247:, ordering his judges to use instead "the common methods of proof which have been introduced both by the ancient laws and by our constitutions." The Constitutions notably used reason and logic to dismiss the superstitious foundations of the ordeal; for example, the use of trial by hot iron was dismissed because people believed "the natural heat of white-hot iron grows hot and, what is even more foolish, grows cold for no good reason at all", and trial by water was forbidden because of the belief "that the defendant of the crime, who has been established only by his guilty conscience, will not be received by the element of freezing water, when, in fact, it is the retention of sufficient air that prevents him from submerging." Frederick also banned trial by battle, ordering that more weight be given to the testimony of witnesses, although exceptions to this were granted to knights, and for cases in which no witnesses could be provided.
17:
153:
These magistrates or ministers became a more important class. Fewer and fewer noblemen served the king as more and more simple freemen were raised to power. The magistrates were elected for a year pending reaffirmation and received a salary from the state. This made them loyal to the king and his
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Finally, the equality of all citizens before the law was affirmed. The
Constitutions made much of reducing the power of the nobility and of following the Roman tradition of equality before the law: thus, all freemen, all citizens, were equals, in theory. Likewise, for the benefit of commoners,
250:
The
Constitutions also contain incidental information relating to the practice of medicine. Frederick proclaimed that, in order to become a medical practitioner, it was necessary to have some practical experience, which many European university-educated doctors did not have in 1231.
87:
The
Constitutions were written in Latin and translated into Greek before their promulgation. They were meant to apply, as with previous Sicilian law, to all the peoples of the realm: Lombards, Greeks, Saracens, Germans, Jews. The 253 clauses are divided into three books:
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Ecclesiastically, the
Constitutions affected the bishops as they did all great landholders, but they also affected them in unique ways. The clergymen were made subject to the common courts. They were deprived also of judgement over
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Also like the great dioceses and baronies, the cities were affected by the centralising laws which removed their powers and made them more directly subject to not only the king, but his ministers as well. Cities could not become
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army was created to prevent the king from having to call up the unreliable barons, surely angered by the
Constitutions. These, the feudatories, were gravely affected in other ways, too. For example, the sale of
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and the landed commoners. It did not debate or rubber-stamp legislation, which was the king's to make and unmake, but merely received it and promulgated, giving its advice where it could.
76:, appears as an influence as well. He was even reproved by the pope for accepting and advising clauses contrary to the wishes of the church. Traditionally, the work has been attributed to
102:
The
Constitutions, like the Assizes before them, strengthened the power of the king and diminished the power of his feudatories. The centralising and bureaucratising tendencies of
150:, on pain of sack and pillage. Like the baronage, the cities were deprived of rights of penal justice. These were transferred to the king and his magistrates alone.
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402:
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of the monarch. Frederick II wrote in the
Constitutions that "we, whom He elevated beyond hope of man to the pinnacle of the Roman Empire."
397:
331:
285:
The Liber
Augustalis, or Constitutions of Melfi Promulgated By the Emperor Frederick II for the Kingdom of Sicily in 1231
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was banned, putting an end to subinfeudation, and all vassals were subject to the king's taxes and other imposts.
42:
106:'s legislation continued a century later in the Constitutions. It also continued to emphasise the sacral role and
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was invented by commentators who believed the laws were a statement of the theory of autocracy (David
Abulafia,
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308:
301:
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Economically, state monopolies were imposed on silk, iron, and grain. On the other hand, tariffs on trade
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212:, acted as an auditing department on the great bureaucracy. Other than this, there was a sort of
392:
293:
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80:, but it is almost certain that, while Frederick, Giacomo and Pier had their hand in it, the
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were, however, rescinded. Weights and measures were uniformly regulated across the realm.
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of 1140, the
Constitutions formed the basis of Sicilian law for the next six centuries.
