The Lex Alamannorum and Pactus Alamannorum were two early medieval
law code
A code of law, also called a law code or legal code, is a systematic collection of statutes. It is a type of legislation that purports to exhaustively cover a complete system of laws or a particular area of law as it existed at the time the co ...
s of the
Alamanni
The Alemanni or Alamanni were a confederation of Germanic tribes
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on the Upper Rhine River during the first millennium. First mentioned by Cassius Dio in the context of the campaign of Roman emperor Caracalla of 213 CE, the Alemanni c ...
. They were first edited in parts in 1530 by
Johannes Sichard in
Basel
Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...
.
Pactus Alamannorum
The ''Pactus Alamannorum'' or ''Pactus legis Alamannorum'' is the older of the two codes, dating to the early 7th century. It is preserved in a single manuscript of the 9th to 10th century (Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, MS Lat. 10753).
[For a catalogue description, see the entry in ''Bibliotheca Legum'': http://www.leges.uni-koeln.de/en/mss/codices/paris-bn-lat-10753/]
Lex Alamannorum
The ''Lex Alamannorum'' is preserved in some 50 manuscripts dating to between the 8th and 12th centuries. The text's first redaction is ascribed to the Alamannic duke
Lantfrid
Lanfredus (Latinisation of names, Latinised from ''Lantfrid'' or ''Lanfred'') (died 730) was duke of Alamannia under Franks, Frankish sovereignty from 709 until his death. He was the son of duke Cotefredus. Lanfredus's brother was Theudebald (Ala ...
in ca. 730. It is divided into clerical law, ducal law and popular law.
Chapter 3.1 treats
church asylum
A church (or local church) is a religious organization or congregation that meets in a particular location, often for worship. Many are formally organized, with constitutions and by-laws, maintain offices, are served by clergy or lay leaders, ...
: no fugitive seeking refuge in a church should be removed by force, or be killed within the church. Instead, the pursuers should assure the priest that the fugitive's guilt is forgiven. In 3.3, penalties for the violation of the asylum are set at 36
solidi
The ''solidus'' (Latin 'solid'; : ''solidi'') or ''nomisma'' () was a highly pure gold coin issued in the Later Roman Empire and Byzantine Empire. It was introduced in the early 4th century, replacing the aureus, and its weight of about 4 ...
to be paid to the church and an additional 40 solidi to be paid to the authorities for violation of the law.
Chapter 56.1 regulates penalties for violence towards women. If someone uncovers the head of a free, unmarried woman, he is fined 6 solidi. If he lifts her dress so that her genitals or her buttocks become visible, he is fined 12 solidi. If he rapes her, he is fined 40 solidi. 56.2 doubles these penalties if the victim is a married woman.
See also
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Germanic law
Germanic law is a scholarly term used to describe a series of commonalities between the various law codes (the ''Leges Barbarorum'', 'laws of the barbarians', also called Leges) of the early Germanic peoples. These were compared with statements i ...
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Paris, BN, lat. 4404
References
* Clausdieter Schott: ''Lex Alamannorum - Gesetz und Verfassung der Alemannen'' (facsimile), Augsburg 1997
Johannes Merkel, Leges Alamannorum, Bayerische StaatsBibliothek 1863
External links
Information on the ''Lex Alamannorum'' and its manuscript tradition on the ''{{lang, la, Bibliotheca legum regni Francorum manuscripta'' website A database on Carolingian secular law texts (Karl Ubl, Cologne University, Germany, 2012).
Alamanni
The Alemanni or Alamanni were a confederation of Germanic tribes
*
*
*
on the Upper Rhine River during the first millennium. First mentioned by Cassius Dio in the context of the campaign of Roman emperor Caracalla of 213 CE, the Alemanni c ...
Alemanni
7th-century books in Latin
8th-century books in Latin
Trials by combat