Capitulary of Le Mans

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The Capitulary of Le Mans, or the Capitulare in pago Cenomannico datum, is a capitulary traditionally ascribed to Charlemagne and dated to the year 800. In the text, a Frankish ruler named Charles regulates the labour services of peasants in the region of Le Mans in western Francia. Those peasants with more land were obliged to carry out more ploughing services for their lords.[ citation needed ]

The text has often been used as evidence for Charlemagne's regulation of the peasantry in the early Middle Ages, for instance by Rachel Stone [1] and Chris Wickham. [2] However, it has been suggested that the text was not in fact issued by Charlemagne, though it is still important evidence for attitudes to the peasantry and labour in early medieval Europe. [3]

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References

  1. For instance, Stone, Rachel (2011). "Morality and Masculinity in the Carolingian Empire". Cambridge Core. doi:10.1017/cbo9781139017473. p. 226
  2. Wickham, Chris, 1950- (2006). Framing the early Middle Ages : Europe and the Mediterranean, 400-800. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN   0-19-921296-1. OCLC   70764463.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link), p. 290
  3. West, Charles (2018-01-01), "Carolingian Kingship and the Peasants of Le Mans : the Capitulum in Cenomannico pago datum", Charlemagne : les temps, les espaces, les hommes, Haut Moyen ?ge, Brepols Publishers, vol. 34, pp. 227–244, doi:10.1484/m.hama-eb.5.114713, ISBN   978-2-503-57797-5 , retrieved 2019-11-23 Open Access version https://hcommons.org/deposits/item/hc:24809/