Justice In The Barbarians Essay

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Justice in Barbarian Societies Justice is the basis upon which the laws of a society are built. To examine a particular society in depth, it is imperative to appreciate their understanding of justice. There are certain limitations to understanding past societies. The best and most accurate way to surpass these limitations is by examining a society’s law. The law shows who and what were most important to these ancient people. Barbarian societies created a customary law, which ensured safety and governed the actions of the clan members. Barbarian societies were prevalent in Late Antiquity. The people were preliterate, which means through the 5th, 6th, and 7th centuries the law was only handed down orally. After the barbarians became Christianized, …show more content…

One of these crimes was home invasion death. This type of punishment yielded no mercy from the king . The barbarian societies thought of their homes as safe places so death by home invasion was unforgivable. Crimes concerning the king were one of the top offenses. The first section of rules from the Salic law was written about kings and the consequences that followed if a person was to wrong him. “If any one be summoned before the "Thing" by the king 's law, and do not come he shall be sentenced to 600 denars, which make 15 shillings” . Crimes concerning the church and church officials also required a larger bot as evidenced in the laws of the King of Kent, “The property of God and of the church, twelvefold; a bishop 's property, elevenfold; a priest 's property, ninefold; a deacon 's property, sixfold; a clerk 's property, threefold; churchfrith, twofold” . Although all clans did not agree on the monetary compensation amounts, they all enforced this new way of handling dilemmas. By being in a local setting, the people knew each other and their every day behaviors more immediately. Barbarian societies found that by having a personal customary law the people felt a moral pressure to act

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