Lex Antiqua Valachorum

Lex Antiqua Valachorum, meaning "Ancient Wallachian Law", also called Jus Valahicum/Valachorum ("the
Wallachian Right"), represents a collection of the Romanian pre-statal judicial system, with afferent juridical
rituals, customs and traditions, kept and transmitted from generation to generation
In the Romanian lands
!onsidered holy, this system was known as "Legea pmntului"""Obiceiul Pmntului" ("the #arth$s Law"),
"Legea rii" ("the Law of the !ountry") or "Legea Strbuna" ("the Ancient Law") in the Romanian language
%ost pro&a&ly this set of laws de'eloped in the #arly %iddle Ages, when the nati'es, not part of any local
statal entities of their own, had to find way to interact to each other and with the military dominant nomadic
tri&es which swept the lands during the Age of %igrations (see #arly %iddle Ages in Romania) (he first
Romanian Law !ode)es, such as those of Ale)andru cel *un, +asile Lupu, %atei *asara& (Pravila e la
!ovora - ,-./0 "nreptarea Legii - ,-12), 3rigore !allimachi (#oul #alimachi0 ,4,5), 6oan 3heorghe
!aragea (Legiuirea lui #aragea0 ,4,4) left "maneu'er" space for the power of these laws, and directly referred
to it, regarding other sensiti'e laws 6n Romania, the position of the laws had maintained powerful well until the
,7th century, &ut after the appearance of the !i'il !ode of ,4-., it$s powers were refrained, although some
articles (such as 1.4, -//, -/5, ,81,, ,.1-, ,..8), still referred directly to it
Content and description
(he laws concerning property are a&out the relationship &etween man and the land administration, regarding
fields and crops, pastures, forests, roads, etc, norms regarding the agricultural works9 culti'ating soil and
raising li'estock, logging, the work hierarchy, etc
(he laws also concerned the social organisation of the population, of patriarchal pyramidal scheme, whose
le'els although estimated on competence, were isolated with an o&jecti'e criteria9 the age At the &ase was the
undefined (whole) mass of 'illage inha&itants, in charge with tasks of general interest At a superior le'el there
were the unmarried youths &etween ,5 and 2- years old, grouped according to spiritual characteristics in a 'ery
disciplined manner, and lead &y an elected chieftain called "jude" which sometimes wore :oomorphic masks
(hey had to carry certain taks and rituals (calendaristic9 solstice or e;uino) rituals, such as the "!olindat" ritual,
agrarian rituals, eg9 the "!ununa", pastoral rituals, eg9 "Roata de <oc", religious rituals, eg9 the "!=lu>ari",
or pseudo-military, eg9 "Arca>ii", "?unii", "@oimii" rituals, the Aaiduc &ands, etc) and they are still do (he
pyramid$s ne)t le'el was constituted &y the married, esta&lished men, and culminated with the "!eata
*=trBnilor" (the "Cld men$s !lan"), gathered into a council, with e)tended prerogati'es9 care for the
perpetuation and unaltered preser'ation of ancient ha&its and customs, and assuring the complete respect of the
"Ancient Law" Dsually, the judgement was done in front of the elders, starting from the dawn until dusk (he
sentences, such as mild or hea'y physical punishments, e)pulsion from the 'illage or e'en death, were
respected &y all inha&itants
Among other concepts, without modern recognised corespondents, were the law of hospitality, the law of
humanity, the law of purity, the law of family relations and organi:ations, etc
Transylvania
As part of the Aungarian Eingdom the Romanians had the right to administrate themsel'es, as done in
%aramure>, Fara Aategului, etc Glowly, feudal systems were imposed, such as the ,1,1 $ripartitum of 6st'Hn
+er&oc:y, and later with other judicial codes, such as the Aa&s&urg one
(he Wallachian Law had greatly influenced the G:Ikelys, during the centuries old coha&itation with
Romanians, from which they inherited many of the ancient judicial characteristics9 administration and judicial
'illage forums, the organisations into "Geats" (S%&' in Aungarian language, Scaune in Romanian Language), the
'illage judge and juries, etc
Outside the Romanian lands
Jus Valahicum
%any Romanians were shepherds in the medie'al times, dri'ing their sheep through the mountains of
Goutheastern #urope !alled "+lachs" &y the sla'ic peoples, these shepherds as they penetrated into the
medie'al states of the times, ( they did not penetrated anywere, they were the original inha&itants of the land at
the time of the penetration of the migrations and of the esta&lishment of the sla'ic states JW%) had to find
ways to integrate into the <eudal society, yet at the same time successfully tried to preser'e and to continue
using their own set of laws
6t was in these circumstances that the "?us +alachicum" ("the Wallachian right") had de'eloped in relation with
the states they found themsel'es, a relation primarily &ased on the main occupation of these +lachs, that is
