The Spirit of Laws

by Charles de Montesquieu

CONTENTS

Preface

Advertisement

Book I. Of Laws in General

1. Of the Relation of Laws to Different Beings

2. Of the Laws of Nature

3. Of Positive Laws

Book II. Of Laws Directly Derived from the Nature of Government

1. Of the Nature of the Three Different Governments

2. Of the Republican Government, and the Laws in Relation to Democracy

3. Of the Laws in Relation to the Nature of Aristocracy

4. Of the Relation of Laws to the Nature of Monarchical Government

5. Of the Laws in Relation to the Nature of a Despotic Government

Book III. Of the Principles of the Three Kinds of Government

1. Difference Between the Nature and Principle of Government

2. Of the Principle of Different Governments

3. Of the Principle of Democracy

4. Of the Principle of Aristocracy

5. That Virtue Is Not the Principle of a Monarchical Government

6. In What Manner Virtue Is Supplied in a Monarchical Government

7. Of the Principle of Monarchy

8. That Honour Is Not the Principle of Despotic Government

9. Of the Principle of Despotic Government

10. Difference of Obedience in Moderate and Despotic Governments

11. Reflections on the Preceding Chapters

Book IV. That the Laws of Education Ought to Be in Relation to the Principles of Government

1. Of the Laws of Education

2. Of Education in Monarchies

3. Of Education in a Despotic Government

4. Difference between the Effects of Ancient and Modern Education

5. Of Education in a Republican Government

6. Of some Institutions among the Greeks

7. In What Cases These Singular Institutions May Be of Service

8. Explanation of a Paradox of the Ancients in Respect to Manners

Book V. That the Laws Given by the Legislator Ought to Be in Relation to the Principle of Government

1. Idea of This Book

2. What Is Meant by Virtue in a Political State

3. What Is Meant by a Love of the Republic in a Democracy

4. In What Manner the Love of Equality and Frugality Is Inspired

5. In What Manner the Laws Establish Equality in a Democracy

6. In What Manner the Laws Ought to Maintain Frugality in a Democracy

7. Other Methods of Favouring the Principle of Democracy

8. In What Manner the Laws Should Relate to the Principle of Government in an Aristocracy

9. In What Manner the Laws Are in Relation to Their Principle in Monarchies

10. Of the Expedition Peculiar to the Executive Power in Monarchies

11. Of the Excellence of a Monarchical Government

12. The Same Subject Continued

13. An Idea of Despotic Power

14. In What Manner the Laws Are in Relation to the Principles of Despotic Government

15. The Same Subject Continued

16. Of the Communication of Power

17. Of Presents

18. Of Rewards Conferred by the Sovereign

19. New Consequences of the Principles of the Three Governments

Book VI. Consequences of the Principles of Different Governments with Respect to the Simplicity of Civil and Criminal Laws, the Form of Judgments, and the Inflicting of Punishments

1. Of the Simplicity of Civil Laws in Different Governments

2. Of the Simplicity of Criminal Laws in Different Governments

3. In What Governments and in What Cases the Judges Ought to Determine According to the Express Letter of the Law

4. Of the Manner of Passing Judgment

5. In What Governments the Sovereign May Be Judge

6. That in Monarchies Ministers Ought Not to Sit as Judges

7. Of a Single Magistrate

8. Of Accusation in Different Governments

9. Of the Severity of Punishments in Different Governments

10. Of the Ancient French Laws

11. That When People Are Virtuous, Few Punishments Are Necessary

12. Of the Power of Punishments

13. Insufficiency of the Laws of Japan

14. Of the Spirit of the Roman Senate

15. Of the Roman Laws in Respect to Punishments

16. Of the Just Proportion between Punishments and Crimes

17. Of the Rack

18. Of Pecuniary and Corporal Punishments

19. Of the Law of Retaliation

20. Of the Punishment of Fathers for the Crimes of Their Children

21. Of the Clemency of the Prince

Book VII. Consequences of the Different Principles of the Three Governments with Respect to Sumptuary Laws, Luxury, and the Condition of Women

