For example, in the Chronica Farfensis[40] appears a case judged by
Hildeprandus, _dux_ of Spoleto, in the year 787. A certain nun named
Alerona, for having married a man named Rabennonus, "secundum legem
omnis substantia ipsius ad Publicum devoluta est"; a little later
Rabennonus, for having killed a man, "medietas omnis illius
substantiae ad Publicum devoluta est." In consequence, in poetic
justice and for the good of his soul and the king's, Hildeprandus
quite arbitrarily presents "omnem praedictam illorum substantiam,
qualiter secundum legem juste et rationabiliter, ad Publicum devoluta
est," to the Monastery of Farfa "pro mercede Domnorum nostrorum Regum
et nostra." Here, as in many other cases, we see the _dux_ making
gifts of property belonging clearly to the _publicum_, to persons
favored by him and for his own benefit. Such a condition of affairs
would certainly never have existed had public property been
administered by authority other than that of the _dux_.
With regard to the revenues falling under the second of the rough
divisions we have indicated--taxes and privileges--it is easier to see
why differences of opinion should have arisen; for here, especially in
matters relating to the collecting of taxes and dues, we are
confronted with the names of a large number of lesser officials and
subordinates of the _judex_, some of which are undoubtedly taken from
the like officers existing in the old Roman curial system.
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