II. THE LEX FRISIONUM.
The tribes conquered by Charlemagne, whose laws we have now to examine, differed from those whose laws and wergelds have been already considered in one important particular. They were not conquering tribes which had migrated into districts already under Roman law.
The conquests of Charlemagne over the Frisians and Saxons were conquests of German tribes settled as of old in their own countries. They were, moreover, conquests of still pagan tribes by Christian and partly Romanised Franks.
Frankish conquest had extended far into Frisian and Westphalian territory under the Merovingian kings. In Frisia Frankish influence was shown by the existence of Merovingian mints at Duurstede.[148] In Westphalia, at Soest and Paderborn, there were already Christian churches under the jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Cologne. But neither the conquest nor the conversion was completed till the time of Charlemagne.
Was the wergeld 160 solidi?
We have already learned from Titles XXXI. and XXXVI. of the Ripuarian law that there were Frisians as well as Saxons, Burgundians, Alamanni, and Bavarians resident in the Ripuarian district. Moreover, it was directly stated that these immigrants were to be judged, not by Ripuarian law, but by their own law and custom. Further, being often isolated and without kindred near them to swear for them, if charged with crime they were to clear themselves by the ordeal of fire or lot. And finally their wergeld was stated to be 160 solidi, the inference being that this was the wergeld of the Frisian freeman in his own country, by the law and custom of which he was to be judged.
So that we approach the text of the Frisian law with this valuable earlier knowledge in our possession. Two centuries before the date to which the collection of Frisian laws is assigned, the Ripuarian law bears witness that the Frisian wergeld was 160 solidi. Even if these clauses were not a part of the original text and did not date back to the sixth century,[149] the inference would be strong, and perhaps all the stronger, that such must have been the wergeld at the later date of the Frisian law. This earlier evidence is important, as, without the clue it gives us and with nothing but the Frisian law to guide us, we might very easily have been led to a wrong conclusion.
The laws are of different dates.
There seems to be no text of the Frisian laws earlier than that published by Herold at Basle in 1557, and he does not state from whence he obtained the text followed by him.[150]
Moreover, it is clear from internal evidence that the laws as we have them are by no means of one single date. They form, in fact, a collection of the customs of the three districts into which Frisia was divided, with modifications and various additions made to the original collection at different times.
At first sight there are inconsistencies in the statements of the wergelds, and, as in other cases, the key to an understanding of them is to be found, to some extent, in close attention to the currencies in which the amounts of the compositions are stated.
It is not necessary to enter into any discussion of the various theories suggested to meet the difficulties caused by the confusion of the various currencies. The knowledge already obtained in the course of this inquiry will, I think, if adhered to, suffice to clear the way sufficiently for our purpose. Bearing in mind that the ‘Lex Frisionum’ as we have it is a compilation with various additions, the inconsistencies in the text will be no surprise provided that the reason for their occurrence is apparent.
The three districts of Frisia and their local solidi.
Frisia was divided into three divisions, and in certain glosses which appear late in the laws[151] we are told that each division had a separate solidus of its own.
(1) Between the Laubach and Weser (the Northern division) the solidus is described as of two denarii, i.e. tremisses, of the nova moneta.[152] This solidus, we shall find, was like that of the Saxon tribes on the Eastern side of the Weser. The solidus, being of two tremisses, contained sixty-four wheat-grains of gold.
(2) In the middle division, between the Laubach and Fli, the solidus is said to have been of three denarii, or tremisses, of the nova moneta,[153] i.e. ninety-six wheat-grains of gold. This solidus is the gold solidus of three tremisses after it had been raised by Charlemagne to the standard of the Eastern Empire.
(3) In the Southern or Western divisions, between the Fli and the Sincfal, the solidus was 2½ denarii or tremisses ad novam monetam, i.e. eighty wheat-grains of gold.[154]
But it seems to be clear that the statements of the wergelds and other fines in earlier clauses of the laws are not made in these local solidi.
Thus in Title XVI. we are told that Inter Laubachi et Sincfalam, i.e. in both Middle and Southern divisions, in cases of homicide the payment to the lord for breach of his peace (de freda) was thirty solidi, ‘which solidus consists of three denarii,’ although the local solidus of the Southern division was that of 2½ tremisses. Sometimes the fines are stated in solidi of three tremisses and sometimes in solidi of 20 to the pound. There is no difficulty, after what we have seen in other laws, in recognising in the solidus of three tremisses the gold solidus, and in the solidus of 20 to the pound the silver solidus of the Frankish Empire.
