immunitas
immunitas, exemption from burdens, immunity, privilege
- I Lit.: (Druides) militiae vacationem omniumque rerum habent immunitatem, * Caes. B. G. 6, 14, 1: immunitas et libertas provinciae, Cic. Font. 8, 17: immunitatem (a tributis) obtulit, Suet. Aug. 40; Tac. A. 12, 61; 13, 51; Curt. 5, 3, 15: personae quibus decimae immunitatem ipse (imperator) tribuit, Mos. et Rom. Leg. Coll. 16, 9, 3 et saep.—In plur., Cic. Fam. 12, 1, 1; id. Phil. 1, 1, 3; Suet. Tib. 49; id. Galb. 15; Tac. H. 3, 55.—
- II Trop., freedom, exemption, or immunity from any thing (cf.: vacatio, vacuitas): qui det isti deo immunitatem magni muneris, Cic. Ac. 2, 38, 121: immunitates malorum, Lampr. Commod. 14.
omnium episcopalium consuetudinum ~ate gaudentes(
que est hec injuriosa ~as ut exempti sitis a decimarum solutione quibus obnoxie terre erant antequam vestre essent et que solute sunt hactenus ecclesiis non personarum obtentu sed territorii ratione?
data est ~as Sicambris ne pararent tributa
tributa eis [Sicambris ] decennio remisit
habeant ‥ predicti prior et canonici ‥ curiam suam et justiciam cum soka et saka ‥ et cum omnibus aliis liberis consuetudinibus et ~atibus et libertatibus(
decernimus ipsam capellam in perpetuum liberam esse a sinodalibus et gaudere omnibus ~atibus quibus gaudet monasterium de O.
damnat illa duo capitula de ~ate ecclesiarum ‥ quia statuunt quod domini temporales non exigant dominative tallagia vel decimas ab ecclesiasticis personis(
sicut enim multis ~atibus et eminentioribus privilegiis militia gaudet, ita acerbioribus penis subdenda est
[Hen. II ] avibus celi, piscibus fluminum, bestiis terre ~atem dedit; et sata pauperum loca pascue fecit
conquesti sunt nobis J. et W. scolares de Norhamtone quod J. de B. ejusdem ville prepositus hospicii eorum ~atem [] violare presumpserit et, quod gravius est, ipse et ejus malefactores manus †violentes [ : inmunitatem FormOx 276 l. violentas ] in eos injecerunt et res suas asportaverunt
potens est S. Martinus apud Deum defendere res suas . ‥ dimitte ‥ sic esse ecclesias Christi quae sunt in emunitate S. Martini et in parrochia vestra
de pace et emunitate ecclesie: pacem et ~atem ecclesie sancte concessimus. cujuscunque criminis reus ad ecclesiam confugerit, pacem habeat vite et membrorum. quodsi quis in eum manus injecerit violentas et ecclesie ~atem fregerit, inprimis restituat plenarie ablata et insuper de forisfacto(
si quis appellatur, quod aut ecclesie ~atem aut alicujus cameram infregerit, si hactenus de tali crimine immunis fuerit et inculpabilis, purget se juramento(
omnes ‥ qui ~atem [v. l. ~ates ] ecclesie violaverint, denunciamus excommunicacionis sentenciam incurrere ipso facto
ab ecclesia vel cimiterio vel ab alio quocunque loco ecclesiasticam inmunitatem habente
quod denunciet ‥ excommunicatos omnes qui contra emunitatem ecclesie et libertatem Herefordie, depredaciones et sacrilegia commiserunt in bonis prioris de A.
