Direct speech in The Customs of Tortosa: evidence of oral communication or literary device

This article examines the recording of customary law by medieval legalists using two editions of the "Customs of Tortosa" (1272 and 1279). The study focuses on the forms of oral communication reflected in the text of this customary law collection, compiled primarily in Old Catalan. Of particular interest is the transformation of oral legal norms into written text and the changes customary law underwent during the process of legalist recording. Particular attention is paid to the classification of elements of direct speech depending on the circumstances of their use in normative documents. The research methodology is based on a comprehensive historical-philological approach, employing textual, comparative, and contextual analysis. The author uses methods of the historical anthropology of law to reconstruct the sociocultural context of legal communication. Key methodological principles include an analysis of the text in two versions and identification of transformations of direct speech. The study draws on methodological developments in Western European medieval studies in the field of studying the relationship between oral and written practices. The scientific novelty lies in its comprehensive analysis of direct speech as a literary device and evidence of oral communication in the "Customs of Tortosa – a record of customary law, which existed primarily in oral form. The author demonstrates that direct speech in the "Customs of Tortosa" serves multiple functions: it records performative utterances; it standardizes the speech practices of the trial participants; it lends authority and legitimacy to the text. This conclusion is reinforced by the fact that most of the speech inserts are prescriptive in nature and reflect standardized legal formulas. The study demonstrates that direct speech simultaneously serves as evidence of a vibrant judicial oral culture and a conscious literary-legal device for recording procedural norms of customary law by professional legalists, representatives of a "textual" culture.

Customs of Tortosa, history of Catalonia, medieval Catalonia, medieval law, customary law, legal anthropology, direct speech, oral communication, written culture, medieval trial