? ? The sixth to eighth centuries saw a flowering of written laws of and for the early Germanic tribes. Central to all these collocations are tables of fines for personal injury. As we have few other written texts from these territories in the early medieval period, and none which deal specifically with anatomy, physiology or medicine, these tariffs provide our only insight into what early medieval peoples knew about the body and how they interpreted that knowledge.The Germanic tariff have been virtually unaddressed in the scholarly iterature. A thorough study will be invaluable for our understanding for early medieval Europe in terms of anatomical and medical knowledge, societal custom, and the dissemination of legal practice. Furthermore, this monograph applies the Comparative Method, originally developed for the field of historical linguisitics to create a taxonomy for the study of anatomical knowledge in early Europe. Never before has historical legal study focused on comparison of physiological function and the importance that society places on individual body parts for cultural or military function. This investigation not only expands our base of knowledge, but also demonstrates the vast range of data that linguistic methodology is capable of elucidating. The study thus breaks new ground in the realms both of factual knowledge and of the extension of theory first developed for the field of historical linguistics. ? ? This research will provide a study of the understanding of medicine and anatomy in early medieval Europe as demonstrated by the personal injury tariffs in early Germanic law.The book will broadly address crossdisciplinary issues relevant to medical, legal, social and literary historians, historians of language and linguistics, lawyers focusing on medical fields, insurance adjusters and advocates for the benefits of the disabled. ? ? ?