contra libertatem et emunitatem ecclesie Herefordiensis
~atem ecclesiarum suarum et terrarum ‥ conservant sancti supradicti quod nullus ausus est in eorum territorio malificia enormia perpetrare
quia nil poterant, quod comedi posset, apprehendere, jussit ~atem S. Fergusii sive Feogri, quondam regis Scocie filii [sc. ], infringi et violari, quam nemo immunis a vindicta audet violenter attemptareSt. Fiacre’s, Meaux-en-Brie
Thomas martyr Anglorum ‥ quem [rex ] non posset excutere idonee pro emunitate sua
petunt prelati et clerus tale remedium adhiberi ut ~as ecclesie et ecclesiasticarum personarum conservetur illesa
neque enim raptor aut fur, qui possidet et non restituit raptum aut furtum, emunitatem assequitur per verbum apostolicum ulla peregrinatione nisi restituat ablatum
tunc ait illi “es tu ibi? ” et ille respondit “sum hic in ~ate et defensione venerabilis sancti.” et illo die rex Malginus pro restitucione anime et invencione luminis oculorum dedit illi sancto episcopo illius civitatis Llanelwy spacium ~atis et defensionis vij annorum et vij mensium et vij dierum et unius diei primum; et cum illo spacio postea immunicionem et defensionem in perpetuum
quoniam ad ~atem ecclesie confugientibus tam arta ibidem apponitur custodia laycorum quod ‥
~atem ecclesie, i. e. libertatem ecclesie ‥ vel dic quod ~as est privilegium quo gaudet ecclesia ut in ambitu suo non fiat pugna vel insultus vel rapina
ad tutelam et confugium oppressorum ita inmunitatem ecclesiasticam cernimus constitutam ut eciam reos sanguinis ab hominum incursu defendat
licet omnes ‥ qui personas quantumcumque gravia maleficia perpetrantes ad ecclesiam pretextu emunitatis ecclesiastice obtinende ‥ fugientes ab ea violenter extrahunt ‥ sint, juxta sacrorum canonum constituciones ‥, velut violatores ecclesiastice libertatis, canonice puniendi
predictus W., proprium suum reatum recognoscens, ‥ ~atem et libertatem S. Cuthberti et ecclesie sue ‥ peciit
meta et limites terre ~atis sancte civitatis Llanelwy
extra limites ~atis ecclesiastice
libertates quoque ecclesiasticas veluti ~ates ecclesiarum circa personas ad eas confugientes et de personis ecclesiasticis ut non judicentur in foro seculari ‥ habet ecclesia
~as a materia
quod sola carnalis pudicitiae ~as [gl.: ] caelestis regni claustra reserare nequeatorceasnys
effrenatae jugalitatis libertas efficitur securae ~atis captiva paupertas
~as, integritas
~atem a mendacio exprimit Abacuc [] ‥ et iterum ~atem ejus [ Hab. ii 3 sc. Altissimi ] a peccato et a mendacio exprimit Isaias [] Is. liii 9
~as a peccato
ut ‥ secundus Adam cum beata virgine conparticipent in ~ate a peccato
in matrimonio quoque contrahendo semper tribus diebus dominicis vel festivis a se distantibus, quasi tribus edictis, perquirant sacerdotes a populo de ~ate sponsi et sponse
~ate, i. e. libertate, hoc est, an sint liberi ad contrahendum [] deriv. from : de legitimitate sponsi et sponse Conc. Syn. 146 [c1223]
- 1. het vrij zijn van betalingen, belastingvrijstelling [omnium rerum van alle betalingen; a tributis; muneris];
- 2. voorrecht, privilege; ➤ veteres immunitates adimere.
Qua(auctoritate) continebatur, qualiter prædictum monasterium, ædificatum a Castellano quondam in valle, quæ dicitur Asperia, sub sua Immunitate atque defensione... plenissime suscepit.
Emunitassumitur, uti in hac voce docuimus : in Lege Longob. lib. 3. tit. 1. § 21. 25. in Capit.
immunis, asyli jure donatus, cum de ædibus sacris agitur, ut in Lege Longob. lib. 1. tit. 9. § 30. 36. lib. 2. tit. 39. § 3. 4.
Item Canonicis, ne frequentent extra Immunitatem Ecclesiarum suarum, comedant aut dormiant extra ipsam, firmissime prohibemus.Cap. 14 :
Ut Omnes Ecclesiæ Collegiatæ Immunitates suas muro circundatas, et clausuras portarum bene munitas habeant, firmissime præcipimus.Adde cap. 13. et Statuta Conradi Archiep. Coloniensis ejusdem ann. 1260. cap. 19. 28. Concilium Londinense ann. 1268. can. 13. etc. Inde prædia ac villæ
de immunitateesse dicuntur, quæ ad Ecclesias pertinent, in Edicto Pistensi cap. 8. 18. in Chronico Besuensi pag. 504. in Præcepto Barnoini Viennensis Archiepiscopi ann. 811. tom. 12. Spicil. Acher. pag. 140. 141. in Concilio Coloniensi ann. 1266. can. 4. etc.
Item en la ville et cité de Rouen avons un ancien manoir, la chapelle S. Philebert dudit lieu, ou sont plusieurs maisons et jardins, ainsi que le tout se comporte, clos de hauts murs anciennement nommé Turris Alneredi, et de present la Poterne, qui est lieu d'aumosne, franchise et Munité, assis pres le Palais en la paroisse S. Lo.
