The Communes of Lombardy from the VI. to the X. Century: An Investigation of the Causes Which Led to the Development of Municipal Unity Among the Lombard Communes.Williams, William Klapp
History
The Communes of Lombardy from the VI. to the X. Century: An Investigation of the Causes Which Led to the Development of Municipal Unity Among the Lombard Communes.
Williams, William Klapp
Local government -- Italy -- Lombardy; Lombardy (Italy) -- History
Of other duties which caused him to leave the seat of his authority,
the only ones we need here consider are his military duties; and with
regard to these it will be sufficient to point out that the _judex_
was the leader in war of the vassals and lesser lords, and indeed of
all the inhabitants of the _judiciaria_ who were entitled or
compelled, by the forms of their tenure, to bear arms. Ample proof of
this is to be found throughout the law codes, but we need not pause to
cite such confirmation, if we remember the natural evolution of the
office of _dux_ from his position in the original Lombard military
system. As a good example of this military leadership we may refer to
the provisions of the twenty-ninth law in the sixth book of the laws
of Liutprand.[21]
What is of the greatest importance to us, however, in bringing out the
relations of the cities to the rest of the community in Lombard and
Frankish times, is the position of the _judex_ as duke and as count
within his own _judiciaria_, that is, within the _civitas_ of which he
was both lord and judge. It was through him, or perhaps I should say
chiefly through him, that the city was at this period connected with
the state; and it was principally by the exercise of the functions of
his office that the city formed a part of the state. His official
residence, in the majority of cases, and his courts, were situated
within the city's limits; thus making the official machinery of
government a part of the city life, and causing the city to become an
actual if not a legally recognized part of the constitution of the
state. As far as this investigation is concerned, this represents the
prominent feature of the power and position of the head of the
_civitas_. We must be careful, however, to avoid any confusion of
ideas as to the importance which it gave to the city as a municipal
unit or as a corporation. It was in no way what we could call a
municipal government, even admitting a rather loose interpretation of
the term, as the supporters of the theory of the survival of the Roman
curial system would have us believe.[22] The _judex_ may be called
"the highest municipal officer among the Lombards," and this
designation still be correct, though perhaps misleading. He was the
highest officer of the locality, and his official duties were for the
most part carried on within the city; but the leading fact we must
keep prominently before us is, that he was the head of the whole
_civitas_, and not in any sense of the city as such: and further, that
his powers over the rural portions of the _civitas_ were in no sense
added to any purely municipal powers he may have possessed; but, on
the contrary, if we are to draw any distinctions, the municipality
formed a part of the land division. That the whole _civitas_ was
commonly named after the largest town contained within its borders,
and that the seat of power was generally placed within the city walls,
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