transhumance The Vlachs could freely use their own udicial system! as opposed to the official one" In
exchan#e for these privile#es! the Vlachs had military o$i#ations! of #uardin# and protectin# the $orders
and mountainous areas! and even as militia! protectin# the populations a#ainst thieves and $andits" The
Vlachs were also char#ed with specific taxes! most typical $ein# the sheep fiftieth tax"
(he +lach Law was officially regognised as used &y9
%ora'ian +lachs
3orals
%orlachs
In %er$ia! the Vlachs were su$ordonate only to the &in#! or sometimes! to monasteries on the lands they
found themselves" In many cases! the only requested o$li#ation was the payment of metaya#e for #ra'in#
on the properties of the monastery" The fact that the Vlachs lived accordin# to their own set of laws is the
fact that they did not had a status on the (eudal pyramid! $ein# only tolerated shepherds! unli)e the rest
of the population! who were re#ular serfs on the estates" (o &e permitted to gra:e their sheep on the territory
of the estates, they were o&liged to also gra:e the sheep of the estate and to gi'e each year a female sheep with
her lam& out of fifty sheep (the ";uin;uagesima") (he landlords had to pay ta)es according to the num&er of
+lachs li'ing on their territory
Jnumerous documents (hriso's) written &y kings and no&lemen during the ,2th to ,1th centuries, present the
situation of these +lachs in raport with the state 6n the hriso's of Kri:ren, the o&ligations of the +lachs within
the Ger&ia, who were su&jects to the king, are stated9 each of them had to gi'e each year, out of 1/ sheep, one
sheep with a lam& and a cow0 and each second year a horse (heir situation &ecame more clearly defined when
the Ger&ian lords started to make laws concerning them Guch laws or statutes were made at first for the +lachs
of the monasteries of Lusano'ac (near Jegotin,Gtate9 *or),Gtudenica and %ilose'o (heir o&ligations are,
howe'er, clearly shown &y the so called "law of the +lachs", found in the hriso' of *anja and in two of !:ar
Lusan$s donations, those from +ranje and Kri:ren 6n general, the +lachs pro'ided all the products of gra:ing
and also with all kinds of transports facilities
6n Koland (see 3orals), the special character of the Romanian 'illages was gi'en &y the "?us +alachicum", and
had to respect stated certain norms to &e recognised &y the feudal lord Among these, most important was the
need for a cnea: in front of a 'illage, ha'ing a "jurisdiction" (ethnic and territorial range within which he could
apply the Le) +alachorum), economical o&ligations, and used as "interface" &etween the community and the
lord (he peasant had the right to &e treated according to the jus +alachicum also in case he mo'ed to another
'illage (hus, the "+lach right" had an economic part and a juridical one, which could not &e 'iolated 6n
relation with the state own tools of imposing and assuring of the respect of the law, the +lachs usual reply was9
"(ake me to your lord 6 possed the +lach right" (he +lachs protested against those who "dared to interfere
and 'iolate the recogni:ed pri'ileges of the +lachs", as stated in a document from the year ,..5 6n the course
of time, howe'er, the use of it has decreased until it disappeared
6n the !:ech lands the +lachs re&elled when the Aa&s&urgs tried to put an end to their pri'ileges
As +lachs num&ers increased and acti'ely in'ol'ed into the political life of the states they found themsel'es,
the term had come to mean a juristic institutions regulating the economy and way of life of the peoples who
li'ed a transhumant life style, hence applied not e)clusi'ely to the mem&ers of encla'es inha&ited &y a
Romanian speaking population (he fact is corro&orated with the phenomenon of losing the Romanian
language and the adoption of another language as they mo'ed further and further, &eing a&sor&ed in the mass of
the surrounding peoples, and it is the main reason for this new appliance of the term "?us +alahicum" (his has
led to the use of the "+lach Law" &y people later nominated as Ger&s, Ruthenians, Glo'aks, etc
The Vlach contri$ution to the shapin# of modern identities of west *al)an states li)e +ontene#ro!
%er$ia! and *osnia is very important" (or example! in +ontene#ro durin# the Ottoman conquest the
land was devastated and depopulated" There followed a steady inflow of Vlach herdsmen from *osnia
,which in their turn came from western Transylvania and *anat in the -.th and --th century/! or#ani'ed
in their pastoral cantons ,ctun/" The inter$lendin# of these newcomers and the remainin# peasants
livin# in the sedentary lowland viila#es produced a territorially constituted tri$al society0 to this
community the "village brought a feeling for legal order, while the katun introduced the blood feud, respect
for the word of honor, hospitality, and the cult of brotherhood by adoption"! $asically the same Lex Antiqua
Valachorum"