The Burgundian Code: Book of Constitutions or Law of Gundobad. Additional Enactments

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Translated by Katherine Fisher Drew. Foreword by Edward Peters. 5th paperback printing 1996. The great frontier which divided the inhabitants of the Roman Empire from the Celtic and Germanic peoples who lived to the north was one of culture and institutions as well as forts and defense works. Yet from the bloody clashes of the third and fourth centuries there emerged a society that was neither Germanic nor Roman, but a compound of both. The Burgundian Code, or Law of Gundobad, is one of the earliest expressions of that new society. When the East German tribe of the Burgundians settled in the Rhone Valley, they found there a people who had long been subject to Imperial statutory law, a law alien to their own customary codes. The Burgundian Code embodies many compromises; it represents a determined effort to balance rights of Roman and Burgundian alike. Written in Latin, it yet reflects the morality of a Germanic people. Ably transated by Katherine Fischer Drew, the Burgundian Code offers historians and anthropologists alike illuminating insights into a crucial period of contact between a developed and a tribal society.

Author(s): Katherine Fischer Drew (transl.)
Series: The Middle Ages Series
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
Year: 1996

Language: English
Pages: 126
City: Philadelphia

Foreword
Preface
Contents
Introduction
Liber Constitutionurn sive Lex Gundobada (Book of Constitutions or Law of Gundobad)
Preface
I. Of the Privilege of Bestowing Gifts Permitted to Fathers, and Concerning Royal Gifts and Gratuities.
II. Of Murders.
III. Of the Emancipation of Our Slaves.
IV. Of Solicitations and Thefts.
V. Of Those Who Strike Others with Lash or Rod, with a Kick, or with a Blow of the Fist.
VI. Of Fugitives.
VII. Of Slaves (Servi) and Serfs (Originarii) Who Are Accused of Crimes.
VIII. Of the Commission of Crimes Which Are Charged Against Native Freemen.
IX. Of Acts of Violence.
X. Let Burgundians and Romans Be Held Under the Same Condition in the Matter of Killing Slaves.
XI. Of Inflicted Wounds.
XII. Of the Stealing of Girls.
XIII. Of Clearings (Exarti).
XIV. Of Succession.
XV. Of Starting a Fight.
XVI. Of Hunting for Animals.
XVII. Of Other Cases and the Removal of Liability for Punishment.
XVIII. Of Those Things Which Happen by Chance.
XIX. Of the Removal of Pledges and Guarantors (Oathtakers).
XX. Of Thefts Committed by Fugitives.
XXI. Of Contracts Entered into by Slaves.
XXII. Of the Abolition of the Advocacy (Patrocinium) of Barbarians in Lawsuits Involving Romans.
XXIII. Of Injuries Which Are Caused by Animals.
XXIV. Of Burgundian Women Entering a Second or Third Marriage.
XXV. Of Thefts and Acts of Violence.
XXVI. Of Knocking Out Teeth.
XXVII. Of Broken Fences, Closed Roads, also Thefts and Acts of Violence.
XXVIII. Of the Privilege of Cutting Wood Granted in Common.
XXIX. Of Those Committing Assault and Breach of the Peace.
XXX. Of Women Violated.
XXXI. Of Planting Vineyards.
XXXII. Of Him Who Has Bound a Man Illegally or Without Cause.
XXXIII. Of Injuries Which Are Suffered by Women.
XXXIV. Of Divorces.
XXXV. Of the Punishment of Slaves Who Commit a Criminal Assault on Freeborn Women.
XXXVI. Of Incestuous Adultery.
XXXVII. Of Drawn Swords.
XXXVIII. Of the Refusal of Hospitality Toward Legates of Foreign Tribes and Travellers.
XXXIX. Of Receiving Strangers.
XL. Of Manumissions.
XLI. Of Crops Burned by Fire.
XLII. Of the Inheritance of Those Who Die Without Children.
