The Costuma d’Agen

A Thirteenth-Century Customary Compilation in Old Occitan. Transcribed from The Livre Juratoire

Edited by Frank RP Akehurst

Book cover: The Costuma d’Agen

Extent: 114 pages

Publisher: Brepols Publishers

Subjects: Medieval Studies

Series: Publications de l'Association Internationale d'Etudes Occitanes

Series volume number: 5

Language: English, Occitan

Paperback (Published)

(March 2010)

ISBN: 9782503519203

Price: $45.00

In stock

The Costuma d’Agen (customary laws of the Agenais, in south-west France) compiled in Occitan at various times in the thirteenth century and preserved in the Livre Juratoire, or swearing copy (Agen, Archives departementales de Lot-et-Garonne, MS 42), is here transcribed with an English translation on facing pages. An introduction and an index are included. Appendices provide the text of five chapters missing from this manuscript, along with several pertinent charters from Agen and a fuller description of the Livre juratoire by Professor M. Alison Stones, University of Pittsburgh. The manuscript contains many colored illustrations and capitals. The Costume emphasizes the power of the local city council, which often seems to override that of the local count. The laws or customs written in the book deal with many topics including jurisdiction, citizenship and military duties, crime, property, civil and criminal procedure, the local wine and salt trades, and local feudal law. F. R. P. (Ron) Akehurst(B.A. Oxford, 1962, Ph.D. Colorado, 1967, in French; J.D., Minnesota, 1986). A professor of French at Minnesota since 1968. He has published translations of two other medieval French customaries.


The Costuma d’Agen (customary laws of the Agenais, in south-west France) compiled in Occitan at various times in the thirteenth century and preserved in the Livre Juratoire, or swearing copy (Agen, Archives departementales de Lot-et-Garonne, MS 42), is here transcribed with an English translation on facing pages. An introduction and an index are included. Appendices provide the text of five chapters missing from this manuscript, along with several pertinent charters from Agen and a fuller description of the Livre juratoire by Professor M. Alison Stones, University of Pittsburgh. The manuscript contains many colored illustrations and capitals. The Costume emphasizes the power of the local city council, which often seems to override that of the local count. The laws or customs written in the book deal with many topics including jurisdiction, citizenship and military duties, crime, property, civil and criminal procedure, the local wine and salt trades, and local feudal law. F. R. P. (Ron) Akehurst(B.A. Oxford, 1962, Ph.D. Colorado, 1967, in French; J.D., Minnesota, 1986). A professor of French at Minnesota since 1968. He has published translations of two other medieval French customaries.

  • Edited by Frank RP Akehurst