| The Formularies of Angers and Marculf: Two Merovingian Legal Handbooks Contributor(s): Rio, Alice (Commentaries by), Rio, Alice (Translator) |
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ISBN: 1846311594 ISBN-13: 9781846311598 Publisher: Liverpool University Press OUR PRICE: $38.12 Product Type: Paperback Published: October 2008 Annotation: This volume offers the first full English-language translation of two major sources for the Merovingian kingdoms: the formularies of Angers and Marculf (from the sixth and seventh centuries AD). These collections of model legal documents, compiled by scribes, constitute an important source of evidence on government, legal practice, and social life during the Merovingian period--at both the local and elite level. Illuminating aspects of life once considered too trivial to mention in a narrative source--such as making a gift, selling an infant, writing Christmas greetings, and settling murder disputes--this volume offers an outline of this type of source as a whole, putting the texts into perspective and providing a methodological foundation for them. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - History | Europe - France |
| Dewey: 944 |
| Series: Translated Texts for Historians |
| Physical Information: 0.8" H x 5.8" W x 8.1" (0.90 lbs) 320 pages |
| Themes: - Holiday - Christmas |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: This book offers the first full English translation of two major sources for the Merovingian kingdoms: the formularies of Angers and Marculf (sixth and seventh centuries). These collections of model legal documents, compiled by scribes as an aid to the composition of future documents, constitute an important source of evidence on government, legal practice and social life during the Merovingian period, both at the local level (for Angers) and at the level of the kingdom's elite and the entourage of the king (for Marculf). They illuminate aspects of life which would often have been considered too trivial to be worth mentioning in narrative sources, and can include instructions dealing with subjects as diverse as appointing a bishop, making a gift, borrowing money, divorcing, selling an infant child, confiscating property from a rebel, writing Christmas greetings, and settling disputes over murders, thefts or kidnappings. As well as presenting the translations, the introduction also gives a brief outline of the characteristics of this type of source as a whole, with the aim of putting these texts into perspective and providing a methodological handle for them. |