The ''Landrecht'' (, "customary law of the region",Arnold, Benjamin (1991). ''Princes and territories in medieval Germany'', Cambridge University Press, Cambridge and New York, p. 31. . plural: ''Landrechte'') was the law applying within an individual state in the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a Polity, political entity in Western Europe, Western, Central Europe, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, dissolution i ...

during the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

and Early Modern times. The state laws that emerged in the territories of the empire from the 12th century onwards had been developed from the older tribal laws of the

Saxons The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...

, Swabians, Bavarians and

Bohemians Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Beer * National Bohemian, a brand brewed by Pabst * Bohemian, a brand of beer brewed by Molson Coors Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, origin ...

. Through privileges and

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

s passed by the territorial princes as well as the jurisprudence of the ''Landgerichte'' or state courts, these ancient rights were supplemented and developed. Later

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 (c. 449 BC), to the ''Corpus Juris Civilis'' (AD 529) ordered by Eastern Roman emperor J ...

was also accepted and incorporated into the ''Landrechte''. The ''Landrecht'' was only applied to the burghers of a town in a secondary way, because they came primarily under

municipal law Municipal law is the national, domestic, or internal law of a sovereign state and is defined in opposition to international law. Municipal law includes many levels of law: not only national law but also state, provincial, territorial, regional, ...

and the autonomous jurisdiction of their communities.

Ambit

The ''Landrechte'' contained regulations for all possible branches of law:

criminal law Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It prescribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety, and moral welfare of people inclusive of one's self. Most criminal law i ...

private law Private law is that part of a civil law legal system which is part of the ''jus commune'' that involves relationships between individuals, such as the law of contracts and torts (as it is called in the common law), and the law of obligations ( ...

, policing,

feudal law Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was the combination of the legal, economic, military, cultural and political customs that flourished in medieval Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of structur ...

and

constitutional law Constitutional law is a body of law which defines the role, powers, and structure of different entities within a State (polity), state, namely, the executive (government), executive, the parliament or legislature, and the judiciary; as well as th ...

. However these areas were not necessarily comprehensively covered. Often they operated alongside Saxon Law (''Sachsenrecht''), Roman law and more recent, imperial, legal regulations.

Overview

The various ''Landrechte'' were written down at very different times. The Austrian ''Landrecht'' had already been developed by the Babenberg period and was recorded around 1278 by King

Rudolph I Rudolf I (1 May 1218 – 15 July 1291) was the first King of Germany from the House of Habsburg. The first of the count-kings of Germany, he reigned from 1273 until his death. Rudolf's election marked the end of the Great Interregnum which h ...

and in 1298 under Albert I. Based on the customary law (''Gewohnheitsrecht'') of the state of

Styria Styria (german: Steiermark ; Serbo-Croatian and sl, ; hu, Stájerország) is a state (''Bundesland'') in the southeast of Austria. With an area of , Styria is the second largest state of Austria, after Lower Austria. Styria is bordered to ...

, it was probably written down in the 2nd half of the 14th century and also applied to

Carinthia Carinthia (german: Kärnten ; sl, Koroška ) is the southernmost States of Austria, Austrian state, in the Eastern Alps, and is noted for its mountains and lakes. The main language is German language, German. Its regional dialects belong to t ...

. The Tyrolean ''Landrecht'' emerged in the late 13th century and, in 1328, Archbishop Frederick III consolidated it and made it the law of Salzburg by passing an ordinance (''Landesordnung''). In the Palatinate, the ''Landrecht'' was not recorded until the 16th century. The

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...

n ''Landrecht'' developed primarily as a result of the aggregation of judgments by the regional court ( ''Landgericht''), which were compiled into the so-called '' Landtafeln''. The Bohemian development also influenced Moravian ''Landrecht'' and the law in parts of Silesia. The emergence of ''Landrechte'' in the Middle Ages was crucial in the formation of countries, because they were able to constitute themselves as a legal community of free inhabitants. Once they were formed as such, they remained mostly intact as independent legal and political units, even where several states were united under the rule of one dynasty, for example, in the case of the various territories under the

Habsburg monarchy The Habsburg monarchy (german: Habsburgermonarchie, ), also known as the Danubian monarchy (german: Donaumonarchie, ), or Habsburg Empire (german: Habsburgerreich, ), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities ...

. With the promulgation of the

German Civil Code German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

, the ''Landrechte'' were superseded.

Literature

References

Sources

* Oberbayerisches Landrecht Kaiser Ludwigs des Bayern von 1346. Edition, Übersetzung und Kommentar von Hans Schlosser und Ingo Schwab. Köln u.a. 2000. * Codex Maximilianeus Bavaricus civilis oder neu verbessert und ergaenzt chur-bayrisches Land-Recht, welches alle zur bürgerlichen Rechts-Gelehrsamkeit gehoerige Materien in sich begreift : benebst dem am Ende beygefuegten Lehen-Recht. Munich, 1756 * Churfürstlicher Pfaltz Landrecht. Heydelberg, 1582. * Landrecht des Fürstenthumbs Württemberg gemein ..Tübingen, 1591. * Landrecht Der Fürstenthumben der Marggravschafften Baden vn Hachberg, Landgraveschafft Saussenberg, auch Herrschafften Röttlen vnnd Badenweyler, c. : Inn siben Teyl verfasset; Senft, Durlach, 162
Online

Secondary literature

* Heinrich Gottfried Wilhelm Daniels: Kurkölnisches Landrecht, hrsg. und bearb. von Christoph Becker. (= Rechtsgeschichtliche Schriften. 19). Cologne etc., 2005 * Karl August Eckhardt: Das Dithmarscher Landrecht von 1447. Nach d. Ausg. von Andreas Ludwig Jacob Michelsen. (=Germanenrechte. 16). Göttingen u. Marburg/L., 1960 * Helmut Günter (Hrsg.): Das bayerische Landrecht von 1616. (= Schriftenreihe zur bayerischen Landesgeschichte. 66) Munich, 1969. * Ernst Theodor Gaupp: Das schlesische Landrecht oder Eigentlich Landrecht des Fürstentums Breslau von 1356, an sich und in seinem Verhältnis zum Sachsenspiegel. Leipzig, 1828. * Maria Dirks: Das Landrecht des Kurfürstentums Trier. Seine Geschichte u. s. Stellung in der Rechtsgeschichte. Saarbrücken, 1965. * Wilhelm Hartnack (ed.): Das Wittgensteiner Landrecht nach dem Original-Codex von 1579. Laasphe, 1960 * Otto Dehler: Das hennebergische Landrecht in den Grundzügen dargestellt. iss.Würzburg, 1939. * Stieber, Miloslav: Das österreichische Landrecht und die böhmischen Einwirkungen auf die Reformen König Ottokars in Österreich. Innsbruck, 1905 * Wieslaw Litewski: Landrecht des Herzogtums Preußen von 1620. 5 Bde. Warsaw, 1982-1987. * Ferdinand Bischoff: Steiermärkisches Landrecht des Mittelalters. Graz, 1875. * W. Weltin, ''Das österreichische Landrecht des 13. Jahrhunderts'', in: Recht und Schrift im Mittelalter, 1977.

External links

Landrecht und Landesordnung der Kurpfalz (1700)

{{Authority control Legal history of the Holy Roman Empire