o be found documents of a very varied
kind. Boretius has divided them into several classes:--

(a) The _Capitula legibus addenda._--These are additions made by the
king of the Franks to the barbarian laws promulgated under the
Merovingians, the Salic law, the Ripuarian or the Bavarian. These
capitularies have the same weight as the law which they complete; they
are particular in their application, applying, that is to say, only to
the men subject to that law. Like the laws, they consist chiefly of
scales of compensation, rules of procedure and points of civil law. They
were solemnly promulgated in the local assemblies where the consent of
the people was asked. Charlemagne and Louis the Pious seem to have made
efforts to bring the other laws into harmony with the Salic law. It is
also to be noted that by certain of the capitularies of this class, the
king adds provisions affecting, not only a single law, but all the laws
in use throughout the kingdom.

(b) The _Capitula ecclesiastica._--These capitularies were elaborated in
the councils of the bishops; the kings of the Franks sanctioned the
canon of the councils, and made them obligatory on all the Christians in
the kingdom.

(c) The _Capitula per se scribenda._--These embodied political decrees
which all subjects of the kingdom were bound to observe. They often bore
the name of _edictum_ or of _constitutio_, and the provisions made in
them were permanent. These capitularies were generally elaborated by the
king of the Franks in the autumn assemblies or in the committees of the
spring assemblies. Frequently we have only the proposition made by the
king to the committee, _capitula tractanda cum comitibus, episcopis, et
abbatibus_, and not the final form which was adopted.

(d) The _Capitula missorum_, which are the instructions given by
Charlemagne and his successors to the _missi_ sent into the various
parts of the empire. They are sometimes drawn up in common for all the
_missi_ of a certain year--_capitula missorum generalia_; sometimes for
the _missi_ sent only on a given circuit--_capitula missorum specialia_.
These instructions sometimes hold good only for the circuit of the
_missus_; they have no general application and are merely temporary.

(e) With the capitularies have been incorporated various documents; for
instance, the rules to be observed in administering the king's private
domain (the celebrated capitulary _de villis_, which is doubtless a
collection