fredum

Forms

fredum n (genitive fredī); second declension^[1] Also masculine fredus and feminine freda.^[1][2] Spellings include fridum, fretum, fradum, frodium and freum.^[1][3]

Etymology

It is a Germanic word,^[2] from Old High German fridu (“peace”) according to the MLW.^[1] Köbler compares Proto-Germanic *friþuz (“love, friendship, peace”),^[3] and the DMLBS compares Old English frith.^[4] Du Cange explained it as the fine by which an offender obtained peace again, since ⟨frid⟩ meant peace in German.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It appears in the Frankish laws, the Lex Salica and the Lex Ribuaria, which Köbler dates to the 8th century,^[3][1] for a fine paid to the public authority.^[2][1]

Semantic evolution

Niermeyer explains it as a fine paid to the public power on top of the compensation owed to the injured party: at first a reward for the authority's help in restoring the peace, later a penalty for breaking the law.^[2] It could also mean a corporal punishment inflicted in place of this fine, and was used as a synonym of bannus, a fine for an offence against public authority.^[2][3]

The MLW records the wider sense of a tax or levy,^[1][3] and the Lex Ribuaria already forbids a royal judge to exact it in certain cases.^[1] A charter of 970 in the DMLBS likewise forbids anyone to demand freda or banni.^[4]

Timeline

• 8th century – The Lex Salica and the Lex Ribuaria use it for the fine owed to the public authority.^[3][1]
• 970 – A charter preserved in a 12th-century copy forbids the exaction of freda and banni.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A fine paid to the public authority in addition to the compensation owed to the injured party.^[2][1]
2. A corporal punishment inflicted in place of this fine.^[2][3]
3. A fine for an offence against public authority, the same as bannus.^[2]
4. A tax or levy.^[1][3][4]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c d Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
5. ^ du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre