Kodeks Siccama. Spoaren fan in ferdwûn Aldwestfrysk rjochtshânskrift

Abstract

In 1617, the Frisian scholar Sibrandus Siccama (1571–1622) published an annotated edition of the Lex Frisionum, a legal text which had only come to light several decades before, thanks to the 1557 edition of Johannes Herold. In his annotations (written in Latin), Siccama compared paragraphs from the Lex Frisionum with various Old West Frisian law texts. In this process, he quoted several passages from these Old Frisian sources. Based on the evidence found in these quotations, we believe that Siccama did not borrow them from one of the Old West Frisian law manuscripts we know today – Jus Municipale Frisonum, Codex Unia or Freeska Landriucht / Druk – but from a manuscript he had access to but which is now lost. We suggest calling this manuscript ‘Codex Siccama’.