Again, we at once recognise in the term nova moneta the new standard of Charlemagne, and in the term veteres denarii, which also occurs in the laws, the gold or silver tremisses of the Merovingian currency before the monetary reform of Charlemagne.
All this is exactly what might be expected in laws of somewhat different dates, some of them perhaps going back to the time of the Merovingian conquests, and others following upon the conquests of Charlemagne.
Wergelds in gold solidi under Tit. I.
Having thus so far cleared the way, we pass on to the amounts of the wergelds as stated in the Lex.
Title I. is headed Incipit lex Frisionum, et hæc est simpla compositio de homicidiis. And the wergelds of the three districts as stated in the text and glosses may be tabulated as follows:—
(1) Between the Laubach and the Weser.[155]
| Nobilis | 106 | solidi and | 2 denarii (or tremisses) |
| Liber | 53 | ” ” | 1 denarius |
| Litus | 26½ | ” ” | ½ tremissis |
(2) Between the Laubach and the Fli.[156]
| Nobilis | 80 | solidi | Payable ⅔ to the heir of the slain and ⅓ to his ‘propinqui proximi.’ |
| Liber | 53 | ” | and 1 denarius (i.e. tremissis). |
| Litus | 27 | ” | less 1 denarius (payable to his lord). |
| ” | 9 | ” | less ⅓ denarius payable to the propinqui of the slain. |
(3) Between the Fli and the Sincfal.[157]
| Nobilis | 100 | solidi | } of three denarii [i.e. tremisses] novæ monetæ |
| Liber | 50 | ” | |
| Litus | 25 | ” |
These wergelds, with one exception, are alike throughout, so far as regards the proportions between the three classes. The wergeld of the liber is double that of the litus, and that of the nobilis double that of the liber except in the Middle district, in which the wergeld of the nobilis is only 1½ times that of the liber. In the same district there is an additional payment to the propinqui of the litus, his proper wergeld, half of that of the liber, going to his lord.
It will be observed that in the last district only are the denarii (i.e. tremisses) stated to be novæ monetæ. The inference is that in the other two districts the tremisses, and therefore the solidi, were of the lower Merovingian standard.
The district in which the tremisses were novæ monetæ was the Southern district, first conquered and most thoroughly brought under Frankish influence. The other two districts had apparently not yet so completely come under it.
Accordingly, if we take the 106⅔ solidi of the nobilis of the Northern district to be of Merovingian standard, the result is (106½ × 86·4 wheat-grains) 9216 wheat-grains, or exactly 16 Roman ounces, i.e. the mina called, as we have seen, the Attic mina, which in Scandinavian usage was divided into two gold marks.
The wergeld of the nobilis in the Middle district between the Laubach and the Fli is stated to be 80 solidi instead of 106 solidi and two denarii. But as the wergeld of the liber and litus are the same as those of the Northern district, and therefore also presumably expressed in Merovingian currency, the wergeld of 80 solidi of the nobilis, to be consistent, should also be of the same Merovingian standard. And so it seems to have been, for 80 Merovingian solidi (80 × 86·4 wheat-grains) make exactly the Roman pound of 6912 wheat-grains or 12 Roman ounces, i.e. 1½ gold marks.
In the wergelds of both Northern districts, therefore, an original reckoning in gold marks of the Scandinavian system seems to have been afterwards translated with exactness into an uneven amount and fractions of solidi of the Merovingian standard.
Wergelds in gold marks of the Baltic tribes.
We may therefore state the wergelds of the two districts north of the Zuider Zee in marks of the Scandinavian system thus:
| Nobilis | 2 or 1½ | gold marks. |
| Liber | 1 | ” mark. |
| Litus | ½ | ” mark. |
That these wergelds could be stated thus evenly in gold marks of the Scandinavian system, whilst in Frankish solidi they could be stated only in uneven numbers and fractions, is an interesting fact. It seems to show that the original wergelds went back to a time when the trade intercourse of Northern Frisia was connected mainly with Scandinavia, the Baltic, and the Eastern trade route. In ‘Beowulf’ we found that Frisia was on the horizon of the area included within the vision of the poet, the interest of whose story lay chiefly in the Baltic.
Only one third of 160 solidi.