Immunité, eadem acceptione. Lit. remiss. ann. 1389. in Reg. 138. Chartoph. reg. ch. 71 :
Et se mit en Immunité et franchise en l'église du Sépulcre à Paris.
Quod inrationabiliter ablatum foret, cum omnibus appenditiis et Immunitationibus redderemus.
Promittimus..... omnia privilegia, omnes libertates, Immunitiones, cartas, instrumenta... inviolabiliter observare.
Quod si quispiam fecerit, restitutis male præsumptis, Immunitatem ipsius Ecclesiæ persolvat, et bannum nostrum tripliciter componat.
- immunis, exemption from burdens, immunity, privilege: omnium rerum, Cs.: provinciae.—Fig.: magni muneris.
IMMU´NITASImmunitas means an exemption from burdens imposed by the state ; munus, according to the definition of Paulus (Dig. 50, 16, 18), is an onus, quod cum remittatur, vacationem militiae munerisque praestat inde immunitatem appellari. Such a remission might either be granted to individual citizens of a special state from some or all of the munera imposed by that state, or to classes of individuals throughout the Roman world; or the immunitas might take the form of special exemptions granted to whole states from certain duties which they owed to Rome: and in this, its most usual form, immunitas is generally equivalent to exemption from tribute.
This immunity conferred on states was, in the earlier Roman Empire, inseparable from the idea of societas, and was not regarded as a special privilege conferred on certain favoured communities amongst the socii. According to the old Roman principle, alliance with Rome excluded stipendium of any kind. This was not only the case with the Italians, but with the allied states out of Italy. In any classification the foederatae and liberae civitates invariably appear as immunes [see SOCII]. It is true that in the less organised portions of the Roman Empire the assertion that a nation was free did not necessarily imply that it was immunis; on the conquest of Epirus in 167 B.C., though all the Illyrians were declared liberi, only some were declared non solum liberi sed etiam immunes (Liv. 45.26). But the general principle of the taxation of free civic communities did not begin until the period of the later Republic or the early Empire. We find it in the case of Byzantium, which Tacitus describes as tributary (Ann. 12.63), although after the Macedonian war it had been in alliance with Rome and had certainly not been taxed in the early Republic; and in the case of the tributary states of Asia mentioned by Tacitus (Tac. Ann. 2.47), two of which, Magnesia ad Sipylum and Apollonidea, were liberae (Strabo, 13. p. 621; Cic. pro Flacco, 29, 71). This change is specially noticeable in the East, and probably originated with Pompey's organisation of Asia. Henceforth immunitas was not a necessary accompaniment of autonomy nor even of the Latinitas which was conferred on states in the last century of the Republic and in the Empire (Mommsen, Staatsr. 3. p. 684 ff.; Marquardt, Staatsverw. 1. p. 354 ff.); and the immunitas of states became more of an exceptional political privilege. Sometimes it was a special immunity, such as the beneficium claimed by the state Tyras in Moesia that its citizens should be freed from the port dues of Illyricum (C. I. L. iii. n. 781); sometimes a general exemption from all external burdens, such as that enjoyed by Ilium (Dig. 27, 17, 1; cf. Suet. Cl. 25). A mode of establishing immunitas for a state was the conferring of the jus Italicum, which implied quiritarian ownership of the soil, and consequently exemption from the land-tribute. This was generally done when the state was declared a colonia, but a colonia so created did not necessarily possess this right (Dig. 50, 15, 8, 6, Divus Antoninus Antiochenos colonos fecit salvis tributis), although a partial immunitas might be conferred upon it (Dig. ib. Divus Vespasianus Caesarienses colonos fecit non adjecto ut et juris Italici essent, sed tributum his remisit capitis: sed divus Titus etiam solum immune factum interpretatus est). Many states in Lusitania, Gaul, Germany, Syria, and Phoenicia, were coloniae and had the jus Italicum (Dig. l. c.).
