The ''Constitutio de feudis'' ("Constitution of Fiefs"), also known as the ''Edictum de beneficiis regni Italici'' ("Edict on the Benefices of the Italian Kingdom"), was a law regulating feudal contracts decreed by the

Emperor Conrad II Conrad II ( – 4 June 1039), also known as and , was the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire from 1027 until his death in 1039. The first of a succession of four Salian emperors, who reigned for one century until 1125, Conrad ruled the kingdoms ...

on 28 May 1037 (Pentecost Eve) at

Pavia Pavia (, , , ; la, Ticinum; Medieval Latin: ) is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy in northern Italy, south of Milan on the lower Ticino river near its confluence with the Po. It has a population of c. 73,086. The city was the capit ...

, Brian Stock, ''The Implications of Literacy: Written Language and Models of Interpretation in the Eleventh and Twelfth Centuries'' (Princeton University Press, 1983), 156–58. during his siege of Milan. It "had wider and more lasting effects on Italian society than any other piece of imperial legislation," and by "attract ngto the cities he moderately-wealthy landowner, itbuilt a bridge at a high social level between city and countryside."John Kenneth Hyde, ''Society and Politics in Medieval Italy: The Evolution of the Civil Life, 1000–1350'' (New York: St Martin's Press, 1973), 28. According to Susan Reynolds, it "mark the foundation of the academic law of fiefs", as it formed the basis for the ''

Libri feudorum The ''Libri Feudorum'' is a twelfth-century collection by Pillius Medicinensis, originating in Lombardy, of feudal customs. The work gained wide acceptance as a statement of the various rules governing the relation of lord and vassal. Later in th ...

''. Susan Reynolds, ''Fiefs and Vassals: The Medieval Evidence Reinterpreted'' (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2001), 44. The law was based, in its own words, on the "legal code of our predecessors" (''constitucio antecessorum nostrorum''). It specified that "no knight 'miles''who was the tenant of a bishop, abbot, marquis, count or any other might be deprived of his fief unless he were convicted" of a legal offense "by the judgement of his peers", and the right of a knight to appeal to the emperor or to an imperial representative was granted. One historian has described Conrad as satiating the ''vavassores''’ "hunger for law".

H. E. J. Cowdrey Herbert Edward John Cowdrey (1926–2009), known as H. E. J. Cowdrey or John Cowdrey, was an English historian of the Middle Ages and an Anglican priest. He was elected priest of St Edmund Hall, University of Oxford, in 1956. He resig ...

, "Archbishop Aribert II of Milan", ''

History History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

'' 1966 51(171): 10–11. The emperor also limited his own right to , a tax in money levied whenever the emperor visited Italy, in order to please the greater feudatories whose rights over their knights he had just limited. It is not clear whether the knights who gained these rights were noblemen. They were sword-bearers, but they lacked prerequisites of legal freedom, such as judgement by one's peers and the right of appeal. The ''Constitutio'' was ratified by

Henry III of Germany Henry III (28 October 1016 – 5 October 1056), called the Black or the Pious, was Holy Roman Emperor from 1046 until his death in 1056. A member of the Salian dynasty, he was the eldest son of Conrad II and Gisela of Swabia. Henry was raised ...

, Conrad's son and heir, and, in 1040, by Archbishop Aribert II of Milan. It ensconced the '' vavassores'' in their

benefice A benefice () or living is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The Roman Empire used the Latin term as a benefit to an individual from the Empire for services rendered. Its use was adopted by ...

s for life and made them hereditary, abrogating their dependence on the '' capitanei'' and thus amalgamating the two feudal classes into one broad land-owning class. This was Conrad's intention, as the preamble to the ''Constitutio'' states: "to reconcile the hearts of the magnates and the knights 'milites''so that they may always be found harmonious and may faithfully and constantly serve us and their lords with devotion".

Editions

*Ludwig Weiland, ed., "Edictum de beneficiis regni Italici", ''

Mon. Germ. Hist. The ''Monumenta Germaniae Historica'' (''MGH'') is a comprehensive series of carefully edited and published primary sources, both chronicle and Archives, archival, for the study of Northwestern and Central European history from the end of the Rom ...

'', Constitutiones, I, No. 45, pp. 89–91.

Notes

{{Reflist German feudalism Medieval law Legal history of Italy 1037 11th century in law