Now let us compare the wergeld of the liber in these districts, viz. 53 solidi and 1 tremissis of Merovingian currency, with what the statement in the Ripuarian law would lead us to expect it to have been, viz. 160 of the same solidi. It is exactly one third of what it ought to be. And the inference from what we have learned in the last section would be that the maker of the laws had divided the wergeld of ancient custom by three.
But for the moment we pass on to follow further the text of the Frisian laws.
Slave to be paid for at his value.
In s. 11 of Tit. I. it is enacted that if any one, whether nobilis, liber or litus, or servus, shall slay the servus of another, he shall compound for the servus according to his value. And in s. 13 of the same title it is stated that if a slave shall kill either a nobilis or liber or litus, unknown to his lord, the lord of the slave shall swear that he did not order it and pay twice the value of the slave. But if the lord cannot deny that he ordered it he must pay for the homicide as if he had done it with his own hand.
In Title IV. it is again enacted that if any one shall kill the slave of another he shall be compounded for at the value put upon him by his lord. And the same rule is made to apply to the case of a horse, ox, sheep, goat, pig, and all domestic animals, except the dog: they are all to be paid for at the owner’s estimate of value, or the alleged slayer must clear himself with as many oaths as the judge may require.
Value of the dog.
The dog is the only animal whose value is fixed by the law. And its value at first sight was not the same in the several divisions.
| Between Laubach and Sincfal. | Between Laubach and Weser. | |
|---|---|---|
| Dog for hawking | 4 sol. | 8 solidi and 12 |
| Wolfhound accustomed to kill wolves | 3 sol. | |
| Wolfhound which wounds but does not kill | 2 sol. | 8 ” |
| Shepherd dog | 1 sol. | 4 ” |
The difference between the value of the dog in the Northern and the other divisions can hardly be other than one of different currencies. Probably the values for the Northern division may be silver values. It may, however, be remarked in passing that the value of a dog in any case is not lightly to be regarded as excessive. Its high value in the Frisian laws, and also in other laws, shows how dependent the tribes surrounded by forests were upon its help. In the Cymric Codes, as we have seen, the herdsman’s dog was worth as much as an ox. In the Alamannic Laws the shepherd dog which could kill a wolf was valued at 3 gold solidi, or half as much again as the ‘best ox,’[158] and in the Lex Salica the canis pastoricalis[159] was valued at 3 solidi. It is not difficult, therefore, to understand how in Frisia the dog which could kill a wolf should be worth 3 gold solidi, and the ordinary shepherd dog a gold solidus.
We now come to a set of clauses in which the differences between the three districts again appear, and in one of which, viz. again the district between the Laubach and the Weser, we meet with values stated in silver solidi of 20 to the pound, i.e. of twelve pence.
Methods of compurgation and ordeal.
These clauses are interesting as illustrating Frisian methods of compurgation, the ordeal of the lot and of hot water, and trial by battle, all of which evidently belong to ancient tribal custom.
Title XIV. relates to the slaying of a man in a crowd, and describes the means taken to ascertain whose deed it was. Each division had its own custom. That of the Middle district is first described:—
The relative of the slain may summon seven men and charge each of them with the crime, and each is then put upon his oath with eleven co-swearers. Then they are to go to the church, and lots are to be cast upon the altar, or if the church be too far off the lots are to be cast upon relics.
The lots are to be two pieces (tali) cut from a rod and called teni, on one only of which is the sign of the cross, the other being left blank. A clean cloth is to be spread over the altar or the relics, and then the priest (or if none, an innocent boy) ought to take one of the lots from the altar and pray God to show by some evident sign whether those seven who have sworn have sworn truly. If he takes up the lot marked with the cross, then those who have sworn were innocent. But if he takes up the other, then each one of the seven makes his own lot, from a rod, and marks his own sign on it, and so that both he and those standing by can recognise it. And the lots shall be wrapped up in clean cloth and laid upon the altar or relics, and the priest, if he be there, and if not the innocent boy, as above, shall take up each of them one by one from the altar, and shall ask him who knows it to be his own lot. And he whose lot happens to be last shall be compelled to pay the composition for the homicide. The rest, whose lots have already been taken up, are absolved.
But if, in the first trial of the two lots, he takes up the one marked with the cross, the seven shall be innocent, as aforesaid, and he (the accuser), if he wishes, shall summon others for the same homicide, and whoever may be summoned ought to clear himself by complete oath with 11 co-swearers. And this shall be enough for the accuser, nor can he bring any one further to the lot.