1. Of Luxury

2. Of Sumptuary Laws in a Democracy

3. Of Sumptuary Laws in an Aristocracy

4. Of Sumptuary Laws in a Monarchy

5. In What Cases Sumptuary Laws Are Useful in a Monarchy

6. Of the Luxury of China

7. Fatal Consequences of Luxury in China

8. Of Public Continency

9. Of the Condition or State of Women in Different Governments

10. Of the Domestic Tribunal among the Romans

11. In What Manner the Institutions Changed at Rome, Together with the Government

12. Of the Guardianship of Women among the Romans

13. Of the Punishments Decreed by the Emperors against the Incontinence of Women

14. Sumptuary Laws among the Romans

15. Of Dowries and Nuptial Advantages in Different Constitutions

16. An Excellent Custom of the Samnites

17. Of Female Administration

Book VIII. Of the Corruption of the Principles of the Three Governments

1. General Idea of This Book

2. Of the Corruption of the Principles of Democracy

3. Of the Spirit of Extreme Equality

4. Particular Cause of the Corruption of the People

5. Of the Corruption of the Principle of Aristocracy

6. Of the Corruption of the Principle of Monarchy

7. The Same Subject Continued

8. Danger of the Corruption of the Principle of Monarchical Government

9. How Ready the Nobility Are to Defend the Throne

10. Of the Corruption of the Principle of Despotic Government

11. Natural Effects of the Goodness and Corruption of the Principles of Government

12. The Same Subject Continued

13. The Effect of an Oath among Virtuous People

14. How the Smallest Change of the Constitution Is Attended with the Ruin of its Principles

15. Sure Methods of Preserving the Three Principles

16. Distinctive Properties of a Republic

17. Distinctive Properties of a Monarchy

18. Particular Case of the Spanish Monarchy

19. Distinctive Properties of a Despotic Government

20. Consequence of the Preceding Chapters

21. Of the Empire of China

Book IX. Of Laws in the Relation They Bear to a Defensive Force

1. In What Manner Republics Provide for Their Safety

2. That a Confederate Government Ought to Be Composed of States of the Same Nature, Especially of the Republican Kind

3. Other Requisites in a Confederate Republic

4. In What Manner Despotic Governments Provide for their Security

5. In What Manner a Monarchical Government Provides for Its Security

6. Of the Defensive Force of States in General

7. A Reflection

8. A Particular Case in Which the Defensive Force of a State Is Inferior to the Offensive

9. Of the Relative Force of States

10. Of the Weakness of Neighbouring States

Book X. Of Laws in the Relation They Bear to Offensive Force

1. Of Offensive Force

2. Of War

3. Of the Right of Conquest

4. Some Advantages of a Conquered People

5. Gelon, King of Syracuse

6. Of Conquest Made by a Republic

7. The Same Subject Continued

8. The Same Subject Continued

9. Of Conquests Made by a Monarchy

10. Of One Monarchy That Subdues Another

11. Of the Manners of a Conquered People

12. Of a Law of Cyrus

13. Charles XII

14. Alexander

15. New Methods of Preserving a Conquest

16. Of Conquests Made by a Despotic Prince

17. The Same Subject Continued

Book XI. Of the Laws Which Establish Political Liberty, with Regard to the Constitution