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Militarily, the Constitutions prohibited bearing arms without permission. A standing
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38:
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The first regards public law (107 clauses; one of them missing in all manuscripts)
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201:
20:
139:
376:
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The author of the Constitutions is purported to be Frederick himself, though
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administration, for without it they were nothing. The great officers of the
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358:, from which its informal name, Constitutions of Melfi, derives. The name
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54:
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130:, prohibited from acquiring lands, and forced to sell inheritances.
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298:
Constitutiones et Acta Publica Imperatorum et Regum, vol. 2 (suppl.)
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114:
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294:"Die Konstitutionen Friedrichs II. für das Königreich Sizilien"
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262:"is the birth certificate of the modern administrative state."
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236:
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The third regards feudal, private, and penal law (94 clauses)
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232:
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The Constitutions of Melfi remained applicable law in the
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were abolished. The privileges granted previously to
95:The second regards judicial procedure (52 clauses)
57:two centuries earlier. Originally a reform of the
332:Liber Augustalis o Costituzioni melfitane (1231).
84:is the product of months of work by a committee.
374:
216:, consisting of not only the barons, but the
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53:ancestors had first set out to conquer the
15:
291:
142:had, and were prohibited from electing
375:
282:
61:of 1220, themselves his reform of the
403:13th century in the Kingdom of Sicily
23:where the Constitutions were redacted
352:Liber Constitutionum Regni Siciliae
41:promulgated on 1 September 1231 by
13:
49:, the town from which Frederick's
14:
414:
304:. Hanover: Hahnsche Buchhandlung.
398:Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor
325:Frederick II. A Medieval Emperor
37:, were a new legal code for the
310:Constitutionum Regni Siciliarum
292:Stürner, Wolfgang, ed. (1996).
192:. The last was the head of the
344:
283:Powell, James M., ed. (1971).
1:
317:
302:Monumenta Germaniae Historica
196:, the court of the king (his
287:. Syracuse University Press.
7:
10:
419:
356:Constitutiones Melphitanae
277:Editions and translations
337:
108:God-given right to rule
29:Constitutions of Melfi
24:
161:ammiratus ammiratorum
19:
383:Medieval legal codes
327:(1988), chapter six.
208:, a division of the
206:Magna Curia Rationum
43:Emperor Frederick II
330:Messana, Federico.
74:Archbishop of Capua
45:. It was given at
269:until 1809 and in
70:Giacomo Amalfitano
25:
267:Kingdom of Naples
256:Ernst Kantorowicz
243:Frederick banned
200:) and the final
158:were the ancient
63:Assizes of Ariano
39:Kingdom of Sicily
410:
367:
360:Liber Augustalis
350:Also called the
348:
323:David Abulafia,
305:
288:
78:Pier delle Vigne
59:Assizes of Capua
34:Liber Augustalis
418:
417:
413:
412:
411:
409:
408:
407:
373:
372:
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349:
345:
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320:
279:
245:trial by ordeal
202:court of appeal
21:Castle of Melfi
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5:
416:
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388:1231 in Europe
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140:Northern Italy
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254:According to
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138:, as many in
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393:1230s in law
364:Frederick II
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324:
309:
297:
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273:until 1819.
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218:universities
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164:, the grand
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132:
124:
112:
101:
86:
81:
67:
33:
32:
28:
26:
366:(1988) 203.
198:curia regis
194:Magna Curia
174:Chamberlain
166:protonotary
55:Mezzogiorno
377:Categories
318:Literature
312:(ed. 1773)
214:parliament
182:chancellor
190:justiciar
186:constable
178:seneschal
172:), great
170:logothete
184:, great
180:, great
176:, great
148:podestàs
136:communes
128:heretics
104:Roger II
144:consuls
115:Saracen
271:Sicily
258:, the
225:within
204:. The
51:Norman
338:Notes
260:Liber
237:Genoa
229:Regno
210:curia
156:Regno
120:fiefs
82:Liber
47:Melfi
31:, or
235:and
233:Pisa
227:the
168:(or
27:The
354:or
146:or
379::
300:.
296:.
72:,
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