XLIII. Of Gifts.
XLIV. Of the Adultery of Girls and Widows.
XLV. Of Those Who Deny Those Things Charged Against Them, and Offer Oaths.
XLVI. Of Those Who Set Traps (Drawn Bows, tensuras) for Killing Wolves.
XLVII. Of the Condemnation of Thieves, of Their Wives, and of Their Children.
XLVIII. Of Inflicted Wounds.
XLIX. Of Animals Causing Damage in Closed Fields and Driven into Enclosures, and Horses Wandering at Large.
L. Of Killing Agents of the King as Well as of Private Persons.
LI. Of Those Who Do Not Give Their Sons the Portions of Their Property Due to Them.
LII. Of Betrothed Women Who, Incited by Desire, Go to Consort with Others.
LIII. Of the Inheritance of Sons Who, After the Death of Their Father, Die Intestate, While Their Mother Still Survives.
LIV. Of Those Who Presume to Take a Third of the Slaves and Two Parts of the Land (of Their Host) Contrary to Public Prohibition.
LV. Of Excluding Barbarians Whenever Contention Arises Between Two Romans Concerning the Boundaries of Their Fields.
LVI. Of Slaves Bought in Alamannia.
LVII. Of Freedmen of the Burgundians Who Do Not Have the Privilege of Departing.
LVIII. Of Killing Dogs.
LIX. Of Grandchildren.
LX. Of Employing Witnesses of Gifts.
LXI. Of Women Who Willingly Seek Union with a Man.
LXII. Of Only Sons.
LXIII. Of Those Who Have Stolen Grain Standing in Sheaves (in Gremiis).
LXIV. Of Animals Killed in the Harvest.
LXV. Of Widows from Whom the Debts of Their Husbands Are Sought.
LXVI. Of Girls Without Fathers and Mothers Who Are Given in Marriage.
LXVII. This Must Be Observed Concerning Forests.
LXVIII. Of Adultery.
LXIX. Of the Wedding Gift (Wittimon).
LXX. Of Thefts.
LXXI. Of Those Who Compound a Theft.
LXXII. Of Traps for Animals.
LXXIII. Of Horses Which Have Bones and Sticks (Scindola) Tied to Their Tails.
LXXIV. Of Widows and Their Children.
LXXV. Of an Inheritance Divided Between Nephew and Aunt.
LXXVI. Of Royal Servants (Wittiscalci).
LXXVII. Of Warrants (Inscriptiones).
LXXVIII. Of the Succession of Inheritance.
LXXIX. Of Prescription (i.e., the Setting of Time Limits or the Establishment of Title).
LXXX. Of Those Bearing False Witness and False Accusers (Slanderers).
LXXXI. Of Future Appeals Before Judges.
LXXXII. Of Guarantors (Oathtakers).
LXXXIII. Of Those Who Identify Their Property in the Possession of Others.
LXXXIV. Of the Sale of Lands.
LXXXV. Of Wards.
LXXXVI. Of the Marriage Ornaments (Malahereda) .
LXXXVII. Of Contracts Entered into by Minors.
LXXXVIII. Of Emancipation.
Continuation of the Book of Constitutions
LXXXIX. Of Animals Which Have Entered a Vineyard.
XC. Of Judgments.
XCI. Of Freemen Who Commit a Theft with a Slave.
XCII. Of Women Whose Hair Has Been Cut Off inTheir Own Courtyard.
XCIII. Of Arms and Legs Which Are Broken by Another.
XCIV. Of Ships.
XCV. Of Trackers (Vegii, Veiatores).
XCVI. Of Guarantors (Oathtakers).
XCVII. Of Hounds (Canes Veltravi), Hunting Dogs (Segutii), or Running Dogs (Petrunculi).
XCVIII. Of Falcons.
XCIX. Of Sales Which Are Made Without Witnesses.
C. Of Women Who Go to Their Husbands Voluntarily.
CI. Of the Marriage Price (Wittimon).
CII. Of Jews Who Presume to Raise Their Hands Against a Christian.
CIII. Of Vineyards.
CIV. Of Asses.
CV. If Anyone Has Taken Another's Oxen in Pledge.
Constitutiones extravagantes (Additional Enactments)
XVIII. This Should Be Observed with Respect to Vineyards.
XIX. Of the Arrest of the Guilty.
XX. An Edict Concerning Foundlings.
XXI. Here Begins the Ordinance Which Our Most Glorious King Established at Ambkrieux in an Assembly of the Burgundians.
Bibliography
Index