The Sachsenspiegel, written between 1220 and 1235 by Eike von Repgow, first vernacular legal prose of German-speaking lands, is considered one of the most important sources of medieval legal, political and cultural history. There is hardly any book on medieval law and society that would not use iconographical material from one of the four brilliantly illustrated manuscripts dating from the 14th and 15th centuries -the Dresdener, Heidelberger and the Wolfenbiitteler manuscripts are now available online- or cite regulations on some of the wide-ranging subjects of the Sachsenspiegel such as procedural, criminal, family, succession and constitutional law. Phrases like "God is Law itself' (Preface 1) or the author's interpretation ofthe doctrine of the two swords (Book I, 1.) have captured the attention of generations of historians oflaw and political thought. Still, there remain a lot of doubts about the making and the character of the Sachsenspiegel.
Fil: Duve, Thomas. Facultad de Filosofía y Letras, Universidad Católica Argentina. Buenos Aires, Argentina. Max Planch Institute for European Legal History, Faculty of Law of the Goethe-Universität Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Alemania.
