Lex Baiuvariorum

The Lex Baiuvariorum was a collection of the tribal laws of the Bavarii, compiled between the sixth and eighth centuries. The first compilation was edited by Eberswind, the first abbot of Niederaltaich, in 741 or 743, and Duke Odilo, its founder, supplemented the code around 748; it is considered one of the most well documented bodies of Germanic tribal law. Parts of the Lex Baiuvariorum are identical with the Visigothic Code of Euric and with the Lex Alamannorum, and the Bavarian law is understood to be later than that of the Alamanni, dating from a period when Frankish authority was strong in Bavaria and the dukes were vassals of the Frankish kings. The Lex Baiuvariorum is divided into 23 titles, the first six of which regulate the law of different social ranks and the remainder of which offer legal rulings on criminal and private law, covering matters from church protection and marriage to theft, arson, pledges, animals and inheritance. The laws remained in effect until 1180, and the oldest surviving manuscript, dating from around 800, is held by the library of Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich.