Constitutions of Melfi

Italy [1231]

Also known as: Liber Augustalis

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June 30, 2026

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The Constitutions of Melfi were a set of laws promulgated in 1231 by Frederick II, Holy Roman emperor. He assembled a parliament in Melfi, a town in southern Italy, to establish these laws. These constitutions served as a significant legal code for the Kingdom of Sicily, which was part of the larger Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. They aimed to centralize royal authority and standardize laws across the kingdom, influencing legal systems in the region for centuries.12

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Melfi
Kingdom of the Two Sicilies

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- Italy
  The Sicilian kingdom
  The Constitutions of Melfi, or Liber Augustalis, promulgated by Frederick in 1231, was a model of the new legislation developing from the study of Roman and canon law. The intent of this legislation was to bring together the disparate elements within the kingdom and to unify…
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  The Constitutions of Melfi, or Liber Augustalis, promulgated by Frederick in 1231, was a model of the new legislation developing from the study of Roman and canon law. The intent of this legislation was to bring together the disparate elements within the kingdom and to unify…
  Read More
- Gregory IX
  …of the Liber Augustalis, or Constitutions of Melfi, a code of laws for the Kingdom of Sicily. Though there was little in these laws that was actually objectionable, their thrust in the direction of a strong monarchy contained a threat to the church.
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  …of the Liber Augustalis, or Constitutions of Melfi, a code of laws for the Kingdom of Sicily. Though there was little in these laws that was actually objectionable, their thrust in the direction of a strong monarchy contained a threat to the church.
  Read More

Frederick II
Years as a Crusader
In August 1231, at Melfi, the emperor issued his new constitutions for the Kingdom of Sicily. Not since the reign of the Byzantine emperor Justinian I in the 6th century had the administrative law of a European state been codified. Frederick’s codes contained many ideas that anticipated enlightened absolutism…
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In August 1231, at Melfi, the emperor issued his new constitutions for the Kingdom of Sicily. Not since the reign of the Byzantine emperor Justinian I in the 6th century had the administrative law of a European state been codified. Frederick’s codes contained many ideas that anticipated enlightened absolutism…
Read More
Pietro Della Vigna
…author of the constitution of Melfi (1231), a legal code that systematized Norman law, superimposing the new Hohenstaufen absolutism. The code was written in the elegant Latin style for which Pietro became famous. An exponent of the rhetorical ars dictaminis (“craft of composition”), Pietro influenced the literary form of Frederick’s…
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…author of the constitution of Melfi (1231), a legal code that systematized Norman law, superimposing the new Hohenstaufen absolutism. The code was written in the elegant Latin style for which Pietro became famous. An exponent of the rhetorical ars dictaminis (“craft of composition”), Pietro influenced the literary form of Frederick’s…
Read More