The Laws of the Salian Franks

Following the fall of the Roman Empire, the Germanic Franks established a strong barbarian kingdom in the Roman West. This is a translation of the "Pactus Legis Salicae", believed to have been issued by the Frankish King Clovis in the early 6th century AD.

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After the fall of the Roman Empire, the Germanic Franks established one of the longest lasting barbarian kingdoms of the Roman West. Along with the Visigoths and the Burgundians, the Franks developed a set of legal codes, and of the three, the Salic Code (the earliest law code attributed to the Franks) is the least Romanized and the most German. There is little in the code of Roman law's emphasis on marriage and the family, inheritance, gifts and contracts. Rather, the "Lex Salica" is devoted to establishing fixed monetary or other penalties for a wide variety of damaging acts. This text is a translation of the "Pactus Legis Salicae", believed to have been issued by the Frankish King Clovis in the early 6th century. In addition, there is provided a translation of the "Lex Salica Karolina", the code as corrected and reissued some three centuries later by Charlemagne.