Breviary of Alaric

The Breviary of Alaric (Latin: breviarium alarici or breviarium alaricianum , i.e. shortened of Alaric ) is a collection of Roman law promulgated by the king Visigoth Alaric II, in 506. This denomination appears only in XVIe century to replace lex romana wisigothorum . It is mainly of a compilation and an interpretation of the Code of Théodose (438), intended for the Gallo-Roman and romano-Hispanic subjects of the Visigoths.

A discussed range

A wisigothic and renovated interpretation right

This document marks a big step in the history of the right, since it offers a contemporary interpretation - on the initiative of a barbarian sovereign and in a context of personality of the laws - Roman law which was in force in the empire in Ve century.

This interpretatio , placed in margin of summaries or extracts of the legal texts and constitutional Roman, constitutes an official comment, which is based mainly on the practice of the right to the beginning of the Life century. By this skew, contrary to the king of the Frank and following the example kings Burgondes, the king Visigoth is not satisfied to leave in application the right théodosien, but it modifies it. It is in this spirit that the Bréviaire is initially composed by lawyers, with Aire, then capital of the kingdom. It is then approved by notable Gallo-Roman, ecclesiastical and laic ones, before being promulgated by the king Alaric II.

A political operation of seduction

Certain historians think today that the Bréviaire of Alaric would be a pure operation of propaganda intended to obtain the adhesion of the population Gallo-Roman, whereas Alaric II could not be prided, like Clovis, to be itself converted with Catholicism, but remained arien. This point of view moderates the intention written in the Commonitorium which introduces the laws: " to correct all that is unjust in the lois."

Posterity of the Breviary of Alaric

After the conquest of part of the territory of the Visigoths by the king of the Frank , Clovis, the Breviary of Alaric was made applicable by this last on all its subjects in Gaulle. The success of the Bréviaire appears in the big number of manuscripts which reached us and in the conciliar and treated Guns lawyers who refer there. It remained there the most widespread legal text Romans until XIe century, at the time of the rebirth bolongaise of the right, when were discovered in occident the Compilations of Justinien .

Composition

The Bréviaire is made up:

of extracts or summaries of the Code Théodosien and the Novelles of Théodose II, Valentinien III, Marcien, Severe Majorien and ;
of extracts or summaries of works of the principal Roman jurisconsults of IIe century, in particular the Merry Liber and of the extracts of the Sententiae pauli ;
of extracts of two nonofficial collections of imperial constitutions, the Gregorian code and the code Hermogénien .
Of the Interpretationes coming from a postclassic work lost made up as a Gaulle in Ve century.

See too

Editions

HAENEL (Gustavo), ED., Lex romana Wisigothorum , Berlin-Leipzig, 1847-1849 (reproduced by Scientia, Aalen, 1962).

Books and articles

Of GOLDS, A., " Alarico II" , IURA , 41,1990, pp. 163-168.
GAUDEMET, Jean, the Breviary of Alaric and Epitome , IRMAE , I, 2, B, aa., 1965.
GAUDEMET, Jean, " Breviary of Alaric" , Dictionary of Antiquity , to dir. Jean Leclant, University Presses of France, 2005.
LAMBERTINI, E., the codificazione di Alarico II , G. Giappichelli, Turin, 1991.

On Internet

Online edition of the '' code Théodosien '', books I-XVI (in English) on the site of the University George Mason (Virginia, the United States).
Light Wisigothorum: transcription of Latin in the M.G.H. (1902); text digitized available on the site of the BNF
and the Breviary of Alaric de Clermont (images of manuscript 201 of the Public library of Clermont; Xe century; presented on the site of and Political science the Faculty of Law of Clermont-Ferrand)
'' has Handbook For Alaric' S Codification '', test in English of José-Domingo RODRÍGUEZ-MARTÍN (Madrid Complutense, 1999)
Bréviaire of Alaric II extract of Histoire of Aquitaine of Mr. de Verneilh-Puiraseau, 1822

Generic article

romano-Germanic Right

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