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
The relations of the bishop to the inhabitants of the cities during
the period we are considering were pretty nearly such as described in
the first part of this paper. He stood forth as protector of the weak
and the oppressed; as mediator between an unfortunate prisoner and an
unjust judge who was seeking his private interest rather than
following the spirit of impartial justice; or between a downtrodden
vassal and the almost unlimited power of his feudal superior. He
lessened the severity of harsh judgments, he protested the imposition
of unjust fines and penalties. In very many cases he was even
appointed by the king or his representatives as co-judge to assist the
_judex_ or the _missus_ in hearing cases where oppression or injustice
was to be feared. But it is important for us to avoid confusing this
kind of jurisdiction with that which he enjoyed in the century after
he had attained the power and the office of count, and had combined
the religious functions of head of the diocese with the secular ones
of political ruler of the city. Any judicial authority possessed by
the bishop at this earlier period was not in virtue of any political
position he himself held, but came to him entirely in what might be
called an extraordinary manner, that is, by delegation from the king,
for definite specified occasions. As an example of this extraordinary
delegated jurisdiction, I will refer to a document in the Archivio of
the Canons of Arezzo[79] of the year 833, relating to the judgment of
a dispute between "Petrum Episcopum Arretinum et Vigilium Abatem
Monasterii Sancti Antemi," situated in the territory of Chiusi, over a
privilege ceded to that monastery by Lewis the Pious in 813.[80] The
bishop of Arezzo gained a favorable decision from a court constituted
of some _judices_, _missi_ of the emperor, and of the bishops of
Florence, Volterra and Siena, Agiprandus, Petrus and Anastasius.
According to the terms of the document with regard to the composition
of this court, the bishops sitting in it were "directi a Hlotario
magno Imperatore"; and their powers are several times referred to as
being "juxta jussionem et Indiculum Domni Imperatoris." Here, as in
all other similar cases, we see plainly that there is no indication of
any purely personal jurisdiction.
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