The Roman Law Library Website compiled by Y. Lassard and A. Koptev (University of Grenoble Alpes) as a repository for some of the major texts of Roman law, which influenced “barbarian” law once the latter began to be written down. They are not presented in translation. While not searchable (though there is a simple Google search bar embedded on the site), it has a detailed Table of Contents and extensive bibliographies for researchers of this field. Besides the collection of source texts found here (that range from the time of the Republic and into the Middle Ages), the Resources page in particular has hundreds of links to valuable online texts, journals, blogs, and videos on legal history in the West. Notable texts found under rubric 13. Leges Rom. Barbarorum include:
• Lex Romana Burgundionum (AD 500-506)
• Lex Romana Ostrogothorum (AD 511-515)
• Leges Romanae Barbarorum: Roman Influence in the Barbarian Kingdoms
• Visigothic Epitome of the Gregorian and Hermogenian Codes (AD 5th Century)
Lex Frisionum and Ewa ad Amorem, or Lex Francorum Chamavorum By Kees Nieuwenhuijsen, offers original Latin text and English translations of these two early medieval law codes from regions in the Netherlands, compiled c. 800 on the order of Charlemagne but including many elements of earlier customary law.
Lex Visigothorum was a set of laws promulgated by the Visigothic king in 642-643 and enlarged in 654. The law drew upon Roman, canon, and Germanic customary law and was distinguished by the greater legal autonomy given to women.
- Edition: Lex Romana Visigothorum, ed. Gustav Haenel (Leipzig, 1848) [pdf]
- English translation: S. P. Scott, trans. The Visigothic Code (Forum Judicum) (Boston, 1910). The translation is widely available but flawed.
Bibliotheca Legum: A Database on Carolingian Secular Law Texts (University of Cologne)
This project provides an overview, and makes searchable information about, secular law texts, mostly “barbarian” customs, of the Frankish empire. Each entry lists the repository or archive where the manuscript can be found, the origin or provenance of the text, a physical description of the manuscript, a list of its contents, a list of editions and relevant scholarly literature, and an option to download the entry as an XML file. In German and English.