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This set of laws determined matters such as inheritance, crime, murder, and so forth in a kingdom with diverse groups and ethnicities.
The laws went into extreme details concerning damages to be paid in fines for injuries to person or to goods, such as slaves, and for theft and unproven insults. One third of the fine went to court costs. Interpretation of the laws was put in charge of a jury of peers.
The great detail of the laws and what we retain of their interpretations give interesting insights in Frankish society.
One provision of the Salic Law continued to play a role in European politics during the Middle Ages and beyond. Concerning the inheritance of land, the Salic Law provided
As actually interpreted by the Salian Franks, the law simply prohibited women from inheriting Salic land, and under Chilperic I, the law was actually amended to permit inheritance of land by a daughter if a man had no surviving sons. However, during the Hundred Years' War, French jurists resurrected the long-defunct Salic Law and re-interpreted it to forbid not only inheritance by a woman but inheritance through a female line in order to disqualify the claim of Edward III of England and his descendants to the French throne.
Notwithstanding the Salic Law, when Francis II of Brittany died in 1488 without male issue, his daughter Anne succeeded him and ruled as duchess of Brittany until her death in 1514.
This law by no means covered all matters of inheritance -- only those lands considered "Salic" -- and there is still debate as to the legal definition of this word, although it is generally accepted to refer to lands in the royal fisc. Only several hundred years later, under the CapetianThe direct Capetian Dynasty followed the Carolingian rulers of France from 987 to 1328. From 1328 to 1830, with the interruption of the French Revolution, kings of France from the Valois and Bourbon Dynasty cadet branches of the Capetian family ruled. kings of France and their English contemporaries who held lands in France, did Salic law become a rationale for enforcing or debating succession. By then somewhat anachronistic (there were no Salic lands, since the Salian monarchy was long dead), the law was resurrected by Philip VPhilippe V, the Tall ( 1293 January 3, 1322) was King of France from 1317 to 1322, a member of the Capetian dynasty. He was the second son of King Philippe IV and Jeanne of Navarre. Philippe became regent for his infant nephew King Jean I, and when Jean l to support his claim to the throne by removing his niece Jeanne from the succession, following the death of his nephew JohnJean I ( November 15, 1316 November 20, 1316) (called John the Posthumous) was King of France for the five days he lived. He was born a king on November 15, 1316, a member of the Capetian dynasty and the posthumous son of King Louis X and Clemence of Hung. When the CapetianThe direct Capetian Dynasty followed the Carolingian rulers of France from 987 to 1328. From 1328 to 1830, with the interruption of the French Revolution, kings of France from the Valois and Bourbon Dynasty cadet branches of the Capetian family ruled. line ended, the law was contested by England, providing a putative motive for the Hundred Years' War.
ShakespeareWilliam Shakespeare born April 1564; baptised April 26, 1564; died April 23, 1616 ( O. May 3, 1616 ( N. has a reputation as the greatest writer the English language has ever known. Indeed, the English Renaissance has often been called "the age of Shakespe uses the Salic law as a plot device in his play Henry VHenry V is a play by William Shakespeare based on the life of King Henry V of England. It deals only with the events immediately before and after the Battle of Agincourt during the Hundred Years War. It is important to note that the play was one of a seri, and states that it was upheld by the French to bar the claim of Henry V from the throne of France. The play Henry V starts with the Archbishop of CanterburyThe Archbishop of Canterbury is a bishop of the Church of England. His see is the Diocese of Canterbury and his episcopal chair ('cathedra') is at Canterbury Cathedral. He is the most senior bishop of the Church of England and of the worldwide Anglican Co being asked if Henry's claim can be upheld despite the law. The Archbishop says that it is not a French law but a German one.The Salic law is responsible for some interesting chapters of history. The Carlist Wars occurred in Spain over the question of whether the heir to the throne should be a woman or a male relative. The War of the Austrian Succession was triggered by the Pragmatic sanction in which Charles VI of Austria, who himself had inherited the Austrian patrimony over his nieces because of Salic Law, attempted to ensure the succession of/ to forward the inheritance directly to his own daughter Maria Theresa of Austria.
The British and Hanoverian thrones separated after the death of King William IV of the United Kingdom and of Hanover. Hanover practiced the Salic law, while Britain did not. King William's niece Victoria ascended the throne of Great Britain and Ireland, but the throne of Hanover went to William's brother Ernest, Duke of Cumberland; Salic law was also an important issue in the Schleswig-Holstein question.
In the Channel Islands (the only part of the former duchy of Normandy still held by the British Crown) Queen Elizabeth II is traditionally ascribed the title of Duke (never Duchess) of Normandy. The influence of Salic law is presumed to explain why she is toasted as "Our Queen the Duke." The argument would similarly apply in the Isle of Man where she holds the title of Lord of Man.
See also: Hundred Years' War