1. A General Idea

2. Different Significations of the Word Liberty

3. In What Liberty Consists

4. The Same Subject Continued

5. Of the End or View of Different Governments

6. Of the Constitution of England

7. Of the Monarchies We Are Acquainted With

8. Why the Ancients Had Not a Clear Idea of Monarchy

9. Aristotle's Manner of Thinking

10. What Other Politicians Thought

11. Of the Kings of the Heroic Times of Greece

12. Of the Government of the Kings of Rome, and in What Manner the Three Powers Were There Distributed

13. General Reflections on the State of Rome after the Expulsion of its Kings

14. In What Manner the Distribution of the Three Powers Began to Change after the Expulsion of the Kings

15. In What Manner Rome, in the Flourishing State of That Republic, Suddenly Lost its Liberty

16. Of the Legislative Power in the Roman Republic

17. Of the Executive Power in the Same Republic

18. Of the Judiciary Power in the Roman Government

19. Of the Government of the Roman Provinces

20. The End of This Book

Book XII. Of the Laws That Form Political Liberty, in Relation to the Subject

1. Idea of This Book

2. Of the Liberty of the Subject

3. The Same Subject Continued

4. That Liberty is Favoured by the Nature and Proportion of Punishments

5. Of Certain Accusations That Require Particular Moderation and Prudence

6. Of the Crime against Nature

7. Of the Crime of High Treason

8. Of the Misapplication of the Terms Sacrilege and High Treason

9. The Same Subject Continued

10. The Same Subject Continued

11. Of Thoughts

12. Of Indiscreet Speeches

13. Of Writings

14. Breach of Modesty in Punishing Crimes

15. Of the Enfranchisement of Slaves in Order to Accuse Their Master

16. Of Calumny with Regard to the Crime of High Treason

17. Of the Revealing of Conspiracies

18. How Dangerous It Is in Republics to Be Too Severe in Punishing the Crime of High Treason

19. In What Manner the Use of Liberty Is Suspended in a Republic

20. Of Laws Favourable to the Liberty of the Subject in a Republic

21. Of the Cruelty of Laws in Respect to Debtors in a Republic

22. Of Things That Strike at Liberty in Monarchies

23. Of Spies in Monarchies

24. Of Anonymous Letters

25. Of the Manner of Governing in Monarchies

26. That in a Monarchy the Prince Ought to Be of Easy Access

27. Of the Manners of a Monarch

28. Of the Regard Which Monarchs Owe to Their Subjects

29. Of the Civil Laws Proper for Mixing Some Portion of Liberty in a Despotic Government

30. The Same Subject Continued

Book XIII. Of the Relation Which the Levying of Taxes and the Greatness of the Public Revenues Bear to Liberty

1. Of the Public Revenues

2. That It Is Bad Reasoning to Say That the Greatness of Taxes Is Good in its Own Nature

3. Of Taxes in Countries Where Part of the People Are Villains or Bondmen

4. Of a Republic in the Like Case

5. Of a Monarchy in the Like Case

6. Of a Despotic Government in the Like Case

7. Of Taxes in Countries where Villainage is Not Established

8. In What Manner the Deception Is Preserved

9. Of a Bad Kind of Impost

10. That the Greatness of Taxes Depends on the Nature of the Government

11. Of Confiscations

12. Relation between the Weight of Taxes and Liberty

13. In What Government Taxes Are Capable of Increase

14. That the Nature of the Taxes Is in Relation to the Government

15. Abuse of Liberty

16. Of the Conquests of the Mahometans

17. Of the Augmentation of Troops

18. Of an Exemption from Taxes

19. Which Is More Suitable to the Prince and to the People, the Farming the Revenues, or Managing Them by Commission?

20. Of the Farmers of the Revenues

Book XIV. Of Laws in Relation to the Nature of the Climate

1. General Idea

2. Of the Difference of Men in Different Climates

3. Contradiction in the Tempers of Some Southern Nations

4. Cause of the Immutability of Religion, Manners, Customs, and Laws, in the Eastern Countries

5. That Those Are Bad Legislators Who Favour the Vices of the Climate, and Good Legislators Who Oppose Those Vices

6. Of Agriculture in Warm Climates

7. Of Monkery

8. An Excellent Custom of China

9. Means of Encouraging Industry

10. Of the Laws in Relation to the Sobriety of the People

11. Of the Laws in Relation to the Distempers of the Climate

12. Of the Laws against Suicides

13. Effects Arising from the Climate of England

14. Other Effects of the Climate

15. Of the Different Confidence Which the Laws Have in the People, According to the Difference of Climates

Book XV. In What Manner the Laws of Civil Slavery Relate to the Nature of the Climate

1. Of Civil Slavery

2. Origin of the Right of Slavery among the Roman Civilians

3. Another Origin of the Right of Slavery

4. Another Origin of the Right of Slavery

5. Of the Slavery of the Negroes

6. The True Origin of the Right of Slavery

7. Another Origin of the Right of Slavery

8. Inutility of Slavery among Us

9. Several Kinds of Slavery

10. Regulations Necessary in Respect to Slavery

11. Abuses of Slavery

12. Danger from the Multitude of Slaves

13. Of Armed Slaves

14. The Same Subject Continued

15. Precautions to Be Used in Moderate Governments

16. Regulations between Masters and Slaves

17. Of Enfranchisements

18. Of Freedmen and Eunuchs

Book XVI. How the Laws of Domestic Slavery Bear a Relation to the Nature of the Climate

