Correction Key

• T = tense
• P = punctuation
• WO = word order
• Prep = preposition
• WW = wrong word
• GR = grammar
• Y upside down = word missing
• SP = spelling

Germanic law unlike Roman law was essentially tribal custom and not legal codes promulgated by a central government. The castom of a particular tribe or nation evolved by popular practices, was unwritten, and was applicable only to the individuals belonging to that particular tribe. The law not attached to the territory but rather to the tribe, and so when a nomadic tribe moved it took its laws with it rather than subjecting itself to the laws of the city to which it moved.

Germanic peoples were divided from tribes, which were made up of clans, with a king at the head of the goverment. Was assisted the king by the tribal assembly

and by his council. Property law does not clearly distinguish between legal title and physical control. Land originally belonged to each family collectively, but

gradually family ownership developed into private ownership by the family president, although for a long time he could sell or part with land only on the consent of the

heirs. Property descended on his death to the nearest descendants, usually male.

Later, as the importance of Christianity grew, ecclesiastical law, derived from Roman law, gained in importance. The church try to lagislate matters such as

marriage and succession which had previously been the subject only of secular tribal law. Also, by the 12th century a mercantile law had developed to meet the

needs of traders; this was general and not dependent on nationality or domicile. Gradually local law began in importance to decline.