Leges Salicae

Leges Salicae

In the 10th century, an unnamed German illuminator composed a manuscript that united the oldest German law books. The so-called Leges Salicae contained the entire legal codes of Lombardy, the Lex Bavaria and the Lex Ripuria, as well as a code of law most steeped in tradition, the Lex Salica. Additionally, the manuscript contains a few Carolingian works commissioned by Charlemagne and his descendants Pippin, Lothair I, and Louis II. The manuscript is illustrated with enchanting, historiated miniatures in the Carolingian style.

A Historic Document

The Leges Salica is a collection of numerous national and ethnic legal norms, on which the various Germanic tribes oriented themselves before the Carolingian Empire. All of these legal norms played an important role for the emergence of Europe. The European system of laws as we know it today is largely based on the historical laws and customs of our ancestors in the 8th and 9th century. Much of the legal provisions of that time are still valid today in a few monarchies and as the domiciliary right of many German noble houses.

The Lex Salica

Old, orally-transmitted legal practices were first recorded in writing in the Lex Salica. Its articles concerned all possible legal matters, for which the culprit almost always had to pay a fine – as long as they were a free person. Those who were not free on the other hand could be subject to corporal punishments like flogging or being beaten with a rod and in some cases even with the death penalty. Additionally, the Lex Salica contained stipulations for the right of succession and the rules of the courts. Later, many European dynasties would model their line of succession on the style of these inheritance laws in that women could not inherit the crown, even if no male heir existed: In terram salicam mulieres ne succedant. Today, this particular stipulation of the Rex Salica is often simply referred to as Salic Law. It was suspended for the first time in 1713 for the Hapsburg monarchy in a groundbreaking act.