LEGES BARBARORUM

leges barbarorum (lee-jeez bahr-b<<schwa>>-ror-<<schwa>>m). [Latin “laws of the barbarians”] Hist. The customary laws of medieval European law; esp., the customary laws of Germanic tribes during the Middle Ages. • These include the lex romana Visigothorum, the lex Burgundionum, and the lex Salica. — Also termed folk laws. See SALIC LAW.

“Many of the conquering Germanic tribes sought to state their own tribal customs in writing. Several of these so-called codes or leges barbarorum were published from time to time shortly after the fall of the Western Empire in the middle of the fifth century until about the time of Charlemagne, 800. The most famous is a Frankish one, the Lex Salica, which probably dates from the second half of the fifth century.” W.J.V. Windeyer, Lectures on Legal History 1 (2d ed. 1949).

[Blacks Law 8th]