CAPIT'ULARIES ( Fr. capitulaire, Med. Lat. capitulare, from chapter, from caput, head). A term used for the orders and consti tutions published by the Frankish kings. The name was derived from the fact that these con stitutions were divided into chapters (Lat. capi tutu). It is probable that the eapitularies were usually the personal work of the ruler. assisted by his councilors; but in some cases the assem bly of was consulted, and for one class (see below) the a--ent of the people was neces sary. Only nine capitularies of the Merovingian rulers are extant. Those of the Carolingians, especially those of Charles the Great, are very numerous. They may be divided roughly into three classes: (1) Constitutions for the whole Empire, regulating the military service. admin istration, finance, and justice. the relation: with the Church, and the personal conduet of the sub jects. (2) Sp•eial constitutions intended to com plete or modify the law of some one of the peoples in the Empire. These were called Oda sc s•rib• wig, and for them the assent of the people concerned was necessary. (3) Capit ularies for the »/issi, i.e. the special itinerant officials whose duty it was to act as the ininw dhite representatives of the Emperor. Sonic
times these were personal instructions: at other times, general orders to he promulgated to the people.
During the reign of Louis the Pious, Ansegisel, Abbot of Finitenelle, made a collection of the existing ea pan].) ries. A little later (before 858), Benedict the Levite published a second collec tion, which purported to contain the capitularies and some canons of councils. In reality it is made up of extracts from many sources, chiefly canon law, Roman law, and cap itularies. There has been much controversy about this subject, and there seems to be some oninection between his collection and the False Deeretals. There It ere three other incomplete eollections of little importance made soon after. Of modern editions there are four: Baluze, Capitularia lecgum Fran corum (Paris. 1677 and 1780) ; V\ alter, Corpus Ju•is Germaniei »aqui (3 vols., Berlin, 1824), in which the capitularies are contained in the second and third volumes; Pert z, Mona m en to Germania' 11isro,ica, ',eyes, Vols. 1 and 1I. (Han over, 1835-37) ; and Bo•etius, id. Legum t8cctio 11., Vols. i and II. (Hanover, 1883-97). The last is by far the best.