Ganshof, François L. Frankish Institutions Under Charlemagne, trans. Bryce and Mary Lyon. New
York: Norton, 1968.
Goebel, Julius, Jr. Felony and Misdemeanor: A Study in the History of English Criminal
Procedure. New York: Commonwealth Fund, 1937.
FRÉJUS
. Established by Julius Caesar in 50 B.C. and known as the Forum Julii, Fréjus is located
in the southeast of France in the department of the Var. From the Roman period, there
remain the ruins of a 3rd-century amphitheater, an aqueduct, and some fortifications. A
5th-century baptistery also survives that is significant for several reasons. Formigé’s
work on the edifice in 1926–27 and 1929–30 demonstrated that the baptistery was erected
specifically for the Christian rite. Its style is Merovingian—an octagon built within a
square with four rounded apses and four rectangular niches. The floor is of marble, while
those of the apses and niches are terra-cotta mosaics.
In the Fréjus baptistery are the only surviving French dolium and remnants of a
ciborium. The dolium is a basin built into the floor on the south side, 1 foot 3 inches
deep, for a foot-washing ceremony prior to baptism in the Ambrosian rite. The octagonal
piscina in which the catechumen was immersed is 2 feet 9 inches deep. Only one of the
eight columns originally surrounding the piscina now remains. From these columns,
curtains were hung to protect the modesty of the catechumen. Another curtain divided the
baptistery into sex-segregated halves.
The cathedral of Notre-Dame-et-Saint-Léonce, rebuilt by Bishop Riculfus in 975 after
the Muslim attack in 915, contained a single nave and one side aisle, which formed the
parish church dedicated to St. Étienne. The present narthex dates from the 12th century.
The original cathedral dating from the 4th-5th centuries contained a nave and two lower
side aisles, a common occurrence in Provence. The cathedral group is completed by a
cloister that dates from the 12th and 13th centuries.
Linda M.Rouillard
Donnadieu, Alphonse. La Pompéi de la Provence: Fréjus. Paris: Champion, 1928.
Formigé, Jules. Les monuments romains de la Provence. Paris: Champion, 1924.
Goettelmann, Paul Augustus. “The Baptistry of Fréjus: A Restoration Based on the Architectural
and Historical Evidence.” Diss. Catholic University of America, 1933.
FRENCH LANGUAGE
. Old French had its origin in the colloquial form of Latin brought to Gaul in the 2nd
century B.C. as a consequence of the Roman occupation. With the collapse of the Roman
Empire in the 5th century, Germanic groups in great numbers began to enter Gaul, among
them the Franks, who settled most thickly in the north. The linguistic evolution of the
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