Law and Society in the Early Middle Ages
The Law of the Salian Franks (ca. 500–600)
As the institutions of Roman government in the West faltered, and then crumbled, the power and reach of Roman law declined with them. This is not to say that Roman law disappeared in the West or that the West descended into utter lawlessness. The Germanic peoples whose migrations played such an important role in precipitating Rome’s fall brought with them their own systems of law and justice. As Germanic peoples settled in the West and established kingdoms, those systems were written down and codified. Such was the case with the Law of the Salian Franks, first published in written form in the early sixth century at the order of Clovis I (ca. 466–511). As you read this excerpt, consider what it reveals about Frankish society. What kinds of problems did the laws address? How did ideas about social status and gender shape the laws?
1. If any one be summoned before the “Thing”1 by the king’s law, and do not come, he shall be sentenced to 600 denars, which make 15 shillings (solidi).
2. But he who summons another, and does not come himself, shall, if a lawful impediment have not delayed him, be sentenced to 15 shillings, to be paid to him whom he summoned. . . .
4. If any one steal that bull which rules the herd and never has been yoked, he shall be sentenced to 1800 denars, which make 45 shillings.
5. But if that bull is used for the cows of three villages in common, he who stole him shall be sentenced to three times 45 shillings.
6. If any one steal a bull belonging to the king he shall be sentenced to 3600 denars, which make 90 shillings. . . .
1. If any freeman steal, outside of the house, something worth 2 denars, he shall be sentenced to 600 denars, which make 15 shillings.
2. But if he steal, outside of the house, something worth 40 denars, and it be proved on him, he shall be sentenced, besides the amount and the fines for delay, to 1400 denars, which make 35 shillings.
3. If a freeman break into a house and steal something worth 2 denars, and it be proved on him, he shall be sentenced to 15 shillings.
4. But if he shall have stolen something worth more than 5 denars, and it have been proved on him, he shall be sentenced, besides the worth of the object and the fines for delay, to 1400 denars, which make 35 shillings.
5. But if he have broken, or tampered with, the lock, and thus have entered the house and stolen anything from it, he shall be sentenced, besides the worth of the object and the fines for delay, to 1800 denars, which make 45 shillings.
6. And if he have taken nothing, or have escaped by flight, he shall, for the housebreaking alone, be sentenced to 1200 denars, which make 30 shillings. . . .
1. If three men carry off a free born girl, they shall be compelled to pay 30 shillings.
2. If there are more than three, each one shall pay 5 shillings.
3. Those who shall have been present with boats shall be sentenced to three shillings.
4. But those who commit rape shall be compelled to pay 2500 denars, which make 63 shillings.
5. But if they have carried off that girl from behind lock and key, or from the spinning room, they shall be sentenced to the above price and penalty.
6. But if the girl who is carried off be under the king’s protection, then the “frith” [peace-money] shall be 2500 denars, which make 63 shillings.
1. If any one have assaulted and plundered a freeman, and it be proved on him, he shall be sentenced to 2500 denars, which make 63 shillings.
2. If a Roman have plundered a Salian Frank, the above law shall be observed.
3. But if a Frank have plundered a Roman, he shall be sentenced to 35 shillings.
4. If any man should wish to migrate, and has permission from the king, and shall have shown this in the public “Thing”: whoever, contrary to the decree of the king, shall presume to oppose him, shall be sentenced to 8000 denars, which make 200 shillings. . . .
1. If any one have wished to kill another person, and the blow have missed, he on whom it was proved shall be sentenced to 2500 denars, which make 63 shillings.
2. If any person have wished to strike another with a poisoned arrow, and the arrow have glanced aside, and it shall be proved on him: he shall be sentenced to 2500 denars, which make 63 shillings.
3. If any person strike another on the head so that the brain appears, and the three bones which lie above the brain shall project, he shall be sentenced to 1200 denars, which make 30 shillings.
4. But if it shall have been between the ribs or in the stomach, so that the wound appears and reaches to the entrails, he shall be sentenced to 1200 denars — which make 30 shillings — besides five shillings for the physician’s pay.
5. If any one shall have struck a man so that blood falls to the floor, and it be proved on him, he shall be sentenced to 600 denars, which make 15 shillings.
6. But if a freeman strike a freeman with his fist so that blood does not flow, he shall be sentenced for each blow — up to 3 blows — to 120 denars, which make 3 shillings. . . .
1. If any one have slain a boy under 10 years — up to the end of the tenth — and it shall have been proved on him, he shall be sentenced to 24000 denars, which make 600 shillings. . . .
3. If any one have hit a free woman who is pregnant, and she dies, he shall be sentenced to 28000 denars, which makes 700 shillings. . . .
6. If any one have killed a free woman after she has begun hearing children, he shall be sentenced to 24000 denars, which make 600 shillings.
7. After she can have no more children, he who kills her shall be sentenced to 8000 denars, which make 200 shillings. . . .
3. If any one, man or woman, shall have called a woman harlot, and shall not have been able to prove it, he shall be sentenced to 1800 denars, which make 45 shillings.
4. If any person shall have called another “fox,” he shall be sentenced to 3 shillings.
5. If any man shall have called another “hare,” he shall be sentenced to 3 shillings. . . .
1. If any one shall have killed a free Frank, or a barbarian living under the Salic law, and it have been proved on him, he shall be sentenced to 8000 denars.
2. But if he shall have thrown him into a well or into the water, or shall have covered him with branches or anything else, to conceal him, he shall be sentenced to 24000 denars, which make 600 shillings.
3. But if any one has slain a man who is in the service of the king, he shall be sentenced to 24000 denars, which make 600 shillings.
4. But if he have put him in the water or in a well, and covered him with anything to conceal him, he shall be sentenced to 72000 denars, which make 1800 shillings.
5. If any one have slain a Roman who eats in the king’s palace, and it have been proved on him, he shall be sentenced to 12000 denars, which make 300 shillings.
6. But if the Roman shall not have been a landed proprietor and table companion of the king, he who killed him shall be sentenced to 4000 denars, which make 100 shillings.
From Brian Tierney, ed., The Middle Ages, Volume I: Sources of Medieval History, 3d ed. (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1978), pp. 55–58.