The Alamannic and Bavarian Codes Translation and Introduction
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THE ALAMANNIC AND BAVARIAN CODES TRANSLATION AND INTRODUCTION A ThesIs presented to the Faculty ot Rice Institute In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements of the Degree of Master of Arts in the Department of History by Floy King Rogde TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction I Chapter T, The Historical Background of 2 the Alamannic and Bavarian Tribes Chapter TT, The Idea ot Contract In Ger- 28 manic Law Chapter 111. The Germanic Theory ot the 47 peace Conclusion 68 Trans I at Ion 71 Lex Al amannorum 72 Glossary 171 Lex BaIu varlorum I 76 Glossary 327 Bibliographical Note 333 INTRODUCTION Chapter I Tacitus In his historical treatment of the regions of Western Germany preserves the names of the older Ger¬ manic tribes who settled there. Among these appear the Tencteri, the Cherusci, and the Chattl.^ These tribal names have an unfamiliar sound to the average reader since most histories place emphasis upon the later barbarian groups which made a greater imprint upon Germanic history. These later groups include six loose unions, the Alamanni, the Franks, the Bavarians, the Saxons, the Thuringians, and the Frisians, all of which bring to mind familiar as- 2 sociations. ”The reason for this change Is that from the end of the second century Western Germany had been reformed by a process of federation and blending of groups of smaller people into large unities.” The information regarding this centripetal movement Is deficient, but it Is likely to have occurred to meet a need for mutual aid. ”The fact seems proved by a text of Ammianus Marcell Inus who In speaking of the Alamanni refers to a pactum vicls- 4 situdinis reddendae." The usage of this expression Is significant, for first of all It Implies that there were various peoples Involved, and secondly that these people joined together for the purpose of rendering mutual aid. this purpose being stated by a definite pact or contract The various Germanic tribes are similar In the general lines ot their development, so It can be assumed that the changes being wrought among all ot them resulted from ap¬ proximately the same causes as those occurring among the Alamanni. Throughout the barbarian world older tribal groups were disappearing and their place was being taken by a fewer number of divisions, which Implies a blending and reformation of tribal units. Thus the Alamanni were a composite nation formed from the Suevian tribes and others along the Upper Rhine. On the Lower Rhine the nation of the Franks appears, and between the Weser and Elbe Rivers the Saxons settled. The Frisians are found between the Saxons and the Franks, and south —the "Southr of the Saxons were the Thuringians, mainly the ancient 5 Hermunduri. Separated from the Alamanni by the Lech River were the Bavarians who came from Bohemia.^ Thus we are faced by an entirely new Germanic organization from the end of the second century. In 178 the Semnones, a people who dwelt between the Fr'rfi’' Elbe and Oder Rivers, were drivenAtheir original settle¬ ment by the Goths and through pressure exerted by the Slavs. ^Pushed hither and thither, they zigzagged to¬ ward the Rhine, picking up contingents of other Germanic tribes, notably the Hermunduri and fragments of the Mar- comanni and Quadi, They called themselves *AIIe Mann* (ail men), and thus was formed the confederation of the n Alamanni,” The original Teutonic word from which the name was derived was Alamannez, which literally means all men, hence implies an aggregate of peoples. The 8 French even to this day call the Germans a I Iemands, The confederation grew in power and strength, and by the time it reached the Rhineland in the early third century was capable of causing much disturbance to the Roman world. Together with the Franks, the Alamanni dominate the hls- 9 tory of the Rhineland from the third century onward. The actual extent of the Alamannic settlement was the left bank of the Rhine from Worms to Basel, and at one time their control was advanced up to Langres, Besancon, and Mandeure; and subsequently even Rhaetia fell into their power. They disappear from consideration in a com¬ paratively short time as a result of the increasing strength and dominance of the Frankish nation. East of the Alamanni were remnants of the peoples who had fought against Marcus Aurelius, the Marcomanni and Quadi, out of whom as a nucleus the great nation of the Bavarians was to grow,^^ When these people appeared in the regions of the River Inn and the Upper Danube, they were designated by the inhabitants of the region as Bojuvarl or Bojovores, from the land of BoM,” in tact, Bohemians* The land in turn was called Bojo- varia or Bavaria, these names