This law prevailed between the Laubach and the Fli. But between the Fli and the Sincfal for a case of this kind the following was the custom:—
He who seeks composition for a homicide shall swear on saints’ relics that he will not summon in this matter other than those who are suspected by him of the actual homicide: and then he shall summon for the homicide one or two, or even three or four, or however many there be who have wounded him who was slain. But though there were twenty, or even thirty, yet not more than seven are to be summoned, and each of those summoned shall swear with eleven others, and shall, after the oath has been tested by the judgment of God, show himself innocent by the (ordeal of) boiling water. He who swears first shall go to the ordeal first, and the rest in order. He who shall be found guilty in the ordeal shall pay the composition for the homicide, and to the king twice his own wergeld: the rest of his co-swearers shall be treated as above concerning perjurers.
Between the Laubach and the Weser the following was the custom:—
He who seeks composition for homicide shall summon one man, declaring him to be the homicide of his kinsman, and saying that he ought to pay the ‘leud’ of the slain man. And if he, in reply, says that he is willing to purge himself on oath with his co-swearers, let him who has summoned him as homicide say that he wishes to summon him in placito publico, and let him so do. Let him summon him in placito before judges, and let him who is summoned, if he cannot deny, show another defendant for the homicide of which he is accused. And this ought to be done thus:
Let him produce the man he wishes, and let him swear “he is guilty of the homicide for which I am summoned,” holding him by the hem of his cloak. But if he wishes to deny this oath let him swear and go forth to wager of battle against him. And whichever of them in that battle is conquered (et sibi concrediderit) shall pay the ‘leud’ of the slain. But if he be slain his next heir shall pay the composition of the homicide. But in this battle it is lawful for either to pay a champion for himself if he can find one. If the hired champion is slain, let him who hired him pay sixty solidi (i.e. three libræ) to the king, and over and above pay the ‘leud’ of the slain man.
Wergelds stated in silver.
The payment of sixty solidi—i.e. three libræ—clearly indicates that the solidus of this clause was the Frankish silver solidus of 12d., of which 20 made the pound of silver. And this helps us to understand that the compositions described in the immediately succeeding and closely connected clause are also silver values. (Tit. XV.)
This is the custom in the same region observed for the composition of wergeld:—
| (1) | Composition of a nobilis homo ‘per denarios veteres’ | 11 lbs. |
| (2) | Composition of the liber ‘per denarios veteres’ | 5½ lbs. |
| (3) | Composition of a litus, of which two thirds pertains to the lord, one third to his kinsman | 2 lbs. 9 oz. |
| (4) | Composition of a servus | 1 lb. 4½ oz. |
There can, I think, be no doubt that the libræ of this clause are silver pounds, and further, that as they are stated to be pounds ‘per denarios veteres’ they must be pounds of Merovingian and not of Carlovingian weight.
These silver values equal to the gold ones at the Norse ratio 1:8.
The pounds of this statement are therefore Roman pounds, of 240 Merovingian pence. Let us compare then the wergeld of the liber of 5½ such pounds of silver with the wergeld of the liber as stated in Tit. I., which we saw was equivalent to one mark of gold. Following the Scandinavian ratio of 1:8, the mark of 8 ounces of gold would equal 64 ounces of silver—i.e. 5⅛ pounds instead of 5½. The silver wergeld of the nobilis would equal 10⅔ pounds instead of 11. The reckoning is rough, but near enough to justify the conclusion that what was aimed at was the nearest even pound of silver, and that therefore the wergeld of the one statement is the equivalent of the wergeld of the other statement.
At the same time the fact of the reckoning being throughout in Roman, i.e. Merovingian pounds, and not in those of Charlemagne’s nova moneta, is instructive. It shows that this clause belongs to the period during which the silver currency was pushing its way into Frisia. A reckoning in silver had become necessary, although, as we happen to know, the Frisians had a special liking for gold. They continued to coin gold much longer than the Franks, and some years later than the date of the laws. The Frisians were in close contact with the mint at Duurstede, which was in fact the commercial metropolis of the North at the date of the laws. The mint at Duurstede continued to coin gold coins till the city was destroyed by the ravages of the Northmen in A.D. 837, and it was from these Duurstede Frisian coins that the types were taken of the first Scandinavian coinage.[160] In the meantime the close connection between Frisia and the Scandinavian district is quite sufficient to account for the Scandinavian ratio of 1:8 being the one used in the translation of the gold wergeld of the district next to the Weser into a silver equivalent.
