Sachsenspiegel

The (; ; modern ; all literally "Saxon Mirror") is one of the most important law books and custumals compiled during the Holy Roman Empire. Originating between 1220 and 1235 as a record of existing local traditional customary laws and rulings, it was used in places until as late as 1900. Some legal principles as captured in the book reign into recent time laws throughout Europe. It is important not only for its lasting effect on later German and Dutch law but also as an early example of written prose in a German language. The Sachsenspiegel is the first comprehensive law book not in Latin, but in Middle Low German. A Latin edition is known to have existed, but only fragmented chapters remain. History The Sachsenspiegel was one of the first prose works written in the Middle Low German language. The original title is Sassen Speyghel, Sachsenspiegel being a later Standard German translation. It is believed to have been compiled and translated from Latin by the Saxon administrator Eike of Repgow at the behest of his liege lord Count Hoyer of Falkenstein in the years 1220 to 1235. Where the original was compiled is unclear. It was thought to have been written at Burg Falkenstein, but in 2007 Peter Landau, an expert in medieval canon law, suggested that it may have been written at the monastery of Altzelle (now Altzella). Opposition from the church During the 14th century, Augustinian friar Johannes Klenkok of lower Saxony opposed the Sachsenspiegel in a pamphlet known as Decadicon because he considered ten articles or principles to contradict the Christian gospel and decisions of the church of Rome, collected as Corpus Juris Canonici. Klenkok presents criticisms on Sachsenspiegel's views of ecclesiastical and secular authorities, court procedure and private law. His position was that papal authority outrules every discussion of matters as legitimate procedure, the limitations of hereditary rights, the extent of testamentary power, the rights of novices and monks to family property, and the authority that determines superior and inferior legal norms and court decisions. So Klenkok's position was fundamentally a simple one: Papal authority supersedes every other political and legal authority. The work sparked broad societal embitterment and irritation, the counselors of the city of Magdeburg for instance, wrote warning letters to 400 or more cities, princes and lords that an Augustinian brother tries to weaken Saxon law.