1. Of Domestic Servitude

2. That in the Countries of the South There Is a Natural Inequality between the Two Sexes

3. That a Plurality of Wives Greatly Depends on the Means of Supporting Them

4. That the Law of Polygamy Is an Affair That Depends on Calculation

5. The Reason of a Law of Malabar

6. Of Polygamy Considered in Itself

7. Of an Equality of Treatment in Case of Many Wives

8. Of the Separation of Women from Men

9. Of the Connection between Domestic and Political Government

10. The Principle on Which the Morals of the East Are Founded

11. Of Domestic Slavery Independently of Polygamy

12. Of Natural Modesty

13. Of Jealousy

14. Of the Eastern Manner of Domestic Government

15. Of Divorce and Repudiation

16. Of Repudiation and Divorce among the Romans

Book XVII. How the Laws of Political Servitude Bear a Relation to the Nature of the Climate

1. Of Political Servitude

2. The Difference between Nations in Point of Courage

3. Of the Climate of Asia

4. The Consequences Resulting from This

5. That When the People in the North of Asia and Those of the North of Europe Made Conquests, the Effects of the Conquests Were Not the Same

6. A new Physical Cause of the Slavery of Asia, and of the Liberty of Europe

7. Of Africa and America

8. Of the Capital of the Empire

Book XVIII. Of Laws in the Relation They Bear to the Nature of the Soil

1. How the Nature of the Soil Has an Influence on the Laws

2. The Same Subject Continued

3. What Countries Are Best Cultivated

4. New Effects of the Fertility and Barrenness of Countries

5. Of the Inhabitants of Islands

6. Of Countries Raised by the Industry of Man

7. Of Human Industry

8. The General Relation of Laws

9. Of the Soil of America

10. Of Population in the Relation It Bears to the Manners of Procuring Subsistence

11. Of Savage and Barbarous Nations

12. Of the Law of Nations among People Who Do Not Cultivate the Earth

13. Of the Civil Laws of Those Nations Who Do Not Cultivate the Earth

14. Of the Political State of the People Who Do Not Cultivate the Land

15. Of People Who Know the Use of Money

16. Of Civil Laws among People Who Know Not the Use of Money

17. Of Political Laws among Nations Who Have Not the Use of Money

18. Of the Power of Superstition

19. Of the Liberty of the Arabs and the Servitude of the Tartars

20. Of the Law of Nations as Practised by the Tartars

21. The Civil Law of the Tartars

22. Of a Civil Law of the German Nations

23. Of the Regal Ornaments among the Franks

24. Of the Marriages of the Kings of the Franks

25. Childeric

26. Of the Time When the Kings of the Franks Became of Age

27. The Same Subject Continued

28. Of Adoption among the Germans

29. Of the Sanguinary Temper of the Kings of the Franks

30. Of the National Assemblies of the Franks

31. Of the Authority of the Clergy under the First Race

Book XIX. Of Laws in Relation to the Principles Which Form the General Spirit, Morals, and Customs of a Nation

1. Of the Subject of This Book

2. That It Is Necessary People's Minds Should Be Prepared for the Reception of the Best Laws

3. Of Tyranny

4. Of the General Spirit of Mankind

5. How Far We Should Be Attentive Lest the General Spirit of a Nation Be Changed

6. That Everything Ought Not to Be Corrected

7. Of the Athenians and Lacedæmonians

8. Effects of a Sociable Temper

9. Of the Vanity and Pride of Nations

10. Of the Character of the Spaniards and Chinese

11. A Reflection

12. Of Customs and Manners in a Despotic State

13. Of the Behaviour of the Chinese

14. What Are the Natural Means of Changing the Manners and Customs of a Nation

15. The Influence of Domestic Government on the Political

16. How some Legislators Have Confounded the Principles Which Govern Mankind

17. Of the Peculiar Quality of the Chinese Government

18. A Consequence Drawn from the Preceding Chapter

19. How This Union of Religion, Laws, Manners, and Customs among the Chinese Was Effected

20. Explanation of a Paradox Relating to the Chinese

21. How the Laws Ought to Have a Relation to Manners and Customs

22. The Same Subject Continued

23. How the Laws Are Founded on the Manners of a People

24. The Same Subject Continued

25. The Same Subject Continued

26. The Same Subject Continued

27. How the Laws Contribute to Form the Manners, Customs, and Character of a Nation

Book XX. Of Laws in Relation to Commerce, Considered in its Nature and Distinctions

