Rothari király törvényei és a 7. századi langobard társadalom (Fordította: Galamb György)
King Rothari’s Edict and Langobard Society in the Seventh Century

Summary/Abstract: Analysing the edict of Rothari, king of the Langobards (636–652), the paper attempts to answer the question whether Italian society preserved continuity with late ancient antecedents after the Langobard conquest. The author compares the passages concerning various criminal sanctions, the influence of public authority on these sanctions, the legal status of families and their role in succession with the relevant sections of Liber Iudiciorum compiled in 7th-century Spain, ruled by the Visigoths at the time. He found that while Visigoth legal mentality and practice have continuity, relatively unbroken, with late ancient Roman legal culture, the more archaic Langobard law bears witness to the discontinuity of Italy's legal, social and economic life. At the same time, he points out that the edict is not a mere rehash of ancient German traditions, but a result of Rothari's endeavours to establish cohesion and a sense of identity among the inhabitants of his kingdom – including the indigenous Roman people – and to construct a social model after the conquest. It is apparent that the king meant to extend the power of the law to the non-Langobard peoples as well. Roman traditions lived on in Italy in a more fragile and local way, mixing with Langobard traditions, which made it possible for legislation to substitute ancient organizing principles of society with new ones.

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