laws and legal codes: Europe 607 Leather belt with keys belonging to the doorkeeper of the Star Chamber, an English law court at the Palace of Westminster; Britain, ca 1500 (© Museum of London) Visigoths, the Lex Salica (Salic Law, ca 500) of the Franks, and the Edictum Rothari (Edict of Rothari, 643) of the Lombards Collectively these laws are known as the leges barbarorum, or barbarian laws Some Germanic rulers issued separate codes, adaptations of Roman law, for their Roman subjects Of these, the most comprehensive is the Lex Romana Visigothorum, also known as Breviarium Alaricianum (Breviary of Alaric), issued in 506 The Roman codes issued by the Germanic kings are often referred to as Roman vulgar law Having several legal systems in one territory was complicated and often confusing Some rulers, like the emperor Charlemagne (r 800–14), attempted to impose legislation that applied universally to people under their dominion These attempts were only partially successful, however, and personal law continued to be cited when it was expedient Over time the various populations of local communities integrated As a result, each community came to subscribe to its own body of customary law, which was applied equally to all inhabitants of that community In this way the Roman principle of the territoriality of law began to encroach on personal law From the eighth century onward power and authority became increasingly tied to land ownership Rulers granted land to freemen in return for military service and other obligations Freemen, or vassals, gained autonomous authority over their estates; they were also free to grant parts of their land to other freemen in return for specified services Land grants and the authority they bestowed could be inherited by successive generations The laws governing these complex mutual obligations and transfers of property were customary and for centuries remained unwritten Eventually, in the later half of the 12th century, the first written collection of land grant laws appeared It was called the Liber Feudorum (Book of Feudal Laws) Feudal relations continued to play an important role in medieval society for the remainder of the medieval period In the early Middle Ages an entire community was responsible for enforcing the law Lacking a professional lawenforcement agency, the local assembly, or court, had to deal with transgressions of the law Similarly lacking in professional judges, the community turned to a local nobleman or a representative of the sovereign to preside over court proceedings He was assisted by freemen from the community The primary purpose of the court was to maintain law and order through consensus rather than coercion Thus the main role of the presiding authority was to facilitate an agreement between the two sides of a case, rather than to sit in judgment If an agreement was reached, it had to have the approval of the community Various types of courts were available to accommodate the diverse legal codes that could apply to disputants The church also had its own courts For serious crimes and grievances, particularly those involving the higher classes, another avenue of appeal was the king’s justice in the royal court After the eighth century the organization of agricultural society around specific economic and territorial units called manors or seigneuries led to the development of manorial justice, also called seigneurial justice Under this system landlords gained autonomous jurisdictional authority over their estates They held court and made rulings on a case-by-case basis according to a mixture of public and customary law