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ID
ER 233
The law on the guardianship over children after death of their father orders the making of an inventory of the things which belonged to the father and to deposit it with a bishop or presbyter. The codification known as Lex Visigothorum (issued and re-edited several times between AD 569 and 702).
IV.3.3
 
III. ANTIQUA.
 
Qualiter pupillorum tutela suscipiatur, vel de rebus eorum que pars tutoribus detur.
 
Si patre mortuo in minori etate filii relinquantur, mater eorum tutela, si voluerit suscipiat, si tamen in viduitate permanserit; ita ut de rebus filiis debitis inventarium faciat, per quod postmodum filii hereditatem sibi debitam querant.
 
There follow regulations concerning the tutelage of the sons and inheritance in the case of the re-marriage of the mother. They also allow the guardians to take one tenth of the property of their wards.
 
Et sive mater tutelam, sive quicumque susceperit, presentibus testibus vel propinquis de omnibus rebus, quas pater reliquid, brevis factus trium vel quinque testium suscriptione firmetur, et presentibus ipsis, qui ad brevem faciendum testes interfuerint, episcopo aut presbitero, quem parentes elegerint, brevis commendetur, minoribus, dum adoleverint, reformandus.
 
Follow the further obligations of the guardians.
 
(ed. K. Zeumer 1905: 190-192)
IV.3.3
 
III. ANCIENT LAW  
 
On how guardianship over orphans should be assumed and which part of their property can be given to the guardians.
 
If a father dies when his sons are underaged, the mother assumes the guardianship if she wishes and if she remains a widow. She should make an inventory of the things due to the children, according to which they would later claim their inheritance.
 
There follow regulations concerning the tutelage of the sons and inheritance in the case of the re-marriage of the mother. They also allow the guardians to take one tenth of the property of their wards.
 
And if a mother or the other person assumes a guardianship, she makes in the presence of witnesses or relatives an inventory (brevis) of the all the things left by the father, confirms it by the subscriptions of three or five witnesses, and in the presence of those who witnessed the making of the inventory, it should be deposited with a bishop or a presbyter chosen by the parents, and given back to the children when they come of age.
 
There follow further obligations of the guardians.
 
(trans. M. Szada)

Discussion:

The earlier version of this law was already present in the codification of King Euric (ca 466-484) - see law 321 (ed. Zeumer 1902: 21-22), but nothing is said there about a role of a bishop or presbyter as a depositary. For the commentary to the law and its connections with other legislations see (Zeumer 1901: 134-136).
The law is present in two recensions of Lex Visigothorum, but in Ervig's version it is slightly longer.

Place of event:

Region
  • Iberian Peninsula
  • Gaul

About the source:

Title: Lex Visigothorum, Liber iudiciorum, Liber iudiciorum sive Lex Visigothorum
Origin: Iberian Peninsula
Denomination: Catholic/Nicene/Chalcedonian, Arian
Lex Visigothorum is a codification of law first composed during the reign of King Leovigild (569-586) on the basis of the Code of Euric, but the basis of all extant manuscripts is its revised version from the reign of King Reccesvinth (649-672). The codification was also enlarged in the times of Kings Ervig (680-687) and Ecgica (687-702).
Edition:
K. Zeumer ed., Liber iudiciorum sive lex Visigothorum, Monumenta Germaniae Historica. Leges nationum Germanicarum 1, Hannover, Leipzig 1902, 33-456.
 
Translation:
The Visigothic Code (Forum Judicum), trans. S.P. Scott, Boston 1910
Bibliography:
Leges Visigothorum in: Bibliotheca legum regni Francorum manuscripta,  Karl Ubl (Ed.) assisted by Dominik Trump and Daniela Schulz, Cologne 2012. URL: http://www.leges.uni-koeln.de/en
K. Zeumer, "Geschichte der westgothischen Gesetzgebung. IV.", Neues Archiv der Gesellschaft für Ältere Deutsche Geschichtskunde zur Beförderung einer Gesamtausgabe der Quellenschriften deutscher Geschichten des Mittelalters 26 (1901), 91-149.
 

Categories:

Private law - Secular
    Equal prerogatives of presbyters and bishops
      Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: M. Szada, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER233, http://www.presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=233
      Record by: Marta Szada
      last edited: 2017-06-05 13:52:03
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