1. Of Commerce

2. Of the Spirit of Commerce

3. Of the Poverty of the People

4. Of Commerce in Different Governments

5. Of Nations That Have Entered into an Economical Commerce

6. Some Effects of an Extensive Navigation

7. The Spirit of England with Respect to Commerce

8. In What Manner Economical Commerce Has Been Sometimes Restrained

9. Of the Prohibition of Commerce

10. An Institution Adapted to Economical Commerce

11. The Same Subject Continued

12. Of the Freedom of Commerce

13. What It Is That Destroys This Liberty

14. The Laws of Commerce Concerning the Confiscation of Merchandise

15. Of Seizing the Persons of Merchants

16. An Excellent Law

17. A Law of Rhodes

18. Of the Judges of Commerce

19. That a Prince Ought Not to Engage Himself in Commerce

20. The Same Subject Continued

21. Of the Commerce of the Nobility in a Monarchy

22. A Singular Reflection

23. To What Nations Commerce Is Prejudicial

Book XXI. Of Laws in Relation to Commerce, Considered in the Revolutions It Has Met With in the World

1. Some General Considerations

2. Of the People of Africa

3. That the Wants of the People in the South Are Different from those of the North

4. The Principal Difference between the Commerce of the Ancients and the Moderns

5. Other Differences

6. Of the Commerce of the Ancients

7. Of the Commerce of the Greeks

8. Of Alexander: His Conquests

9. Of the Commerce of the Grecian Kings after the Death of Alexander

10. Of the Circuit of Africa

11. Of Carthage and Marseilles

12. The Isle of Delos. Mithridates

13. Of the Genius of the Romans as to Maritime Affairs

14. Of the Genius of the Romans with Respect to Commerce

15. Of the Commerce of the Romans with the Barbarians

16. Of the Commerce of the Romans with Arabia, and the Indies

17. Of Commerce after the Destruction of the Western Empire

18. A Particular Regulation

19. Of Commerce after the Decay of the Roman Power in the East

20. How Commerce Broke Through the Barbarism of Europe

21. The Discovery of Two New Worlds, and in What Manner Europe Is Affected by It

22. Of the Riches Which Spain Drew from America

23. A Problem

Book XXII. Of Laws in Relation to the Use of Money

1. The Reason of the Use of Money

2. Of the Nature of Money

3. Of Ideal Money

4. Of the Quantity of Gold and Silver

5. The Same Subject Continued

6. Why Interest Was Lowered One Half after the Conquest of the Indies

7. How the Price of Things Is Fixed in the Variation of the Sign of Riches

8. The Same Subject Continued

9. Of the Relative Scarcity of Gold and Silver

10. Of Exchange

11. Of the Proceedings of the Romans with Respect to Money

12. The Circumstances in Which the Romans Changed the Value of Their Specie

13. Proceedings with Respect to Money in the Time of the Emperors

14. How Exchange Is a Constraint on Despotic Power

15. The Practice of Some Countries in Italy

16. The Assistance a State May Derive from Bankers

17. Of Public Debts

18. Of the Payment of Public Debts

19. Of Lending upon Interest

20. Of Maritime Usury

21. Of Lending by Contract, and the State of Usury among the Romans

22. The Same Subject Continued

Book XXIII. Of Laws in the Relation They Bear to the Number of Inhabitants

1. Of Men and Animals with Respect to the Multiplication of Their Species

2. Of Marriage

3. Of the Condition of Children

4. Of Families

5. Of the Several Orders of Lawful Wives

6. Of Bastards in Different Governments

7. Of the Father's Consent to Marriage

8. The Same Subject Continued

9. Of Young Women

10. What It Is That Determines Marriage

11. Of the Severity of Government

12. Of the Number of Males and Females in Different Countries

13. Of Seaport Towns

14. Of the Productions of the Earth Which Require a Greater or Less Number of Men

15. Of the Number of Inhabitants with Relation to the Arts

16. The Concern of the Legislator in the Propagation of the Species

17. Of Greece, and the Number of its Inhabitants

