A TRANSLATION AMD STUDY OF THE IffiX GUNDOBADA or BURGUNDIAN LAW CODE A Thesis Presented to the Faculty of the Rice Institute in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements of the Degree of Master of Arts in the Department of History by Katherine Fischer June, 1945 TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapters Page I. The Burgundian Settlement 1 11* The Burgundian Code 17 111 • The Law of Land Tenure and Inheritance 30 1* System of Hospitality--The Division of Land 30 11. Laws of Inheritance 36 Liber Constitutionum or Lex Gundobada, Translation 44 Glo33ary 199 Bibliographical Note 201 Chapter I The Burgundian Settlement The Burgundians were part of the Teuton race, a race which played an important part in the break-up of the Roman ’ Empire, and before and after the fall of that Empire, had come to occupy a dominant place in European history. Up until the second century A.D., the history of this people ha3 to be derived chiefly from vague references in the Greek and Roman authors, and from inferences drawn from archeological research. Their earliest home seems to have been the region around the western part of the Baltic Sea— the northern ooast of Germany as far east a3 the Oder, the islands of the Baltic as far north as that of Gothland, the southern part of Sweden, and Jutland. This is the center from which successive waves of population were impelled to¬ ward the west, south, and southeast until they finally,occu¬ pied all of Europe and part of Asia.1 Originally the area between the Oder and Vistula was occupied in the north by people of the letto-Lithuanian linguistic group, to the south, by Slavs. But by the sixth century B.C., the Teutons had forced into this region and established themselves. These Teutons who occupied the region between the Oder and Vistula probably came from Scandinavia to the north, for later, in ^Martin Bang, "Expansion of the Teutons," Cambridge Medieval History (Cambridge: University Press, 1911), I, 183. -2- historic times", the tribes which occupy this region are distinguished in customs and speech from the Western Teutons, that is, those west of the Oder, and 3eem to be related in language and legal usage to the northern Teutons The northern conquerors probably settled as far east as the Upper Vistula. There i3 a reference in Pliny the Elder that in the first centuiy A.D., the Burgundians were present beyond the Oder.3 Here, between the Oder and Vistula, the Burgun¬ dians were found, with the Vandals in the southern part of this region, the Rugii and Lemoui to the north, the Sueves to the west of the Oder, and the Goth3 to the east of the Vistula.4 These are known as East Germanic peoples. The territory which the Germanic peoples occupied up until the second century A.D., was extensive, reaching from the Rhine in the west, pa3t the Vistula in the East. But these were young and vigorous nations and even this territory became too small for them. There wa3 also some population pre33ure from Asiatic tribes which forced the Teutons to seek other homes. To the north lay the sea, to the ea3t lay the desert 3teppes of Russia; so expansion must take place to the westward or to the southward, and in these directions they came into collision with the Roman Empire. During the reign ^Martin Bang, C.M.H., I, 185. ^Ernest Lavisa'ê, "Histoire de Prance (Paris. 1911), II, 53. 4Martin Bang, C.M.H., I, 198; -3- of Marcus Aurelius in 167, the strain became too great, qnd the barbarians broke into the Empire, but the Romans i rallied and were able to drive them out.® In the meantime, the Burgundians had migrated westward and by the third century had established themselves just east of the Rhine along the Main River. Here they and the Alamanni, who at this time were to the west and south of them, were continually threatening the Roman frontier, but were repelled in 286 by Maximian, co-emperor of Diocletian. During the latter part of the third century, the Romans were more or le33 successful against the barbarians, and the problem wa3 lessened by an improvement in the imperial organ¬ ization by which Gaul and Britain became a separate adminis¬ trative department with a governor of their own, Flavius Con3tantius. From this time, there is comparative quiet on the frontier until the last half of the fourth century.