The wergelds in the local gold solidi.
Let us now at last translate the wergelds of the three Frisian districts, as stated in Tit. I. in gold solidi of three tremisses, back again into what they must have been when reckoned in the local solidi. If originally they were reckoned in these local solidi the result should be in even numbers.
Between the Laubach and the Weser.
| Nobilis (9216 w.g.) | = | 144 | solidi | of 2 tremisses or 2 gold marks. |
| Liber (4608 w.g.) | = | 72 | ” | or 1 gold mark. |
| Litus (2304 w.g.) | = | 36 | ” | or ½ a gold mark. |
Between the Laubach and the Fli.
| Nobilis (6912 w.g.) | = | 72 | solidi | of 3 tremisses or 1½ gold mark. |
| Liber (4608 w.g.) | = | 48 | ” | or 1 gold mark. |
| Litus (2304 w.g.) | = | 24 | ” | or ½ a gold mark. |
Between the Fli and the Sincfal.
| Nobilis (9600 w.g.) | = | 120 | solidi of 2½ tremisses. |
| Liber (4800 w.g.) | = | 60 | ” ” |
| Litus (2400 w.g.) | = | 30 | ” ” |
It is interesting to observe that the wergelds of the two districts north of the Zuider Zee, when translated back again into local solidi, turn out to have been in even numbers of such solidi, as well as in even gold marks of the Scandinavian district, whilst those of the Southern district, most under Frankish influence, make even numbers of the local solidus but not of the mark.
When these Frisian wergelds in local solidi are regarded in connection with the fact that the wergelds on the east or Saxon side of the Weser were, as we shall find, also paid in a local solidus, and that this Saxon local solidus, like the solidi of the North Frisian district, was of two tremisses, and further that it represented the value of the one-year-old bullock, we are led to conjecture that the Frisian local solidi also may have represented the animal in which the wergelds were originally reckoned and paid. And this may perhaps be confirmed by the fact that, down to comparatively modern times, the East Frisian silver currency consisted chiefly of the gulden and its one-tenth the schaap. Possibly the gulden of this silver currency may point back to a time when the ‘gold piece’ was reckoned of the value of ten sheep.[161] But this is conjecture only. The dog, as we have seen, was the only animal whose value was fixed in the laws.
Why only one third of 160 solidi?
The fact that the gold and the silver values of the wergelds of titles I. and XV. of the lex seem to correspond leads up once more to the difficult question why the wergeld of the liber should be exactly one third of what the Ripuarian law apparently declared it to have been.
Richthofen, in his preface and notes to the Frisian laws in the edition of Pertz, points out that in later additions to the laws there is a curious duplication and triplication of figures which has to be accounted for. The facts seem to be these:—
In Tit. XXII. De Dolg, relating to the Middle district and forming part of the more ancient law, the fines for wounding are first given for the liber, and then an explanation is made in the Epilogue that those for the nobilis were one third higher and those for the litus one half less. The composition for the eye is stated to be half the wergeld.
Fines and perhaps wergelds trebled afterwards.
Then, under the heading Additio Sapientium, Tit. II., the amount for the hand is stated to be ‘25 solidi et 5 denarii.’ And after the mention of the amounts for the several fingers are the words, ‘Hoc totum in triplo componantur.’ The payments for hand and eye are generally alike, and three times 25 solidi and 5 denarii = 80 solidi, i.e. half a wergeld of 160 solidi.
Immediately following these words Tit. III. begins with the statement that the foot entirely cut off is to be compounded for as the hand, i.e. by 53 solidi and 1 tremissis, being double the previous amount. The payment for the eye put out is ‘ter quadraginta solidi,’ i.e. 120 solidi. Then whilst in the title De Dolg the ear is valued at 12 solidi, in Tit. III. of the Additio it is valued at ‘ter duodecim solidi.’ Again, according to the title De Dolg, if both testicles were destroyed, the whole wergeld was to be paid: and in Title III. of the Additio the fine has become ter 53 solidi and 1 tremissis, three times the wergeld of the liber in Tit. I.
