The Lotharian legend () was a German 16th-century theory which purported to explain why

Roman law Roman law is the law, legal system of ancient Rome, including the legal developments spanning over a thousand years of jurisprudence, from the Twelve Tables (), to the (AD 529) ordered by Eastern Roman emperor Justinian I. Roman law also den ...

as outlined in the Byzantine was the law of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

(as the ). According to this theory – which was conclusively disproven by Hermann Conring in 1643 – the Holy Roman Emperor

Lothair III Lothair III, sometimes numbered Lothair II and also known as Lothair of Supplinburg ( June 1075 – 4 December 1137), was Holy Roman Emperor from 1133 until his death. He was appointed Duke of Saxony in 1106 and elected King of Germany in 1125 b ...

had commanded in 1137 that Roman law was the law of his empire. Today, the German

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

reformer and theologian

Philip Melanchthon Philip Melanchthon (born Philipp Schwartzerdt; 16 February 1497 – 19 April 1560) was a German Lutheran reformer, collaborator with Martin Luther, the first systematic theologian of the Protestant Reformation, an intellectual leader of the L ...

is acknowledged as the creator of this legend.

Lotharian legend

Background

Long after the

Western Roman Empire In modern historiography, the Western Roman Empire was the western provinces of the Roman Empire, collectively, during any period in which they were administered separately from the eastern provinces by a separate, independent imperial court. ...

had fallen, the , a 6th-century legal collection of Eastern Roman emperor Justinian I, was the law of the land in vast parts of Europe (as the ). Due to the lack of a tangible explanation why the was the applicable law, different theories were developed during the

Late Middle Ages The late Middle Ages or late medieval period was the Periodization, period of History of Europe, European history lasting from 1300 to 1500 AD. The late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern period ( ...

and the beginning of the

early modern period The early modern period is a Periodization, historical period that is defined either as part of or as immediately preceding the modern period, with divisions based primarily on the history of Europe and the broader concept of modernity. There i ...

to justify its use. One theory argued with the inherent (reason and equity) of Roman law and its inherent spiritual authority. Especially with a view to the Holy Roman Empire, another theory focused on the idea of : According to this concept, the imperial authority of the ancient Roman emperors had been passed on to the

Holy Roman emperors The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans (; ) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period (; ), was the ruler and head of state of the Holy Roman Empire. ...

. As the purported successors of the Roman emperors, the Holy Roman emperors also carried with them the ancient Roman law.

The legend and its authorship

The Lotharian legend was a further theory to justify the usage of Roman law. Its backdrop formed the second campaign of Lothair III in Italy in 1137. It explained the application of Roman law in the German territories by virtue of a decree by emperor Lothair III. Johann Carion, the court

astrologer Astrology is a range of Divination, divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that propose that information about human affairs and terrestrial events may be discerned by studying the apparent positions ...

to the prince-elector of Brandenburg,

Joachim I Nestor Joachim I Nestor (21 February 1484 – 11 July 1535) was a Prince-elector of the Margraviate of Brandenburg (1499–1535), the fifth member of the House of Hohenzollern. His nickname was taken from King Nestor of Greek mythology. Biography Th ...

, espoused in his 1532 treatise, the , the view that Emperor

had commanded the teaching of Roman law in his empire and its application in his courts after

Irnerius Irnerius ( – after 1125), sometimes referred to as ''lucerna juris'' ("lantern of the law"), was an Italian jurist, and founder of the School of Glossators and thus of the tradition of medieval Roman Law. He taught the newly recovered Roman ...

had rediscovered the in the 12th century. The authorship of the is, however, disputed and today the German Lutheran reformer and theologian

is considered to be the author of at least parts of it. For the part containing the Lotharian legend, his authorship is clearly established. The textual origin of this idea of Melanchthon remains, nevertheless, unclear. Legal historian considered the possibility that the of

Burchard of Ursperg Burchard of Ursperg, also called Burchard of Biberach (c.1177–1230/1) was a German priest and chronicler. His ''Ursperger Chronicle'' (or ''Chronicon Urspergensis'') is the most important universal history of the late Staufer era.Mathias Herweg, " ...

could be its origin because Ursperg's discussion of Irnerius also notes Irnerius' patroness

Matilda of Tuscany Matilda of Tuscany (; or ; – 24 July 1115), or Matilda of Canossa ( ), also referred to as ("the Great Countess"), was a member of the House of Canossa (also known as the Attonids) in the second half of the eleventh century. Matilda was on ...

, but he concedes that this is inconclusive, because the does not contain any reference to the alleged imperial decree of Lothair III. Alan Watson simply notes that the legend "was apparently the invention of Phillip Melancthon".

Reasons for the formation of the legend

Considering the motives of Melanchthon, legal scholar argues that theological reflections were decisive for Melanchthon's espousal of the Lotharian legend. For Melanchthon, God wanted laws to govern his people. This law had to be revealed in authoritative texts as it was the case with the

Ten Commandments The Ten Commandments (), or the Decalogue (from Latin , from Ancient Greek , ), are religious and ethical directives, structured as a covenant document, that, according to the Hebrew Bible, were given by YHWH to Moses. The text of the Ten ...

Customary law A legal custom is the established pattern of behavior within a particular social setting. A claim can be carried out in defense of "what has always been done and accepted by law". Customary law (also, consuetudinary or unofficial law) exists wher ...

as a method of explaining the applicability of the did not provide the legal certainty which Melanchthon deemed necessary and could not guarantee that the would be applied in total (). Legal scholar remarked that the Lotharian legend was a "political myth" and was not discussed in contemporary legal circles and was thus a project of political legitimization and not a legal argument. He highlights that the legal commentators of the time apparently did not question the applicability of Roman law; for them the applicability of the was self-evident and they pragmatically just applied it.

Refutation by Hermann Conring

Hermann Conring was not the first scholar who attempted to disprove the Lotharian legend. It was refuted earlier by in his chronicle of

Speyer Speyer (, older spelling ; ; ), historically known in English as Spires, is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate in the western part of the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany with approximately 50,000 inhabitants. Located on the left bank of the r ...

(1612). called it a "fantasy" in 1613 and Georg Calixtus criticized it extensively in his 1619 . But the legend was only conclusively disproven by Hermann Conring in chapters 20 and 21 of his 1632 opus magnum (On the origin of German law). Conring argued that no earlier document existed that contained a trace of the decree of Lothair III. He thus concluded that purported historical events should only be considered to be established as true if they were attested to by credible and near-contemporaneous sources. In lieu of an imperial decree Conring's explanation for the applicability of Roman law was that it had been gradually adopted by the courts without a clear commandment to do so. Conring thereby established the modern consensus view of a gradual reception of the focusing on the fact that in legal education only Roman law was taught and thus trained lawyers had a natural inclination to apply it.

Lotharian legend

Background

The legend and its authorship

Reasons for the formation of the legend

Refutation by Hermann Conring

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

Further reading