CAPITULARY, (Lat. capitula, "chapters"), a writing divided into heads or chapters, es pecially a law or regal enactment so divided into heads. Laws known by this designation were promulgated by Childebert, Clothaire, Car loman and Pepin, kings of France; but no sovereign seems to have put forth so many of them as the Emperor Charlemagne, who appears to have wished to effect, in a certain degree, a uniformity of law throughout his extensive dominions. With this view it is supposed he added to the existing codes of feudal laws many other laws, divided or arranged under small chapters or heads, sometimes to explain, sometimes to amend, and sometimes to reconcile or remove the differences between them. These were generally promulgated in public assemblies composed of the sovereign and the chief men of the nation, both ecclesiastical and secular. They regulated equally the spiritual and tem poral administration of the kingdom; and the execution of them was entrusted to the bishops, the courts and the missi regii, officers so called because they were sent by the French kings of the first and second race to dispense law and justice in' the provinces. Many copies of these capitularies were made, one of which was generally preserved in the royal archives. The authority of the capitularies was very extensive. It prevailed in every kingdom under the do minion of the Franks, and *as submittedlo in many parts of Italy and Germany. The earliest
collection of the capitularies is that of Ansegise, abbot of Fontenelle. It was adopted by Louis the Debonnaire and Charles the Bald, and was publicly approved of in many councils of France and Germany. But as Ansigise had omitted many capitularies in his collection, Benedict, the Levite or deacon of the church of Mentz, added three books to them (before 858). Each of the collections was considered to be au thentic, and of course was appealed to as law. Subsequent additions have been made to them. The best editions of them are those of Baluze,