THE INFLUENCE OF THE CATHOLIC RELIGION AND CHURCH ON THE LAWS OF THE LANGOBARDS

Abstract

The Edict of the Langobards’ laws consists of both the first codification of the ancient tribal customs undertaken by king Rothari in 643 and the further modifications added by his successors such as Grimoald, Liutprand, Ratchis, Aistulf and the princes of Benevento, Arechis and Adelchis, over a period of about two centuries. The Edict provides an enhanced insight into the complex changes that affected the gens Langobardorum’s social order, institutions and even mentality and culture after their settlement in Italy, where they lived in direct contact with the Roman civilization and converted to Catholicism. As an example of the changes occurring in that period, I will deal with the integration of the principles and rules of both the Catholic religion and
church into Langobard law which characterized the gradual Roman Catholic acculturation of the Langobards. In the same period the ecclesiastical institutions were given new space in the kingdom’s structures and society. These trends are particularly evident if we compare Rothari’s and Grimoald’s laws, which were prior to their conversion to Catholicism (which took place in the second half of the seventh century) and those made by the successive monarchs, from which we can also glean some information about the Catholic church in the ancient Langobard laws.