The Assizes of Capua were the first of three great legislative acts of the
kingdom of Sicily of
Frederick II of Sicily,
Holy Roman Emperor. They were the first, promulgated at
Capua
Capua ( , ) is a city and ''comune'' in the province of Caserta, in the region of Campania, southern Italy, situated north of Naples, on the northeastern edge of the Campanian plain.
History
Ancient era
The name of Capua comes from the Etrus ...
in 1220, before the
Assizes of Messina on 1221 and the
Constitutions of Melfi
The Constitutions of Melfi, or ''Liber Augustalis'',Also called the ''Liber Constitutionum Regni Siciliae'' or ''Constitutiones Melphitanae'', from which its informal name, Constitutions of Melfi, derives. The name Liber Augustalis was invented by ...
of 1231.
The Assizes were promulgated on the mainland of the realm as they were a reform of the
Assizes of Ariano
The Assizes of Ariano were a series of laws for the Kingdom of Sicily promulgated in the summer of 1140 at Ariano, near Benevento, by Roger II of Sicily. Having recently pacified the peninsula, constantly in revolt, he had decided to make a mov ...
, promulgated by Frederick's grandfather
Roger II
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 in ...
in 1140 at
Ariano Irpino, nearby to Capua. The intent was, as in the previous Assizes and his coming Constitutions, the strengthening of the royal power in the kingdom, usually at the expense of the noblesse.
Medieval legal codes
13th century in the Kingdom of Sicily
1220s in law
1220s in Europe
Legal history of Italy
Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor
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