18. Of the State and Number of People before the Romans

19. Of the Depopulation of the Globe

20. That the Romans Were under the Necessity of Making Laws to Encourage the Propagation of the Species

21. Of the Laws of the Romans Relating to the Propagation of the Species

22. Of the Exposing of Children

23. Of the State of the World after the Destruction of the Romans

24. The Changes Which Happened in Europe, with Regard to the Number of the Inhabitants

25. The Same Subject Continued

26. Consequences

27. Of the Law Made in France to Encourage the Propagation of the Species

28. By What Means We May Remedy a Depopulation

29. Of Hospitals

Book XXIV. Of Laws in Relation to Religion, Considered in Itself, and in Its Doctrine

1. Of Religion in General

2. A Paradox of M. Bayle's

3. That a Moderate Government Is Most Agreeable to the Christian Religion, and a Despotic Government to the Mahometan

4. Consequences from the Character of the Christian Religion and That of the Mahometan

5. That the Catholic Religion Is Most Agreeable to a Monarchy, and the Protestant to a Republic

6. Another of M. Bayle's Paradoxes

7. Of the Laws of Perfection in Religion

8. Of the Connection between the Moral Laws and Those of Religion

9. Of the Essenes

10. Of the Sect of Stoics

11. Of Contemplation

12. Of Penances

13. Of Inexpiable Crimes

14. In What Manner Religion Has an Influence on Civil Laws

15. How False Religions Are Sometimes Corrected by the Civil Laws

16. How the Laws of Religion Correct the Inconveniences of a Political Constitution

17. The Same Subject Continued

18. How the Laws of Religion Have the Effect of Civil Laws

19. That It Is Not So Much the Truth or Falsity of a Doctrine Which Renders It Useful or Pernicious to Men in Civil Government, as the Use or Abuse of It

20. The Same Subject Continued

21. Of Metempsychosis

22. That It Is Dangerous for Religion to Inspire an Aversion for Things in Themselves Indifferent

23. Of Festivals

24. Of the Local Laws of Religion

25. The Inconvenience of Transplanting a Religion from One Country to Another

26. The Same Subject Continued

Book XXV. Of Laws in Relation to the Establishment of Religion and its External Polity

1. Of Religious Sentiments

2. Of the Motives of Attachment to Different Religions

3. Of Temples

4. Of the Ministers of Religion

5. Of the Bounds Which the Laws Ought to Prescribe to the Riches of the Clergy

6. Of Monasteries

7. Of the Luxury of Superstition

8. Of the Pontificate

9. Of Toleration in Point of Religion

10. The Same Subject Continued

11. Of Changing a Religion

12. Of Penal Laws

13. A Most Humble Remonstrance to the Inquisitors of Spain and Portugal

14. Why the Christian Religion Is So Odious in Japan

15. Of the Propagation of Religion

Book XXVI. Of Laws in Relation to the Order of Things Which They Determine

1. Idea of This Book

2. Of Laws Divine and Human

3. Of Civil Laws Contrary to the Law of Nature

4. The Same Subject Continued

5. Cases in Which We May Judge by the Principles of the Civil Law, in Limiting the Principles of the Law of Nature

6. That the Order of Succession or Inheritance Depends on the Principles of Political or Civil Law, and Not on Those of the Law of Nature

7. That We Ought Not to Decide by the Precepts of Religion What Belongs Only to the Law of Nature

8. That We Ought Not to Regulate by the Principles of the Canon Law Things Which Should Be Regulated by Those of the Civil Law

9. That Things Which Ought to Be Regulated by the Principles of Civil Law Can Seldom Be Regulated by Those of Religion.

10. In What Case We Ought to Follow the Civil Law Which Permits, and Not the Law of Religion Which Forbids

11. That Human Courts of Justice Should Not Be Regulated by the Maxims of Those Tribunals Which Relate to the Other Life

12. The Same Subject Continued

13. In What Cases, with Regard to Marriage, We Ought to Follow the Laws of Religion; and in What Cases We Should Follow the Civil Laws