It is not needful to pursue the comparison further than to point out that Richthofen had some reason at any rate to form the opinion that in the additions to the law made, as he thinks, after A.D. 785 and probably about A.D. 802, the wergelds were trebled, as well as some of the payments for wounds; and that the inference from the Ripuarian laws that the Frisian wergeld was 160 solidi was therefore correct.[162]
So far Richthofen’s contention is, I think, a correct one.
But what was the reason of this trebling of the wergeld in the additions to the laws?
The wergeld of ‘liber’ was probably 160 solidi.
Was it that the ancient wergelds were originally one third of those of neighbouring tribes and trebled at some auspicious moment to make them correspond with others; or have we not rather to do with the results of that confusion in the currency which was caused by the endeavour to force into use the silver solidus of 12 pence as the equivalent of the gold solidus?
This conjecture standing by itself on the evidence of these laws alone would be too hazardous to build upon, and it is not necessary to consider it further in this place. The matter of chief importance is that, all things considered, there seems to be fairly sufficient evidence that the wergelds of Tit. I. represent the ancient wergelds divided by three, and that accordingly we may take the wergeld of the liber in the two Northern districts of Frisia to have been three gold marks or 160 Merovingian gold solidi,[163] as stated in the Ripuarian laws.
Division of wergeld among grades of kindred.
With regard to the distribution or division of the wergeld amongst the relations of the person slain, the laws mention only the custom of the Middle districts, according to which two thirds of the wergeld went to the heir of the slain and one third ‘ad propinquos proximos.’ They give no information as to how the ‘propinqui proximi’ divided their third amongst themselves, or to what grade of kinship this class of relations extended.
Happily, however, Dr. Brunner, in his informing essay on ‘Sippe und Wergeld’ already quoted, has been able to supplement the meagre information given by the laws as to wergelds with further details gained from later local sources.
In his section (p. 25) on ‘Die Friesen zwischen Zuidersee und Weser,’ he gives an illustration of the way in which under later custom the payment of the wergeld was divided amongst the relations of the slain. He states that the North Frisian tale, i.e. the third share which the kindred had to pay, was known as the mentele or meitele (magzahl).
Later example.
In a legal document of ‘Westerlauwersches Friesland’ the mentele of the kindred is described as 4 lbs. 5 oz. 6⅔d., and the erbsühne, or two thirds to be paid by the heirs, as 8 lbs. 10 oz. 13⅓ pfennig. The pound, we are told, is 12 oz. of 20d., so that here we have clearly Frankish currency and silver. The third and the two thirds together make a whole wergeld of 13 lbs. 4 oz. of silver. Now in the first place if, as we probably should do, we were to consider this wergeld to be stated in pounds and ounces of Charlemagne’s nova moneta, it would be not very far from treble the amount of the wergeld of the liber in Titles I. and XV. of the laws. And this, so far as it goes, confirms the Ripuarian statement that the ancient Frisian wergeld was one of 160 solidi.[164]
Let us now see how the third falling on the kindred was divided.
The one third of the mentele of the kindred (moeg) was divided thus:—
| lbs. | oz. | p. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (1) | The brother, or if none, the brother’s son, or if none, the sister’s son | 0 | 12 | 0 |
| (2) | The uncle on the father’s side (fedria) | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| The uncle on the mother’s side (eem) | 0 | 4 | 0 | |
| Or in default of these the cousins of the slain, or in default the cousins of the uncles. | ||||
| (3) | The eftersusterbern or cousins descendants of grandparents: | |||
| (a) On the side of the father’s grandfather | 0 | 3 | 8 | |
| (b) On the side of the father’s grandmother | 0 | 3 | 8 | |
| (c) On the side of the mother’s grandfather | 0 | 2 | 5 | |
| (d) On the side of the mother’s grandmother | 0 | 2 | 5 | |
| (4) | The rest falls on the cousins—the eight stems which descend from the great grandparents | |||
| The four stems from father’s side | 0 | 7 | 12 | |
| ” ” mother’s side | 0 | 7 | 8 | |
| 4 | 3 | 6 |
This interesting illustration of the payment of a Frisian wergeld, though of later date than the laws, confirms the statement in the laws that in its division the immediate heirs of the slain took two thirds and the propinqui proximi one third. It shows that at a later date the immediate ‘erbsühne’ was two-thirds, and the share of the kindred one third. And it adds the important point that the kindred who paid, and by inference shared in the receipt of the one third, were confined to the descendants of the great-grandparents, both paternal and maternal, of the slayer or of the slain.