Assize of Capua

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The so-called Assisen von Capua are a group of 20 laws of Emperor Frederick II , which were published on a court day at Capua in mid-December 1220 and expanded by four further norms in Messina in 1221 ,

Emergence

The aim of the measures was to regulate the situation in the Kingdom of Sicily after the coronation of the emperor (November 1220) , since the long-term absence of Frederick did not always lead to the ruler's development. The conditions at the time of King Wilhelm II served as a yardstick , while measures by Tankred and the guardianship government as well as the regency for the king, who had been in Germany since 1212, were cashed in. The texts have survived only in the older edition of the Chronicle of Richard of San Germano .

content

Ass.Cap. 1 revokes all changes after the death of Wilhelm II (1189).

  • Ass. Cap. 3 (prohibition of self-help and regulation of judicial jurisdiction), 4 (prohibition of carrying arms) and 5 (prohibition of admitting thieves and robbers).
  • Regarding the regulations for civil servants (Ass. Cap. 6, 7, 14, 18), the appointment of the legal advisors by the emperor and the appointment of the city magistrates by the territorially competent chamberlain should be mentioned.
  • Ass. Cap. 8 lifts all after the death of Henry VI. and Constance's newly introduced duties and fees, the ban on introducing new markets and trade fairs , and the abolition of those newly established during Frederick's minority is in Ass. Cap. 9 included.
  • The validity of documents concern Ass. Cap. 15 and 16. The revocation of privileges ( constitutio de resignandis privilegiis ; withdrawal of privileges) set Easter 1221 as the deadline for the submission of older privileges for control and confirmation for the continental part of the kingdom; for the island of Sicily the date was Whitsun 1221. Frederick's grandfather Roger II had already successfully carried out a corresponding measure . Although, in addition to the privileges of his parents, only the documents issued in Frederick's name from the beginning of his reign until his return from Germany were affected, many recipients also submitted older documents from the Norman kings for confirmation. All of these confirmations have the additional formula post curiam Capue celebratam (after the court day held in Capua) in the dating , but the revision could not be completed by the original dates, so that documents with this note can be found years later. In return, certain Ass. Cap. 16 the unrestricted validity of the privileges issued by the emperor, which, however, should not last.

On the court day in Messina in 1221, which was supposed to offer the inhabitants of the island of Sicily the opportunity to present and confirm the older privileges, four further provisions were added:

Probably belongs to Const. I 80 with the standards for the appearance of documents and the prohibition of curial scripts on the provisions of Messina, although the text has not been passed down to Richard.

Adoption into the Melfi constitutions

14 prescriptions were incorporated into the Melfi Constitutions . In addition to the introductory paragraph, the Ass. Cap. 8, 9, 13, 11 and 16. These are provisions on the economic order, the limitation of the servitium in favor of the rear passengers and the regulation on the unlimited validity of the privileges issued by the emperor . In the last case, the development of the right of withdrawal had continued. The revocation of privileges, which was also outdated, was taken over, however, with an addition relating to the time of the emperor's absence during his crusade. The dress code for the Jews was not included either, since can. 68 of the IV Lateran Council had generally enforced.

literature

output

Studies

  • Horst Enzensberger : Capua, Assisen von . In: Lexicon of the Middle Ages (LexMA). Volume 2, Artemis & Winkler, Munich / Zurich 1983, ISBN 3-7608-8902-6 , Sp. 1491 f.
  • Thomas Curtis VanCleve: The Emperor Frederick II of Hohenstaufen. Immutator Mundi. Clarendon Press, Oxford 1972, pp. 139-145.
  • Hermann Dilcher : The Sicilian legislation of Emperor Friedrich II. Sources of the constitutions of Melfi and their novellas Cologne a. a. 1975 (Studies and sources on the world of Emperor Frederick II, 3). Pp. 18–19: Concordances, further literature

Remarks

  1. ↑ Horst Enzensberger: Il documento pubblico nella prassi burocratica dell'età normanno-sveva. In: Schede medievali 17 (1989), p. 308.