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Isidore of Seville and the Construction of a Common Legal Culture in Early Medieval Europe Isidore De Séville Et La Constructio

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Isidore of Seville and the Construction of a Common Legal Culture in Early Medieval Europe Isidore De Séville Et La Constructio 1 Luca Loschiavo Isidore of Seville and the construction of a common legal culture in early medieval Europe Isidore de Séville et la construction d’une culture juridique commune au début de l’Europe médiévale Abstract !his paper e"plores Isidore of Seville’s de#nitions of legal terms and $oman law concepts during the early &iddle Ages' (hile Isidore %as not a lawyer) he played a crucial role on the development of both legal theory and more technical aspects of the law such as legal procedure' *ombining elements of $oman and +e%ish,*hristian traditions) Isidore’s de#nitions %ere of the utmost importance during the long period leading to the dawn of the School of Bologna' $ésumé .ans ce papier sont e"plorées les dé#nitions que donna Isidore de Séville au début du &oyen /ge des termes juridiques et concepts de droit romain. Sans 0tre juriste) Isidore joua un r1le cucial dans le développement des théories juridiques et d’aspects plus techniques du droit comme la procédure juridique' *ombinant des éléments de traditions romaine et judéo,chrétienne) les dé#nitions d’Isidore furent d’une importance maximale durant la longue période qui conduisit 2 la naissance de l’3cole de Bologne' 4ey%ords Isodore of Seville 5 School of -ologna 5 roman laws concepts 5 +e%ish,*hristian tradition &ots,clés Isidore de Séville 5 3cole de -ologne 5 concepts de droit romain 5 tradition judéo, chrétienne I' !eaching la% %ith Isidore in the hand' !he *arolingian season 1' !he ms' 6'I'7 of the Archivio *apitolare of &odena is a precious and justifiably famous code' 8ariously dated bet%een the second half of the ninth century and the end of the tenth) it represents one of the only t%o 9no%n testimonies of the important collection of Leges barbarorum %hich Lupo :abbot of ;erri<res bet%een =>7 and =?7) send to Everard) &arquis of ;riuli) around =>A1' Among the features present only in the version contained in the &odena manuscript) the presence of a number of e"tracts of the Origines or 1 The manuscript has been carefully studied B' $usso) Leggi longobarde nel codice O.I.2 della Biblioteca capitolare di Modena :19D=@) no% in Id') Scritti di storia del diritto e di storia della Chiesa) &ilano) 19=>) p. EA,>=F G' -onacini) “Le leggi germaniche raccolte nei codici dell’Archivio capitolare di &odena”, in Atti e Memorie della Deputa ione di storia patria per le antiche province modenesi) s' JI-17, &odena, 1CCA) p. EA,A?F G' Bolinelli) “Il *odice delle leggi della *attedrale di &odena. .escriKioneI) and esp., B' Nicolaj) “Il Liber Legum di Everardo e altre storieI) both in Leges salicae" ripuariae" longobardorum" baioariorum" Caroli Magni. Archi!io del Capitolo della Cattedrale di Modena. Ms. O.#.2. Commentario all$edi ione in %acsimile) &odena 7MM=) p. 17-EA and DA,117. 6n the Liber oN Lupo) see O' Siems) H!extbearbeitung und Pmgang mit Rechtste"ten im ;rQhmittelalter' Rur Pmgestaltung der Leges im Liber legum des LupusI) in Recht im 'r(hmittelalterlichen )allien) O' Siems) 4' Nehlsen,von Stry9) .' Strauch :ed'@) 4Sln5(eimar5(ien) 19CA) p. 7C,D7 and more recently O' &Qnsch) Der Liber legum des Lupus von Ferri,res) Freiburg) 2MM1. *lioT!hémis - nU1M) 201? 7 Luca Loschiavo -t.mologiae of Isidore of Seville is especially stri9ing' 6n folios 7r-4r) %e find the second part of chapter A and nearly the entire si"th chapter of boo9 nine of the -t.mologiae :-t.m. IJ'A'11-IJ'?'7= both chapters deal %ith the degrees of 9inship@' 6n folio >v %e find the arbor cognationum or consanguineitat/) %hich forms the second stemma :diagram@ of -t.m. IJ'?'7= :also concerning 9inship@' 6n folio 9r) %e may recogniKe the first three chapters of boo9 8) De legib* :-t.m' 8'1,E@7 %ith the list of legislators and some basic legal distinctions' ;inally) on folios 1Mv-11r) %e encounter something similar to a school e"ercise' ;ocusing on this more last e"tract) %e can imagine the medieval schoolteacher addressing his students' Oe :interrogans@ as9s a number of questions about legal concepts and definitions the ans%ers :responsiones@ are given) repeating almost literally some Isidorian passagesE' 7' !he &odena manuscript is certainly not an isolated case' Another e"ample may be found in a singular collection of legal rules and definitions compiled during the *arolingian age and 9no%n under the name of Interrogationes seu interpretationes de legib* divini et humani>' (e are no longer in Italy but in the ;ran9ish 4ingdom' !he author is especially interested in church :i'e' $oman@ rules and much less in the secular laws of the ne% 9ingdoms' 6nce again) ho%ever) %e are dealing %ith an anthology of Isidorian passages concerning law and