14. In What Instances Marriages between Relatives Should Be Regulated by the Laws of Nature; and in What Instances by the Civil Laws

15. That We Should Not Regulate by the Principles of Political Law Those Things Which Depend on the Principles of Civil Law

16. That We Ought Not to Decide by the Rules of the Civil Law, When It Is Proper to Decide by Those of the Political Law

17. The Same Subject Continued

18. That It Is Necessary to Inquire Whether the Laws Which Seem Contradictory Are of the Same Class

19. That We Should Not Decide Those Things by the Civil Law Which Ought to Be Decided by Domestic Laws

20. That We Ought Not to Decide by the Principles of the Civil Laws Those Things Which Belong to the Law of Nations

21. That We Should Not Decide by Political Laws Things Which Belong to the Law of Nations

22. The Unhappy State of the Inca Athualpa

23. That When, by Some Circumstance, the Political Law Becomes Destructive to the State, We Ought to Decide by Such a Political Law, as Will Preserve It, Which Sometimes Becomes a Law of Nations

24. That the Regulations of the Police Are of a Different Class from Other Civil Laws

25. That We Should Not Follow the General Disposition of the Civil Law in Things Which Ought to Be Subject to Particular Rules Drawn from Their Own Nature

Book XXVII.

1. Of the Origin and Revolutions of the Roman Laws on Successions

Book XXVIII. Of the Origin and Revolutions of the Civil Laws among the French

1. Different Character of the Laws of the Several People of Germany

2. That the Laws of the Barbarians Were All Personal

3. Capital Difference between the Salic Laws, and Those of the Visigoths and Burgundians

4. In What Manner the Roman Law Came to Be Lost in the Country Subject to the Franks, and Preserved in That Subject to the Goths and Burgundians

5. The Same Subject Continued

6. How the Roman Law Kept its Ground in the Demesne of the Lombards

7. How the Roman Law Came to Be Lost in Spain

8. A False Capitulary

9. In What Manner the Codes of Barbarian Laws, and the Capitularies Came to Be Lost

10. The Same Subject Continued

11. Other Causes of the Disuse of the Codes of Barbarian Laws, as well as of the Roman Law, and of the Capitularies

12. Of Local Customs. Revolution of the Laws of Barbarous Nations, as well as of the Roman Law

13. Difference between the Salic Law, or That of the Salian Franks, and That of the Ripuarian Franks, and other Barbarous Nations

