XVI
BOOK OF CONSTITUTIONS 33 is a woman and a nun, whatever she possessesin usufruct from her father's property shall go to the nearest relatives, and she will have no power of transferring anything therefrom, unless perhaps from her mother's goods, that is, from her clothing or things of the cell (~escellulae),~ or what she has acquired by her own labor. 7. We decree that this should be observed only by those whpse fathers have not given them portions; but if they shall have received from their father a place where they can live, let them have full freedom of disposing of it at their will. 1. If any freeborn Burgundian enters another's house to fight, let him pay six solidi to him to whom the house belongs; and let the fine be twelve solidi. Furthermore we wish this to be observed equally among Burgundians and Romans. 2. Indeed if a slave enters another's house by force or violence, let him receive a hundred blows for punishment, and let the master of the slave suffer no loss on that account. 1. If anyone has followed the tracks of an animal, and following those tracks comes to another's house, and if he to whose house he comes prohibits his entering the house to seek back his property , let him who drives him away from his house when he is making inquiry about that which he seeks back be held for punishment as a thief, with the further provision that it is not permitted a woman to deny questioning (to refuse to reply to an inquiry ). 2. But if perhaps a slave or a maidservant prohibits this when his or her master is absent, let him who prohibits it be held by law liable to punishment as a thief. 1 Rescellukze seems to be a compound of res and cellukze. Res is the classical Latin "things" while cellukz is vulgar Latin for "nun's room" or "apartment ." So rescellukze may mean "things"or "trappings of the cell." 34 THE BURGUNDIAN CODE 3. If there is a way-pointer (tracker, veius)l present and he has received his payment (vegiatura) and he to whom he points the way is not able to find them (the animals), let the way-pointer (tracker, veius) pay for the theft in fee simple because he lies that he has pointed the way to them. XVII OF OTHER CASES AND THE REMOVAL OF LIABILITY FOR PUNISHMENT . 1. All cases which involve Burgundians and which were not completed before the Battle of Chalons are declared dismissed. 2. If anyone shall identify his slave or maidservant, let him receive him back. 3. For a freeman killed previously twenty solidi may be imposed and let all further prosecution cease. 4. And also we wish it to be particularly observed, that if any Burgundian has been twice admonished for any cause by him who brings a case against him that he should come to court and provide a guarantor (oathtaker) and, if he does not provide a guarantor (oathtaker) or come to court, and the summoner is able 1 Cf. DuCange, op. cit., VI, 753-54. The word uegius seems to refer to some type of soothsayer, rophet, or diviner (harioli, uates, diuini) whom the Saxons call oigilert anBthe Germans uiclrrs, whence uiglias means soothsayers , for these consult the auspices to determine whether slaves and animals have been taken away by theft so that they might point out where they are. The payment for providing this information is called uegiaturum. Others deduce a meaning from the Saxon word ueg or uaeg, which means a road, thus they are road-pointers (uegii) who point out the tracks of animals. Cf. XCV. 1 The Battle of Chalons or of Mauriac (the Lex Gundobadu refers to it as pugna Mauriacellsis) is the battle which took place in 451 in which a federate army of Romans and barbarians under Aetius faced an invasion of the Huns who, under their leader, Attila, were threatening to subjugate all of Gaul. To face this threat, Aetius got together an army consisting of imperial troops and Franks, Burgundians, Bretons, and Visigoths. The Huns were turned back at Chalons, but Theodoric, king of the Visigoths and the most influential of the barbarian leaders at this time, was killed. That the date 451 seemed an important one to the barbarians is attested by the fact that the ear 451 is a delimiting date in the L a Guniobadu...
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