being derived from the Cel¬ tic Bohemians*^^ The Alamanni were separated from the Bavarians only by the Lech River, and both alike came to an end as Independent powers with the increase In Frank¬ ish Influence* The historical development of the Alamanni can be divided Into two distinct parts* The first phase is that which Involves contXacts with the Roman world, and the second contacts with the rising Frankish power* The his¬ tory of the Bavarians Is closely related to this second phase of Alamannic history* In 214 the Alamanni first had rather definite trouble with Rome, for they attempted to Invade the Decuman Fields, the triangle of land formed by the junction of the Rhine and Danube Rivers* Here was Rome's basic frontier defense, and consequently the in¬ vasion of this territory brought on stern resistance* Caracalla, the Roman Emperor, was successful in driving the Alamanni back into Southwest Germany, and It Is there that the Suevl most likely became Incorporated with them* However, the trouble was only beginning, for the Alamanni were to prove themselves stubborn foes* In 235 they In¬ vaded the Decuman Fields anew, and Severus Alexander left his command in Persia to take over the Rhine activities, but was unfortunately murdered by his soldiers* The sol¬ diers advanced Maximinus Thrax as emperor and he was suc¬ cessful in subduing the Alamanni, thus restoring Rome»s frontier security for a period of about twenty years* In the year 259, however, the Alamanni expanded down the Neckar River, penetrated the Black Forest, took Aqua Aure- liensis, reached the sources of the Danube, and threatened VIndilicIa* They were attacked by Posthumus, one of the Emperor Valerian’s generals, and their Ingress to Gaul was blocked* They crossed the Alps and were subdued by Emperor Claudius IE on lake Garla* The Alamanni had a perfect opportunity at this time to overthrow Rome com- I 3 pletely* In 270, the first year of Aurellan’s reign, they entered the Po Valley and were victorious in a battle at Piacenza, but instead of carrying on to Rome, their forces scattered for pillage, one band penetrating Umbria and being defeated at Metaurus* The Emperor finally de¬ stroyed the remainder of the host, and forced them back across the Alps* The seriousness of fhese events can be clearly perceived, since Aurellan erected a wall around I 4 Rome as a result of them. VIndilicIa and Noricum were saved from the foe completely, but from this time forward some of the barbarians resided In the Decuman Flelds*^^ What little success Rome encountered In these clashes was temporary, and it remained for Diocletian to make a real improvement in frontier conditions* The reign of Diocletian was marked by two victories n 16 over the AlamanJ in 298 and 299* After these repulses the Rhine River was made more secure by a series of forts and defensive works* Maxlmian was able to maintain this policy in the West by settling numerous prisoners in the wasted districts of Northeast Gaul as a defensive measure* It was In this extremely hopeful condition that the West¬ ern provinces came Into the hands of Constantine when he was called from the army In 306 to take over the reins of the government* There were still, however, two major ob¬ stacles in his way as far as frontier defense was con¬ cerned, the,Franks and the Alamanni* It was necessary for him to fight the former inside the Rhine, and the lat¬ ter beyond it* His attempts in both cases were highly successful* ”The war, however, was merciless, for even heathen feeling was shocked when he gave barbarian kings to the beasts along with their followers by thousands at a time*” Such an action as this is convincing evidence of the fact that Rome cannot be considered as a civilizing influence upon the Germanic hordes* The reign of Constan¬ tius was filled with equally disagreeable practices* Mag- nenHus, a Frank by birth, had set himself up as Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire, and had withdrawn the armies of the West to meet Constantius, thus leaving the way clear for horde after horde of barbarians to sweep across the Rhine. In Southern Germany the Alamanni under Chnodomar had defeated the Romans and ravaged the heart of Gaul. ”The rumor ran that Constantius had even freed the Alaman¬ ni from their oaths and had given them a bribe to induce them to invade Roman territory, allowing them to take for 19 their own any land their swords could win. This was probably only a fabrication of the Caesar Julian, who was an arch-enemy of Constantius, but it was true that the enemy had moved across the Rhine. Constantius attacked them in two campaigns in the spring of 354 directed against the kings Gundomad and Vadomar, and in a further campaign in the summer of 355 against the branch of the Alamanni 20 known as the Lentienses.