Legal practice and the written word in the early middle ages : Frankish formulae, c. 500-1000

Legal formularies are books of model legal documents compiled by early medieval scribes for their own use and that of their pupils. A major source for the history of early medieval Europe, they document social relations beyond the narrow world of the political elite. Formularies offer much information regarding the lives of ordinary people: sales and gifts of land, divorces, adoptions, and disputes over labour as well as theft, rape or murder. Until now, the use of formularies as a historical source has been hampered by severe methodological problems, in particular through the difficulty of establishing a precise chronological or geographical context for them. By examining Frankish legal formularies from the Merovingian and Carolingian periods, this book provides an invaluable, detailed analysis of the problems and possibilities associated with formularies, and will be required reading for scholars of early medieval history. Orality and literacy in Frankish society An uneasy partnership formulae and charters Defining the corpus Catalogue of collections Dating formulae Local context and diffusion From late antique notaries to ecclesiastical scribes: when, where and why formularies survive Formulae and written law A methodological test-case: slavery and unfreedom in the formularies. "Legal formularies are books of model legal documents compiled by early medieval scribes for their own use and that of their pupils ... By taking a fresh look at Frankish legal formularies from the Merovingian and Carolingian periods, this book provides a detailed analysis of the problems and possibilities associated with formularies."--Page i