The ''Lex Baiuvariorum'' was a collection of the tribal laws of the

Bavarii The Baiuvarii or Bavarians (german: Bajuwaren) were a Germanic people. The Baiuvarii had settled modern-day Bavaria (which is named after them), Austria, and South Tyrol by the 6th century AD, and are considered the ancestors of modern-day Bava ...

of the sixth through eighth centuries. The first compilation was edited by Eberswind, first

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. The fem ...

of Niederaltaich, in 741 or 743. Duke Odilo, founder supplemented the code around 748. It is one of the most well documented bodies of Germanic tribal law. Parts of the ''Lex Baiuvariorum'' are identical with the

Visigothic The Visigoths (; la, Visigothi, Wisigothi, Vesi, Visi, Wesi, Wisi) were an early Germanic people who, along with the Ostrogoths, constituted the two major political entities of the Goths within the Roman Empire in late antiquity, or what is kno ...

Code of Euric The ''Codex Euricianus'' or ''Code of Euric'' was a collection of laws governing the Visigoths compiled at the order of Euric, King of the Visigoths, sometime before 480, probably at Toulouse (possibly at Arles); it is one of the earliest exampl ...

and from the ''

Lex Alamannorum The Lex Alamannorum and Pactus Alamannorum were two early medieval law codes of the Alamanni. They were first edited in parts in 1530 by Johannes Sichard in Basel. Pactus Alamannorum The ''Pactus Alamannorum'' or ''Pactus legis Alamannorum'' is the ...

''. The Bavarian law, therefore, is later than that of the

Alamanni The Alemanni or Alamanni, were a confederation of Germanic tribes * * * on the Upper Rhine River. First mentioned by Cassius Dio in the context of the campaign of Caracalla of 213, the Alemanni captured the in 260, and later expanded into pres ...

. It dates unquestionably from a period when the Frankish authority was very strong in Bavaria, when the dukes were

vassal A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerain. W ...

s of the Frankish kings. Immediately after the revolt of Bavaria in 743, the Bavarian Duke Odilo was forced to submit to

Pippin the Younger the Short (french: Pépin le Bref; – 24 September 768), also called the Younger (german: Pippin der Jüngere), was King of the Franks from 751 until his death in 768. He was the first Carolingian to become king. The younger was the son of t ...

and Carloman, the sons of

Charles Martel Charles Martel ( – 22 October 741) was a Frankish political and military leader who, as Duke and Prince of the Franks and Mayor of the Palace, was the de facto ruler of Francia from 718 until his death. He was a son of the Frankish statesma ...

, and to recognize the Frankish suzerainty. About the same period, too, the church of Bavaria was organized by

St Boniface Boniface, OSB ( la, Bonifatius; 675 – 5 June 754) was an English Benedictine monk and leading figure in the Anglo-Saxon mission to the Germanic parts of the Frankish Empire during the eighth century. He organised significant foundations o ...

, and the country divided into several bishoprics; and we find frequent references to these bishops (in the plural) in the law of the Bavarians. On the other hand, we know that the law is anterior to the reign of Duke

Tassilo III Tassilo III ( 741 – c. 796) was the duke of Bavaria from 748 to 788, the last of the house of the Agilolfings. The Son of Duke Odilo of Bavaria and Hitrud, the Daughter of Charles Martell. Tassilo, then still a child, began his rule as a Frankis ...

(749-788). The date of compilation must, therefore, be placed between 743 and 749. Wilhelm Störmer claims that though the ''Lex Baiuvariorum'' uses some identical titles as Visigothic and Alamani texts, synodal texts and the Tradition Book of Freising indicate that it cannot simply be a copy. K. Reindels claims that the law could have been developed in stages, starting with the reign of

Theudebert I Theudebert I (french: Thibert/Théodebert) ( 500 – 547 or 548) was the Merovingian king of Austrasia from 533 to his death in 548. He was the son of Theuderic I and the father of Theudebald. Sources Most of what we know about Theudebert comes f ...

