“Thy Stranger within Thy Gates”: The Semantic Field of “Foreignness” in the Frankish Capitularies’

The semantic field of stranger and foreignness as we find it in the Frankish capitularies of the eighth and ninth centuries shares a rich vocabulary with the traditions inherited from the Roman past and the biblical model. In Roman antiquity, the term peregrinus, indicating the non-citizen or outsider, branches off in a number of synonyms which in their turn bring their own equivalents. The nuanced use of this vocabulary and its semantic development in the early medieval capitularies show both continuity and change with regard to the classical and biblical tradition. The study of these terms and their semantic contexts highlights the capitularies as tributary to the Roman and biblical past, and at the same time sheds light on new approaches to social mobility in this period as attested by these sources. The nuanced wording of the treatment of strangers, immigrants, travellers, and guests as expressed in the royal edicts of the Frankish kingdoms adds to our knowledge about the formation of communities in the early medieval West.