Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: COMMENTARY TO THE GERMANIC LAWS AND MEDIAEVAL DOCUMENTS SOCIO FISCO In the Theodosian Code there is mention of certain fines which are to be paid to the fiscus, and the formulae in which these fines occur run in stereotyped forms through the documents of the Middle Ages. The expression Sinceritas tua reiectum quinque libras auri fisco utilitatibus cogat inferre, 1 to which the Interpretatio says quinque libras fisco inferre cogatur, 2 has given rise to the formula cogente fisco. 3 Since it was a mere phrase without any very distinct meaning, it has been strengthened by the redundant coactus, and for cogente fisco another equivalent phrase could be put, such as distringente,6 indiscutienti,6 egenti,7 posito 8 fisco, which was still further expanded or corrupted into cum fisco,g una cumfisco,1 servanti una cum fisco,2 una cum cogente fisco.3 Apparently the vague idea connected with such a formula was this: that one was to pay by compulsion of the fiscus, or, since the stipulatio duplae was divided up with the fiscus, that both the person in question and the fiscus were to be paid, as is frequently mentioned more specifically,4 wher- fore also the combination inter tibi et fisco is met with.5 1 i. 9.1. Similarly 1.11.1, vi. 28. 4, vi. 30.10, nc. 17. 4, Is. 21. 4, xiv. 3. 20. 2 Ibid., and n. 23. 1 The ablative absolute is already to be found in Cod. Theod. in. 1: fisco vindicante. 4 Deinde cogente fisco auri libras 15. argenti pondera 30. coactus exsolvat (858), Ducange, sub fiscus. 6 Qui hoc agere temptaverit, inferat cum distringente fisco argenti pondera v, aurique libram unam coactus exsolvat (813), Devic and Vaissete, His- toire de Languedoc, vol. n, Preuves, col. 79. 6
Indiscutieni fisco multa conponat (764), Urkundenbuch der Abtei Sanct Goll…
