Etymologically
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fredum

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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