In search of legal transmission – Inheritance and compensation for homicide in medieval secular law

Abstract

This thesis analyses the degree of influence and loan in the secular legislation between AD 400 and 1350. It explores the legislation on the topics of inheritance and compensation for homicide in search of the transmission of law between geographical regions and over a timespan of several centuries, and investigates how secular legislation on the distribution of inheritance and on compensation for homicide was motivated. This wide perspective has adduced evidence of legal transmission between the legal cultures in Western Europe that are not traditionally compared. Medieval legal development was born out of the Roman legal tradition, but found its own way in the following centuries. Encounters between legal cultures in medieval Europe resulted in legal advisors being inspired by the same ideology, thus producing similar legal works. In the legislation on inheritance and homicide, this thesis demonstrates a range of shared concepts in the written laws. The similarities are found in legislation regarding the larger systems of the transfer of wealth as well as the details, such as the terminology and concepts regarding rules of inheritance and homicide. The value of this extensive survey is in its broaching of traditionally demarcated historic periods, as well as its thorough investigation of law material from a large region. Thus, the thesis contributes to the available research on medieval legislation at different points in time, and discusses how existing European law influenced other secular legislative authority, either directly or conceptually.