02. June 2025

New Publication by Martin Schermaier, Julia Winnebeck, and Matthias Becher New Publication by Martin Schermaier, Julia Winnebeck, and Matthias Becher

Norms of Dependency in Late Antique and Early Medieval Societies - Contextualising Roman Legal Terminology

The latest addition to the Dependency and Slavery Studies book series has been released: "Norms of Dependency in Late Antique and Early Medieval Societies: Contextualising Roman Legal Terminology," edited by BCDSS members Martin Schermaier, Julia Winnebeck, and Matthias Becher, is now available via open access.  

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New Volume in DSS Series.png © BCDSS
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Late antique and early medieval normative sources frequently employ Roman legal terminology to denote a person’s legal inferiority, and thus suggest the continued relevance of the concepts associated with these terms. However, it is far from clear to what extent the use of identical terminology actually indicates the similarity of social phenomena. There is ample evidence of important changes regarding the rights and duties of enslaved persons and the development or emergence of other, new, forms of asymmetrical dependency. This raises the question to what extent consistency in terminology and legal practice is actually an indicator of the stability of social structures. Against this background, a group of scholars of legal, ecclesiastical, and social history were invited to a conference at the BCDSS in March 2022 to scrutinise different law codes and legal sources for their evidence of dependency. The result are these ten papers that truly enhance our understanding of slavery and other dependency relations in late antique and early medieval societies from c. 100 to c. 900 CE.

 

This volume features the following contributions by (former) BCDSS members and affiliates:

  • "Dependents in the Conciliar Legislation of the Church in Gaul (c. 400–700)" - Julia Winnebeck

  • "Dependencies in the Formulae in the Frankish Kingsdom" - Boudewijn Sirks (former fellow)

  • "Terms of Dependency in Post-Roman Law Codes" - Martin Schermaier

  • "Germanic Law and the Practice of Slaveholding in the Post-Roman West" - Noel Lenski (member of International Advisory Board)

  • "The Exiling of Women from Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages: Data, Patterns, and Research Avenues" - Julia Hillner and Harry Mawdsley

  • "Charlemagne and the oppressio pauperum" - Matthias Becher

 

For open access please follow the link.

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