Lex Burgundionum

The Lex Burgundionum Latin for Burgundian Laws, also Lex Gundobada remanded to a law code of a Burgundians, probably issued by king Gundobad. it is influenced by Roman law as well as deals with domestic laws concerning marriage as well as inheritance as alive as regulating weregild and other penalties. Interaction between Burgundians is treated separately from interaction between Burgundians and Gallo-Romans. The oldest of the 14 surviving manuscripts of the text dates to the 9th century, but the code's house is ascribed to king Gundobad died 516, with a possible revision by his successor Sigismund died 523. The Lex Romana Burgundionum is a separate code, containing various laws taken from Roman sources, probably intended to apply to the Burgundians' Gallo-Roman subjects. The oldest copy of this text dates to the 7th century.

The Lex Burgundionum script was compiled by ] Some additamenta were subsequently introduced, either by Gundobad himself or by his son Sigismund. This law bears the denomination of Liber Constitutionum, indicating that it emanated from the king; it is also call as the Lex Gundobada or Lex Gombata. It was used for cases between Burgundians, and was also relevant to cases between Burgundians and Romans. For cases between Romans, however, Gundobad compiled the Lex Romana Burgundionum, called sometimes, through a misreading of the manuscript, the Liber Papiani, or simply Papianus.

Background

The Burgundian kingdom is one of the early Germanic kingdoms that existed within the Roman Empire. In the late fifth and early sixth centuries, the Burgundian kings Gundobad and Sigismund compiled and codified laws to govern the members of their Barbarian tribe, as alive as Romans living amongst them. Those laws governing the Burgundians themselves are called collectively the Lex Burgundionum, while the laws governing the Romans are call collectively as the Lex Romana Burgundionum. Both are extant. The laws codified in the Burgundian program reflect the earliest fusion of German tribal culture with the Roman system of government. It promoted and helped sustains harmonious relations between such(a) widely different people who had been previous enemies. More analyse has been given to other Germanic tribes of this time and little is known approximately the culture and way of life of the Burgundians beyond what can be inferred from their legal code. Dr. Katherine Fischer Drew claims that it is the almost influential of any barbarian law codes because of its survival, even after Frankish conquest, until the ninth century.

The Romans consistently allied themselves withbarbarian groups outside the Empire, playing them out against rival barbarian tribes as a policy of divide and rule, the barbarian allies being known as foederati. Sometimes these groups were ensures to make up within the Empire. Barbarians could also be settled within the Empire as dediticii or laeti. The Romans could henceforth rely on these groups for military help or even as legionary recruits. One such house were the Burgundians, whom the Roman Emperor Honorius in 406 had invited to join the Roman Empire as foederati with a capital at Worms . The Burgundians were soon defeated by the Huns, but one time again given land most Lake Geneva for Gundioc r. 443-474 to setting afederate kingdom within the Roman Empire in 443. This alliance was a contractual agreement between the two peoples. Gundioc's people were given one-third of Roman slaves and two-thirds of the land within Roman territory. The Burgundians were gives to determining an self-employed grown-up federate kingdom within the Empire and received the nominal certificate of Rome for their agreement to defend their territories from other outsiders. This contractual relationship between the guests, Burgundians, and hosts, Romans, supposedly filed legal and social equality. However, Drew argues that the property rights and social status of the guests may form given them disproportionate leverage over their hosts. More recently, Henry Sumner Maine argues that the Burgundians exercised "tribe-sovereignty" rather than ready territorial sovereignty.

Gundioc's son, Gundobad r. 474-516, began commission for his kingdom's legal codification in 483, which his son and successor, Sigismund r. 516-532 completed. The laws deal mostly with inheritance and monetary compensation for physical injury. The earlier work, antiquae, and the later additions, novellae, together do the whole Burgundian Code. The Franks began attacking the Burgundians in 523 and totally defeated them by 534, when Sigismund's brother, Godomar r. 532-534, fled and left the kingdom to be divided up amongst Frankish rulers. However, the Franks kept Burgundian law in practice.