TheLex Baiuvariorum was acollection of the tribal laws of theBavarii of the sixth through eighth centuries. The first compilation was edited byEberswind, firstabbot ofNiederaltaich, in 741 or 743.Duke Odilo, founder supplemented the code around 748. It is one of the most well documented bodies of Germanic tribal law.
Parts of theLex Baiuvariorum are identical with theVisigothicCode of Euric and from theLex Alamannorum. The Bavarian law, therefore, is later than that of theAlamanni. It dates unquestionably from a period when theFrankish authority was very strong in Bavaria, when the dukes werevassals of the Frankish kings. Immediately after the revolt of Bavaria in 743, the Bavarian Duke Odilo was forced to submit toPippin the Younger andCarloman, the sons ofCharles Martel, and to recognize the Frankish suzerainty. About the same period, too, the church of Bavaria was organized bySt Boniface, and the country divided into several bishoprics; and we find frequent references to these bishops (in the plural) in the law of the Bavarians. On the other hand, we know that the law is anterior to the reign of DukeTassilo III (749-788). The date of compilation must, therefore, be placed between 743 and 749.[1]
Wilhelm Störmer claims that though theLex Baiuvariorum uses some identical titles as Visigothic and Alamani texts, synodal texts and theTradition Book of Freising indicate that it cannot simply be a copy. K. Reindels claims that the law could have been developed in stages, starting with the reign ofTheudebert I (539–548) until we have the version that we know today created during the reign of Odillo. What is certain is that theLex Baiuvariorum was created at the behest of theFrankish overlords.
TheLex Baiuvariorum consists mostly of individual acts the penalty in cash to be paid to the victim or the victim's family as well as the public treasury. Many of the extant manuscripts are in a small format, a clear indication that the lawbook was at hand when the lord held court. The text is written in Latin.
TheLex Baiuvariorum is divided into 23 titles. Titles 1–6 regulate the law of the different social ranks. Titles 7-23 offer legal rulings on criminal and private law.
In full, the different titles were ordered as follows:
The laws remained in effect until 1180. The oldest manuscript dates from around 800 and is in the possession of the library of theUniversity of Munich.
"The research work of Konrad Beyerle indicates that the Benedictine monastery at Niederaltaich on the Danube played an important part in the drafting of this lex...which was established in 741. It seems highly probably that the Lex Baiuvariorum was compiled between 730 and 744, that is, presumably under the rule of the Bavarian duke Odilo."
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