Deditio

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

In ancient Rome, deditio was the surrender of an enemy community, resulting in the annexation of its territory. The people of the community became peregrini dediticii, free noncitizens under Roman rule.[1]

The

by custom.[3]

Medieval Europe

In

escalation of conflict.[5]

The deditio took place in public.[6] The individual performing the deditio was required to demonstrate his self-humiliation by removing his shoes, donning a penitential robe, or copiously weeping. He was then to throw himself at the feet of the king, begging the king do with him as he would. The king would then raise the supplicant from the ground and show forgiveness with a kiss or a hug. Following a brief symbolic term of imprisonment, the supplicant would then have his previous obligations and offices restored to him in a display of magnanimity by the king.[7]

Nothing about this ceremony was spontaneous. The terms under dispute had been fully discussed, explained, clarified, and agreed upon in confidence by the mediators. The deditio was the carefully staged outcome of these negotiations.[8][9] The mediators were in most cases the most influential men in the kingdom and were not bound by the king's instructions. Their involvement therefore served as an important constraint on the arbitrary exercise of royal power during the early and high Middle Ages. Their purpose was to show the conflicting parties a way forward by proposing solutions that could be acceptable to both sides.[10] When the king violated an agreement previously entered into, it was not unusual for the mediators to intervene on behalf of the wronged party.

References

  1. ^ Adolph Berger, s.v. "Deditio", Encyclopedic Dictionary of Roman Law (American Philosophical Society, 1953), p. 427.
  2. ^ L. De Ligt, "Provincial Dediticii in the Epigraphic Lex Agraria of 111 BC?" Classical Quarterly 58:1 (2008), pp. 358–359, citing Livy 1.38.
  3. ^ De Ligt, "Provincial Dediticii," p. 359.
  4. ISBN 978-90-474-3337-8
    .
  5. doi:10.2298/ZRVI1350493V. Archived from the original
    (PDF) on 2016-02-16.
  6. ^ Gerd Althoff, Die Macht der Rituale. Symbolik und Herrschaft im Mittelalter (Darmstadt 2003), pp. 13, 32, 42, 53-57, 68, 76-83, 108, 133, 136, 154, 170-187.
  7. ^ Gerd Althoff: Das Privileg der deditio. Formen gütlicher Konfliktbeendigung in der mittelalterlichen Adelsgesellschaft. In: Ders.: Spielregeln der Politik im Mittelalter. Kommunikation in Frieden und Fehde. Darmstadt 1997, pp. 27-52, 99–125
  8. ^ Gerd Althoff: "Colloquium familiare – Colloquium secretum – Colloquium publicum. Beratung im politischen Leben des früheren Mittelalters", in: Frühmittelalterliche Studien vol. 24 (1990) pp. 145–167.
  9. ^ Timothy Reuter (2001). "Rules of the game in Medieval Politics" (PDF). book review of a volume of eleven articles - most of which had already been individually published in learned journals - by Gerhard Althoff. Max Weber Stiftung – Deutsche Geisteswissenschaftliche Institute im Ausland (German Historical Institute London Bulletin), Bonn. pp. 40–46. Retrieved 18 November 2020.
  10. ^ Gerd Althoff (2011). Das hochmittelalterliche Königtum. Akzente einer unabgeschlossenen Neubewertung. pp. 77–98, 82, 99–125.
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