(539–548) until we have the version that we know today created during the reign of Odillo. What is certain is that the ''Lex Baiuvariorum'' was created at the behest of the

Frankish Frankish may refer to: * Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture ** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages * Francia, a post-Roman state in France and Germany * East Francia, the successor state to Francia in Germany ...

overlords. The ''Lex Baiuvariorum'' consists mostly of individual acts the penalty in cash to be paid to the victim or the victim's family as well as the public treasury. Many of the extant manuscripts are in a small format, a clear indication that the lawbook was at hand when the lord held court. The text is written in Latin. The ''Lex Baiuvariorum'' is divided into 23 titles. Titles 1–6 regulate the law of the different social ranks. Titles 7-23 offer legal rulings on criminal and private law. * Title I: Protection of the church, spiritual men, its people and property including servants and wards. * Title II: Protection of the duke, his office, and his military operations. * Title III: Stipulates the

Agilolfings The Agilolfings were a noble family that ruled the Duchy of Bavaria on behalf of their Merovingian suzerains from about 550 until 788. A cadet branch of the Agilolfings also ruled the Kingdom of the Lombards intermittently from 616 to 712. They ...

as the leading noble family from which the rulers of Bavaria are chosen. The other noble families explicitly mentioned are: Anniona, Fagana, Hahilinga,

Huosi The Huosi were one of the ''Uradel'' (ancient noble families) in the duchy of Bavaria. Their status was enshrined in the '' Law of the Bavarians'', which lists them first among the five families having special rights privileges after the ducal Ag ...

and Trozza (sometimes also spelled "Drozza"). * Title IV: The protection of the free. Under ''free'', the ''Lex Baiuvariorum'' makes a distinction between ''those who are free'' and ''those who have been set free''. Fines for breaking the law varies depending on the status of the individuals involved: free, set free, and unfree. * Title VIII: On Women and their Legal Causes that often occur. First and foremost, addresses the fines and instances of justified homicide incidental to acts of female (free or bonded) infidelity and adulterous acts. Addresses, too, fines incurred by male (free or bonded) misconduct and molestation of womenFosberry, John trans, ''Criminal Justice through the Ages'', English trans. John Fosberry. Mittalalterliches Kriminalmuseum, Rothenburg ob der Tauber, (1990 Eng. trans. 1993) p.48-52 In full, the different titles were ordered as follows: * 1. about the clergy or of church law * 2. about the Duke and the legal cases that concern him * 3. about the sexes and their penance * 4. about the free, as they are atoned for * 5. about freedmen, how they should be repaid * 6. about servants, how they should be repaid * 7. about the prohibition of incestuous marriages * 8. about women and their legal cases, as they often happen * 9. about theft * 10. about arson to houses * 11. about outrage * 12. about destroyed boundary signs * 13. about pawns * 14. about harmful animals * 15. about entrusted nd borrowedthings * 16. about sales * 17. about witnesses * 18. about fighters * 19. about the dead and what concerns them * 20. about dogs and their penance * 21. about hawks and birds * 22. about orchards, forests and bees * 23. about pigs The laws remained in effect until 1180. The oldest manuscript dates from around 800 and is in the possession of the library of the

University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich or LMU; german: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It is Germany's List of universities in Germany, sixth-oldest u ...

Notes

Sources

* Fosberry, John trans, ''Criminal Justice through the Ages'', English trans. John Fosberry. Mittelalterliches Kriminalmuseum, Rothenburg ob der Tauber, (1990 Eng. trans. 1993) * Merzbacher, Friedrich, "History of German Law Making", ''Criminal Justice Through the Ages'', Mittelalterliches Kriminalmuseum, Rothenburg ob der Taube, Druckerei Schulist, Heilbronn, 1981 * Störmer, Wilhelm. ''Die Baiuwaren: Von der Völkerwanderung bis Tassilo III.'' pp 49 – 53. Verlag C.H. Beck, 2002, .

External links

Full text of MGH critical edition (in Latin).

Information on the ''lex Baiuvariorum'' and its manuscript tradition on the ' website
A database on Carolingian secular law texts (Karl Ubl, Cologne University, Germany, 2012). {{Authority control Duchy of Bavaria Germanic legal codes Legal history of Germany Germany in the Early Middle Ages