14. Another Difference

15. A Reflection

16. Of the Ordeal or Trial by Boiling Water, Established by the Salic Law

17. Particular Notions of Our Ancestors

18. In What Manner the Custom of Judicial Combats Gained Ground

19. A New Reason of the Disuse of the Salic and Roman Laws, as Also of the Capitularies

20. Origin of the Point of Honour

21. A new Reflection on the Point of Honour among the Germans

22. Of the Manners in Relation to Judicial Combats

23. Of the Code of Laws on Judicial Combats

24. Rules Established in the Judicial Combat

25. Of the Bounds Prescribed to the Custom of Judicial Combats

26. On the Judiciary Combat between One of the Parties and One of the Witnesses

27. Of the Judicial Combat between One of the Parties and One of the Lords' Peers. Appeal of False Judgment

28. Of the Appeal of Default of Justice

29. Epoch of the Reign of St. Louis

30. Observation on Appeals

31. The Same Subject Continued

32. The Same Subject Continued

33. The Same Subject Continued

34. In What Manner the Proceedings at Law Became Secret

35. Of the Costs

36. Of the Public Prosecutor

37 In What Manner the Institutions of St. Louis Fell into Oblivion

38. The Same Subject Continued

39. The Same Subject Continued

40. In What Manner the Judiciary Forms Were Borrowed from the Decretals

41. Flux and Reflux of the Ecclesiastic and Temporal Jurisdiction

42. The Revival of the Roman Law, and the Result Thereof. Change of Tribunals

43. The Same Subject Continued

44 Of the Proof by Witnesses

45. Of the Customs of France

Book XXIX. Of the Manner of Composing Laws

1. Of the Spirit of a Legislator

2. The Same Subject Continued

3. That the Laws Which Seem to Deviate from the Views of the Legislator Are Frequently Agreeable to Them

4. Of the Laws Contrary to the Views of the Legislator

5. The Same Subject Continued

6. The Laws Which Appear the Same Have Not Always the Same Effect

7. The Same Subject Continued. Necessity of Composing Laws in a Proper Manner

8. That Laws Which Appear the Same Were Not Always Made through the Same Motive

9. That the Greek and Roman Laws Punished Suicide, but Not through the Same Motive

10. That Laws Which Seem Contrary Proceed Sometimes from the Same Spirit

11. How to Compare Two Different Systems of Laws

12. That Laws Which Appear the Same Are Sometimes Really Different

13. That We Must Not Separate Laws from the End for Which They Were Made: of the Roman Laws on Theft

14. That We Must Not Separate the Laws from the Circumstances in Which They Were Made

15. That Sometimes It Is Proper the Law Should Amend Itself

16. Things to Be Observed in the Composing of Laws

17. A bad Method of Giving Laws

18. Of the Ideas of Uniformity

19. Of Legislators

Book XXX. Theory of the Feudal Laws among the Franks in the Relation They Bear to the Establishment of the Monarchy

1. Of Feudal Laws

2. Of the Source of Feudal Laws

3. The Origin of Vassalage

4. The Same Subject Continued

5. Of the Conquests of the Franks

6. Of the Goths, Burgundians, and Franks

7. Different Ways of Dividing the Land

8. The Same Subject Continued

9. A Just Application of the Law of the Burgundians, and of That of the Visigoths, in Relation to the Division of Lands

10. Of Servitudes

11. The Same Subject Continued

12. That the Lands Belonging to the Division of the Barbarians Paid No Taxes

13. Of Taxes Paid by the Romans and Gauls, in the Monarchy of the Franks

14. Of What They Called Census

15. That What They Called Census Was Raised Only on the Bondmen and Not on the Freemen

16. Of the Feudal Lords or Vassals

17. Of the Military Service of Freemen

18. Of the Double Service

19. Of Compositions among the Barbarous Nations

20. Of What Was Afterwards Called the Jurisdiction of the Lords

21. Of the Territorial Jurisdiction of the Churches

22. That the Jurisdictions Were Established before the End of the Second Race

23. General Idea of the Abbé Du Bos' Book on the Establishment of the French Monarchy in Gaul

24. The Same Subject Continued. Reflection on the Main Part of the System

25. Of the French Nobility

Book XXXI. Theory of the Feudal Laws among the Franks, in the Relation They Bear to the Revolutions of their Monarchy

1. Changes in the Offices and in the Fiefs. Of the Mayors of the Palace

2. How the Civil Government Was Reformed

3. Authority of the Mayors of the Palace

4. Of the Genius of the Nation in Regard to the Mayors

5. In What Manner the Mayors Obtained the Command of the Armies

6. Second Epoch of the Humiliation of Our Kings of the First Race

7. Of the Great Offices and Fiefs under the Mayors of the Palace

8. In What Manner the Allodial Estates Were Changed into Fiefs

9. How the Church Lands Were Converted into Fiefs

10. Riches of the Clergy

11. State of Europe at the Time of Charles Martel

12. Establishment of the Tithes

13. Of the Election of Bishops and Abbots

14. Of the Fiefs of Charles Martel

15. The Same Subject Continued

16. Confusion of the Royalty and Mayoralty. The Second Race

17. A Particular Circumstance in the Election of the Kings of the Second Race

18. Charlemagne

19. The Same Subject Continued

20. Louis the Debonnaire

21. The Same Subject Continued

22. The Same Subject Continued

23. The Same Subject Continued

24. That the Freemen Were Rendered Capable of Holding Fiefs

25. The Principal Cause of the Humiliation of the Second Race. Changes in the Allodia

26. Changes in the Fiefs

27. Another change Which Happened in the Fiefs

28. Changes Which Happened in the Great Offices and in the Fiefs

29. Of the Nature of the Fiefs after the Reign of Charles the Bald

30. The Same Subject Continued

31. In What Manner the Empire Was Transferred from the Family of Charlemagne

32. In What Manner the Crown of France Was Transferred to the House of Hugh Capet

33. Some Consequences of the Perpetuity of Fiefs

34. The Same Subject Continued


Next | Previous | Text Version |Site Home