Grabraub und Leichenschändung in der frühmittelalterlichen fränkischen Gesetzgebung und ihre ökonomischen Hintergründe

Abstract

The profanation of corpses and grave robbing were forbidden in the Frankish Kingdom, with severe penalties. The fine of 200 Solidi for grave robbing was more than 15 times the value of a customary grave furnishing, i.e. the risk far outweighed the potential material gain. In the east of the kingdom, in the Rhine and Meuse region, the value of a typical farmstead was about 50 Solidi, including its livestock worth an average of 18 Solidi. According to the regulations of the time, fines that exceeded the value of a convicted offender’s property had to be paid by his relatives. Grave robbing would therefore have had a great impact not only on the perpetrator, but also on his family. It was not an economically viable offence. However, these high fines only applied if the deceased and the perpetrator came from different family groups; they did not apply to offences committed within the same kin group. From a legal and economic point of view, it is therefore likely that grave openings were mainly carried out by the family / kinship group.

Related data: https://doi.org/10.11588/DATA/SYDGAB