origin, derived from the elements ', ''χrōþi'' ("fame", "renown", "honour") and ', ' ( ...
and
Alfonso
Alphons (Latinized ''Alphonsus'', ''Adelphonsus'', or ''Adefonsus'') is a male given name recorded from the 8th century (Alfonso I of Asturias, r. 739–757) in the Christian successor states of the Visigothic kingdom in the Iberian peninsula. ...
. These men, now
duke of Apulia and
prince of Capua
This is a list of the rulers of the Principality of Capua.
Lombard rulers of Capua Gastalds and counts
The gastalds (or counts) of Capua were vassals of the princes of Benevento until the early 840s, when Gastald Landulf began to clamour for the ...
respectively, had consolidated Norman rule over the peninsula and made it possible for the great feats of legislation that year.
The Assizes affirm that the king is the only lawgiver in Sicily, that he is both judge and priest (as he holds the
legatine powers from the
pope
The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...
), and all Sicilians were equal and under the same laws, whether Latin, Greek, Jew, or Muslim, Norman, Lombard, or Arab. It punished treason with death. It was also detailed in other crimes of violence: cowardice in battle, arming a mob, or withholding support from the king or his allies. Ecclesiastically, Christian heretics and apostates lost their rights. Bishops were excused from attendance at courts, though the king was granted override on this, as on everything, and there could be no appeals. Militarily, the knightly class was closed. Nobody could become a knight if had no knightly lineage. Finally, the assizes did not ignore the commoners and demanded that they be treated with justice and be burdened not unduly by their lords.
Roger's final act at Ariano was the issuance of a low-quality coinage standard for the entire realm, the
ducat
The ducat () coin was used as a trade coin in Europe from the later Middle Ages from the 13th to 19th centuries. Its most familiar version, the gold ducat or sequin containing around of 98.6% fine gold, originated in Venice in 1284 and gained ...
, taking its name from the ''duchy'' of Apulia. The coin, mostly copper and some silver, not gold as in later issuances, rapidly grew in importance.
The Assizes survive in two manuscripts, slightly differing from one another, though what are omissions and what additions is unknown. These were found in 1856 in the
Vatican archives and those of
Monte Cassino
Monte Cassino (today usually spelled Montecassino) is a rocky hill about southeast of Rome, in the Latin Valley, Italy, west of Cassino and at an elevation of . Site of the Roman town of Casinum, it is widely known for its abbey, the first ho ...
.
The Assizes are the legislations promulgated by King Roger II of Sicily. Once his kingdom was consolidated he issued a series of laws, although it is unknown where or when he did this. It is presumed that the laws were issued around 1140, for it was only after this date that officials can be found all over the kingdom; before then they only appear sporadically.
At this time, Ariano was only an assembly of bishops and nobles and not a 'general assembly' in which all free men played a part. Important issues such as the military, obligations of vassals and the recognizance of the countries, and legislation was issued.
The Assizes survive in only two composite juridical manuscripts. The fullest text is that contained in Codice Vaticano Latino 8782, which can be dated back to the end of the twelfth century and which contains forty four assizes, as well as a prologue. The second the Codex 468 of the library of Montecassino dates from the first half of the thirteenth century. It transmits only an abbreviated version of the laws, although it also contains some additions and another seven assizes which are lacking in the Vatican manuscript.
The Assizes provide the first example of territorial legislation based upon Roman (Justinaic) law, as "they precede, and were more important in practice than, the purely academic rediscovery of Roman law." Roger's recourse to the example of the Roman emperors is indicative how ambitious his intentions were. The Assizes touch on only some aspects of the law: ecclesiastical, public, marriage and criminal. Alongside them customary law remained in force, unless it actual contradicted what was in the Assizes. The reason for this was "because of the variety of different people subject to our rule."
[Assizes of Ariano in Latin p 371] Therefore, the legislator was clearly very conscious of ruling over a multi-ethnic state; he respected the individual character of the various groups, although only insofar as this did not conflict with his overriding supervision.
References
Sources
Assizes of Ariano in LatinOriginal texts of both codices.
at Norman World by the
European Commission
The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body ...
.
*
Norwich, John Julius. ''The Kingdom in the Sun 1130-1194''. Longman:
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, 1970.
*Pennington, Kenneth
"The Birth of the Ius commune: King Roger II's Legislation."''Rivista internazionale del diritto comune'', 17 (2006).
{{DEFAULTSORT:Assizes Of Ariano
Medieval legal codes
12th century in the Kingdom of Sicily
Ariano Irpino
1140 in Europe
Legal history of Italy
Roger II of Sicily
12th century in law