Law and Society in the Visigothic Kingdom

A study of the structure and ethos of Visigothic society.

P. D. King (Author)

9780521031288, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 2 November 2006

336 pages
21.6 x 13.8 x 1.9 cm, 0.442 kg

The kingdom of the Visigoths, embracing at its fullest extent Portugal and part of southern France as well as virtually the whole of Spain, boasted the most sophisticated civilization to be be found in any of the Romano-barbarian states created out of the ruin of the Western Empire. Yet its fortunes have been the subject of a curious indifference by scholars otherwise well conscious of the supreme significance of the sixth and seventh centuries for a balanced understanding of the Middle Ages. Dr King makes a searching investigation into the structure and ethos of Visigothic society as it is revealed in the legal and other other sources of the time.

Preface
Abbreviations
1. Introduction
2. The king and the law
3. Royal government, I
4. Royal government, II
5. The Church and the faith
6. Slaves, freedmen and nobles
7. The economy
8. The family
Appendix I: theft and robbery
Appendix II: killing and misuse of the person
Bibliography of works cited
Index to citations of the laws
Index.

Subject Areas: History [HB]