Germanic Legal Codes. Of the many Germanic legal codes and traditions that were passed down by the barbarian tribes that invaded the Roman Empire, few had any great significance except to those curious parties who collected them almost purely out of antiquarian interest. The only exception to that case may be the Lex Salica, or Laws of the Salian Franks. These statutes are significant not because of what they included as far as legal issues, but because of what they excluded as far as who was fit to rule.

Ancient Customs and Traditions. The first codified version of the Lex Salica was probably issued by Clovis at the beginning of the sixth century for use by his Merovingian justices. Although written in Latin at this time, it was undoubtedly formulated from oral transmissions of ancient Frankish customs and traditions. By the...