The immunitas which was conferred on classes of individuals invariably took the form of an exemption from local burdens, which was granted by Rome either to Romans or to the members of the particular state by which the burdens were imposed. In the leges by which Rome recognised the position of free states she often claimed exemptions for classes of her own citizens; thus in the Lex Antonia de Termessibus the publicani of Rome are exempted from the portoria of Termessus (C. I. L. i. f. 204, 2.35): and the Roman soldiers in the Empire were exempt from duties on all goods which they might carry into or purchase in the provinces for their own use (Tac. Ann. 13.51; Cod. 4.61, 3). For another class of munera, personal duties, such as that of being a tutor, a limit of age was fixed after which exemptions were permitted (Dig. 50, 6, 4). But, besides such special exemptions, general immunities from local burdens were granted to classes of citizens. Thus during the Empire, and probably by an edict of Augustus, all who belonged to the senatorial order, i. e. senators and their direct descendants, were freed from the munera of the community to which they belonged (Dig. 50, 1, 22, 5). They were also freed from the necessity of undertaking its honores, which in the municipia were generally regarded as munera, but they retained their position as members of their native state, and were at liberty to fill the local magistracies if they pleased (Dig. 50, 1, 23, municeps esse desinit quantum ad munera, quantum vero ad honores retinere creditur originem). Great difficulty was experienced, from an early period of the Empire, in finding citizens willing to undertake public duties in the Italian and provincial towns (see Lex Malacitana, C. I. L. ii. n. 1964, c. li.), and the classes of those who claimed an exemption from such burdens (excusatio municipalium munerum) were closely scrutinised and were constantly being narrowed. The effective grounds of such excusatio were various. One was the number of children possessed by the claimant, another the exercise of certain professions which required release from state burdens ut necessariam operam publicis utilitatibus exhiberent (Dig. 50, 6, 6, 12): thus merchants and ship-owners who supplied the state with corn, conductores vectigalium, and certain collegia and corpora of artisans were excused such duties, and a general exemption was granted to rhetors, philosophers, grammarians, and physicians practising their profession in their native state and in Rome (Dig. 27,1, 6, 8; 50, 6,6,12 ;--Cod. 10, 47 and 48).
Special immunities might further be granted to individuals: the right to confer such immunities was one that Rome reserved to herself both in the foedera and in the laws other than foedera which regulated the rights of her allied states. Exemption from military service was the most frequent of these privileges which she conferred (Lex Jul. Munic. C. I. L. i. n. 206, 1. 93, vacatio rei militaris ex foedere, Liv. 23.20, 2), but the power extended to other munera as well, and in the Lex Acilia Repetundarum of 123 B.C. militiae munerisque publici in sua civitate vacatio was conferred on any Latin who might convict a Roman citizen under this law (C. I. L. i. n. 198, 100.79). During the Empire the exemption from tribute to Rome might be conferred, in an individual case, by a beneficium of the princeps (Suet. Aug. 40).
The acts conferring such immunities on states or individuals were called beneficia (Cic. Phil. 1.1, 3; 7, 17; 2.36-Z2, 91;--Dig. 50, 15, 4, 3); they were, during the Republic, ordained or ratified by a decree of the people (Cic. Phil. 5.4, 10), and were revocable if they were no part of a sworn foedus. Some immunities of free states might be recalled by the senate through the terms of the lex data (Lex de Term. 2.6, ne quis magistratus milites introducito, nisi senatus nominatim decreverit), and in the case of a foedus being rescinded or libertas being recalled the immunitates they conferred were necessarily lost (Suet. Tib. 41). In the Empire such beneficia were conferred by the princeps, and the legal principles regulating them were, that they might be resumed again by the princeps who conferred them, and that their validity ceased with the princeps who had granted them (Mommsen, Staatsr. ii.2 p. 1126 ff.). This latter principle was instituted by Tiberius (Suet. Tit. 8) and continued down to Titus, who introduced the change of conferring all such grants by a single edict (Suet. ib.). This principle was followed by later emperors; but this did not exclude special investigation of the grounds of certain exemptions, for instance that of Tyras by Severus (C. I. L. iii. n. 781). Prescription was not in every case sufficient to establish a baseless immunity (C. I. L. 1. c. nec facile quae per errorem aut licentiam usurpata sunt praescriptione temporis confirmentur), but the principle was finally developed that immunities granted to states were understood to continue to subsequent generations (Dig. 50, 15, 4, 3). Personal immunities granted to individuals ceased in most cases with their death ( cum persona extinguuntur, Dig. l. c.; cf. Dig. 50, 6).
(Mommsen, Römisches Staatsrecht, ii.2 p. 1126 ff.; 3. p. 684 ff. and p. 474; Marquardt, Römische Staatsverwaltung, i. pp. 354-358; Madvig, Verfassung und Verwaltung des römischen Rechts, 1. p. 84.)
[A.H.G]