Ethnogenesis theory has brought about a seminal shift in research on ethnic identities. This chapter maps the fluidity of Frankish identity in the Merovingian realm, illustrating that the assertion and role of ethnic identity depended on the specific context in which such claims were made. In the fifth century, elite Romans and Franks were open to innovation and local collaborations. As demonstrated by Salic Law, the Merovingians built their kingdom on territorial authority. Only after 580 did they choose to be linked with the Franks as a specific group, in the context of the civil wars and the partition of the territory among different kings. From the seventh century, the Merovingian kings voluntarily increased the legal diversity inherited from the conquests with laws for specific groups, like the Lex Ribuaria, distinguished by their place of origin. This custom highlighted royal authority as well as autonomy within the kingdom. Interest in the gens Francorum grew in parallel. The eighth century brought a new unification of the Franks with Merovingian and Pippinid leaders.
Les plus anciens manuscrits de la loi salique datent de l’époque carolingienne, où ils se caractérisent par leur nombre, plus de 80 manuscrits conservés, mais aussi par une répartition complexe. Quinze manuscrits contiennent des versions plus anciennes de la loi, tandis que tous les autres reproduisent une version K, publiée sous l’autorité de Charlemagne en 803. Cet article propose de considérer toutes ces copies comme les marques de l’acceptation ou de la contestation de la réforme judiciaire tentée par les souverains carolingiens et du rôle corseté dans lequel elle prétendait enfermer les copistes. Dès lors, la complexité de la tradition écrite de la loi salique n’apparaît plus comme le reflet passif de ses origines mérovingiennes, mais comme la trace de la résistance pratique des copistes du ixe siècle, qui défendirent leur droit à composer des compilations juridiques originales.
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