® Of the barbarian tribes, the Burgundians seem to have especially impressed the Roman historians because of their moral and physical characteristics: they were seven and a half feet in height, hard workers, but also lovers of pleasure and good wine, and quite given to talking freely.? That this is true seems to be substantiated not only by the references of the authors (Sidonius Apollinaris), but also by archeological ®Martin Bang, I, 198. ®Ibid.. I, 2077 ?Chri3tian Pfister, "Gaul Under the Merovingian Franks," C! .M.H., II, 118; Lavi3se, on. cit.. 11,124. — — — evidence in certain of their graves discovered in southern France.8 Rerhapls^if their great 3ize, we find the Romans nore often than not seeking the Burgundians as allies and they were later allowed to enter the Empire as foederati. In 369, while seeking to repre33 the quarrelsome Alamanni, Valentinian entered into negotiations with the Burgundians, who at this time seem to he just east of the Alamanni on the lower Main at it3 conjunction with the Rhine, to have them attack the Alamanni together with Roman troops. The Burgun¬ dians had ja long-standing feud with these neighbors over some salt springs on their borders, and accordingly accepted the Emperor^ proposition and appeared in great numbers on the Rhine. The army of the Burgundians wa3 30 formidable that to the Emperor, his ally seemed worse than the foe, so Valentinian sought to gain time by inaction. Thus betrayed the Burgundians were forced to withdraw 3ince the Alamanni threatened their homeward march.9 But the Burgundians seem to have lived quietly just outside the Empire throughout the rest of the fourth century. However, in the year 406, the Vandals, together with the Alani, Suevi, and Silingii, appeared along the River Main, pushed over to the Rhine, and crossed at Mainz. They passed ®I«.vià3e, op. cit., II, 87. 9Uorman H. Baynes, "The I)yna3ty of Valentinian and Theodosus the Great," C.M.H., I, 224. -5- through Gallia Lugdunensis, Aquitania, and into Novempopu- lana in the south westernmost portion of'modern France; here they were for a time stopped hy the Pyrenees.1® This was possible because at thi3 time Stilicho, virtual ruler of the West Empire, wa3 using all hi3 troops to withstand Alaric and the Visigoths who werô threatening Italy. In 409, they passed unchecked into Spain. This migration of the Vandals seem3 to have influenced the Burgundians and they may have intended to join the inva¬ sion. At any rate by 413, according to one chronicler,11 they appear on the we3t side of the Rhine. This of course pushed out the Alamanni, who had occupied this region along the lower Main, and they entered on a campaign against Roman Upper Germany and conquered Worms, Speier, and Strassburg.1^ Beginning in 410 with the deposition of Attalus who had commanded the soliders of the Western Empire, Honorius, its ineffectual ruler, found it impossible to curb the rebellions in various parts of his empire. A rival emperor, Constantine, wa3 set up in Gaul by the Army. However, Constantine was overcome at Arle3 by the Roman Constantius and the Goth Wul- fila, whom Honorius had sent into Gaul to restore order. During this period of distraction, Guntiarius, king of the Burgundians, and Goar, king of the Alani (Alamanni?), had l0M. Manitius, "The Teutonic Migrations, 378-412," C.M.H., I, 266. “flevisse, o&. clt.. II, 72. ^M. Manitius, CiJÆ.H., I, 266. -6- raised the Gaulish noble Jovinus to the imperial throne at Mainz.^ Instead of going north to put down this new clai¬ mant, Constantius, master of troops, seem3 to have left Gaul, probably to defend Ravenna again.3t Ataulf, brother-in- law of Alaric, who was leading hi3 Vi3igothic people north again after overrunning central Italy. Ataulf and the Visigoths moved up into Gaul and although almost immediately broken, entered an agreement with the Empire whereby they would be supplied with provisions in return for the heads of Jovinus and his brother. Ataulf performed his part of the agreement, and Jovinus, who represented an attempt by the Erank3, Alamanni, and Burgundians to give legality to their position in Gaul, was no longer a threat to the Empire.^ When the barbarians began their migrations in 406, the Burgundians seem to have moved into the Empire also, probably entering the interior of Gaul through the Belfort Gap and around the head of the Jura Mountains. So while pushing the Alamanni into upper Germany, the Burgundians outflanked them and moved deeper into Roman territory. The Emperor Honorius 3eem3 to have given them land west of the Rhine in the region whose center wa3 the city of Worms. Here they became one of the three federate Germanic kingdoms of Gaul dependent on the Empire--those of the Visigoths, the Burgundians, and the ?-3M. Manitius, C.M.H., I, 275. 14Ernest BarkerT "“Italy and the lest, 419-476,"' C.M.H., I, 401. 7 Salian Franks.'*’8 At this time, the Huns were menacing Europe, hut were repelled in 430 by the Bhrgundians. This i3 the time of the Burgundian kingdom of legendary fame, the Burgundian kingdom of the Nibelungenlied and Waldhere, heroic legends in German epics.This kingdom wa3 expand¬ ing in 435 into Upper Belgica, when Aetius, Master of Soldiers in the Roman Empire, took 3teps to check them.