related matters' And %e find the same scholarly scheme an interrogatio on the correct meaning of a legal term or issue) follo%ed by an ans%er repeating the corresponding passage of Isidore’s -t.mologiae' Gassages from boo9 8 in particular are considered here) more rarely from boo9s II and XVIII' E' !he &odena manuscript and the *arolingian anthology sho% e"actly the same method at %or9F both provide an important 5 and) moreover) concordant 5 testimony on the transmission of legal 9no%ledge before the advent of the school of -ologna at the beginning of the t%elVh century' !hey give the impression of a some%hat basic teaching) focused principally on mnemonic learning' !his is hardly surprising' Admittedly) %e 9no% very little about the organiKation and functioning of schools during the early &iddle Ages in the (est' (hat %e do 9no%) ho%ever) clearly sho%s that the tendency of e"plaining technical concepts through their etymology :regardless of the specific subject or ars@ is typical of medieval culture) and it is an important legacy of the late,$oman worldA' Reference to Isidore of Seville’s wor9 must have been common practice among teachers in the schools of medieval Europe?' Legal education %as clearly no e"ception early medieval learned people saw in the -t.mologiae the 9ey to understand any legal te"t irrespectively of the tradition – Romano-canonical or barbarian – to which it belongedD' >' Even considering this broad and longue dur0e picture) %e have sufficient reason to believe that reference to Isidore’s %or9s became increasingly frequent precisely during the so-called *arolingian $enaissance=' 7 G. $usso) Leggi longobarde (nt' 1@) p. >>' E A transcription of this part of the &odena code is in B' $usso) “L’insegnamento del diritto a &odena nel sec' IJI :19DD@) no% in Id') Scritti (nt' 1@) p. 175-?' > A recent edition of the text is in A' -Qhler) “Capitularia relecta”, Archi! 1(r Diplomati2) E7) 1C=?) p. >D>,>=7' 6n the vast circulation oN that re%or9ing oN Isidorian passages) see &' Conrat) )eschichte der 3uellen und Literatur des r4mischen &echts im fr(hen Mittelalter) LeipKig) 18C1 (=Aalen 19?E@) p. E15-?' A G' $iché) 5ducation et culture dans l$Occident barbare. 6I76IIIe si,cle) Garis) 1C?7 :1CCA>@F -' Englisch) Die Artes liberales im fr(hen Mittelalter 89.:;. <h.=. Das 3uadri!ium und der Komputus als Indikatoren 1(r ?ontinuit@t und Erneuerung des eAakten BissenschaCen Dischen Antike und Mittelalter) Stuttgart) 19C>F &' *' .YaK y .Yaz) -nciclopedismo e sapere cristiano. Era tardo-antico e alto Medioe!o) &ilano) 1CCC) p. 12A,147' ;or a more legally,focused study see also P' BualazKini) “Trivium e quadriviumI) Ius romanum medii ae!i) I, 5a, Milano 1CD>' ? &ore or less in the same period) %e #nd for example the same system of a sequence of questions and ans%ers drawn from Isidorian -t.mologiae in the so,called Collectio Sangermanens/ :&onastery of Corbie) ;rance) end of 8IIIth century@ in relation to the rule of the clergy and monks' 6n this collection see O' Siems) H.ie *ollectio Sangermanensis JJI titulorum 5 4anonensammlung oder Pnterrichts%er9ZI) Deutsches Archi! 1(r -r'orschung des Mittelalters) ?A) 7MMC) p. 1- 7= :here 14,D and 7E,>@' Siems thinks that the collection %as aimed at teaching' In general, on the %ide spreading oN Isidorian encyclopaedia) see &' Reydellet) HLa di[usion des origines d’Isidore de Séville au haut &oyen /geI) M0langes d$arch0ologie et d$histoire de l$5cole FranFaise de Rome) 78) 19??) p. E=E,>E?' D See &' *onrat) )eschichte :nt' >@) p. 153F P' BualazKini) Eri!ium :nt' A@) p. E=,>MF B' Russo) L’insegnamento a Modena :nt' E@) p. 14D,= and 171-?' = -eyond the -tymologiae) the same monastery of Corbie where the Collectio Sangermanens/ (nt' ?@ was probably composed) possessed also other Isidorian %orks) such as the Sententiae and the De ecclesiastic/ offici/ O' Siems) Die Collectio :nt' ?@) p. =' 6n the #gure and the %or9 of Isidore of Seville in the *arolingian age see +' ;ontaine) “La #gure d’Isidore de Séville 2 *lioT!hémis - nU1M) 201? E Luca Loschiavo -oth the above e"amples) as %e saw) belong to that period' &oreover) %hen dealing %ith legal concepts) references to Isidorian definitions were not limited to basic teaching in this period) it %ould seem that any approach to legislative te"ts had to start %ith – or refer to 5 Isidore' Learned people 5 hardly numerous in this period 5 %ho continued to consult legal boo9s even after concluding their studies habitually considered Isidore a trust%orthy guide) an indisputable authority' 6ccasionally) the lawmaker himself quotes Isidore) and several Isidorian passages were inserted in manuscripts containing legislation and other legal %ritings from the ninth and tenth centuriesC' !his is e"actly %hat happens in many manuscripts of the Bre!iarium Alaricianum1M or of the -pitome Iuliani11) both te"ts embodying in a unique fashion the LeA Romana in the medieval West) in particular outside
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