Capitulary

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A medieval legal or administrative document consisting of chapters that outline laws or instructions issued by a ruler or council ; a set of decrees arranged in sections defining rules or policies in governance ; a formal manuscript divided into specified parts used historically to regulate civic or ecclesiastical matters
2. An official written record from the Middle Ages divided into chapters that stipulate regulations or commands from authorities ; a compilation of legislative or administrative provisions systematically organized into segments ; a historic charter composed of categorized guidelines intended for governing purposes or church affairs
3. A documented code from a past era segmented into various chapters presenting laws or directives from sovereigns ; a collection of structured legal or administrative clauses forming a comprehensive directive ; a formalized series of chapters serving as a governance or regulatory framework during medieval times

Etymology: Capitulary comes from Medieval Latin "capitulare," a document divided into "capitula," or chapters, from Latin "caput," meaning "head." The Latin root gives the word its sense of a text organized into numbered sections, each dealing with a separate matter. The term became best known for the legislation of the Carolingian rulers of the Frankish kingdom, whose royal decrees were issued in chapters and often called capitularies. These texts set out directives on administration, justice, church affairs and the conduct of royal officials, and they show how a single ruler could issue structured rules across a large territory. Its origin in the word "head" explains the connection. A chapter was literally a "little head," a section that organized the whole, so a document built from such parts came to be known by the name of the divisions themselves.

Synonyms: edict, decree, ordinance, law, statute