Similar arrangements concerning lands, vineyards, and bodies of slaves shall be observed, even when such disposition has been made of them verbally and in the presence of witnesses. In regard to all property that has been acquired by princes since the time of King Chintilanus, or that hereafter shall be acquired by others; and whatever property a king has left, or shall leave undisposed of, when it is proved to have been acquired by the head of the government; we decree that it shall belong to his successor in the kingdom, and he shall have the power to dispose of it according to his pleasure. But property obtained from relatives, or inherited from parents, shall descend to his sons, or, if he have no sons, to his legitimate heirs, as their rights may appear, or as they are acknowledged by the laws of succession: but if it should happen that he has left undisposed of any property inherited from his parents or his relatives, or derived from any contribution, or obtained by any legal contract; it shall belong, not to the successor of the kingdom, but to the sons or heirs of him who has thus acquired it. For whatever the prince is known to have possessed before his accession to the throne, either as his own property, or gained through honorable transactions with others, he shall have absolute power to dispose of according to his will, and his sons shall have full right to its inheritance; but, if he should have no sons, such property as he did not dispose of, shall descend to his lawful heirs. This law shall apply solely to, and shall be observed in, the affairs of the prince, and shall be forever enforced, and no one shall ascend the royal throne before making oath that he will observe it in all its details. Whoever, either through an insurrection of the people, or by secret machinations, shall attain to supreme power, shall, with all his adherents, be accursed, and shall be excommunicated from the society of all Christians; and every Christian who shall have any intercourse with him shall undergo the same condemnation and pay the same penalty. And if any one holding an office in the royal palace, shall, through malice, criticise this law, or evade it in any way, or murmur against it; or shall have been convicted of having openly condemned it; he shall be deprived of all his employments and privileges, shall be stripped of half of all his possessions, shall be forcibly restrained of his liberty, and be excluded from the society of the palace. Any one in holy orders who has shared his offense, shall undergo the same confiscation of his property. =FLAVIUS CHINTASVINTUS, KING.= =VI. Concerning Those who Abandon the King, or the People, or their Country, or who Conduct Themselves with Arrogance.=