Legal Definitions - lex manifesta

Lex Manifesta is a historical legal term from Latin that translates to "manifest law" or "open law." It refers to two primary concepts in historical legal systems:

• Law that is clear, obvious, and undeniable: This interpretation refers to situations where a legal truth, a violation, or a fact is so apparent and openly known that it requires little to no formal proof or complex legal process. The evidence or the law itself is "manifest" to all.

• Trial by duel or ordeal: In a more specific historical context, "lex manifesta" also referred to a method of dispute resolution, such as trial by combat or various forms of ordeal (e.g., trial by hot iron or water). These trials were believed to reveal the "manifest" truth, often through divine intervention, thereby establishing guilt or innocence in an undeniable way.

Here are some examples illustrating the concept of lex manifesta:

• Imagine a medieval village where a farmer is caught by multiple witnesses attempting to steal a sack of grain directly from a neighbor's cart in the bustling marketplace. The act is undeniable and openly observed by many. This situation would be considered an instance of lex manifesta because the theft and the identity of the perpetrator are so clear and obvious that no lengthy investigation or complex trial would be needed to establish the facts.

• Consider a dispute in a feudal kingdom between two noblemen over the rightful ownership of a strategic piece of land. With no surviving written deeds or reliable witnesses, the local lord might order a trial by combat between the two claimants. The victor of the duel would then be declared the rightful owner, with the outcome seen as God's judgment revealing the "manifest" truth of ownership. In this context, the trial itself serves as the mechanism for establishing lex manifesta.

• A king issues a new royal decree, publicly announced by heralds in every town square and posted on the doors of churches and public buildings throughout the realm. This decree, for instance, might forbid the cutting of timber in royal forests without a special permit. By being so openly and widely declared, the new rule becomes lex manifesta, meaning it is a manifest and known law to all subjects, and ignorance of it would not be considered a valid excuse for violation.