THE
CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA
Assizes of Jerusalem.—The signification of the
word assizes in this connexion is derived from the
French verb asseoir, whose past participle is assis.
Asseoir means "to seat", "to place one on a
seat ". Hence the idea of putting something
into its place, determining it to something. Thus
assise came to mean an enactment, a statute.
Assize is the English form of the word, and used
in the plural, assizes, it denotes a court. The
"Assizes of Jerusalem" {les assises de Jinisalem)
are the code of laws enacted by the Crusaders for
the government of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. They
are a collection of legal regulations for the courts
of the Latin Ivingdom of Jerusalem and Cyprus.
Thus we have the "Assizes of Antioch ", the "A.ssizes
of Rumania", legal regulations for the Latin prin-
cipality of Antioch and for the Latin Empire of
Constantinople. It is erroneous to ascribe the
"Assizes of Jerusalem" to Godfrey de Bouillon on
the presumption that as he was King of Jerusalem
he enacted its laws. The "Assizes of Jerusalem"
were compiled in the thirteenth century, not in the
eleventh; not in Jerusalem, but after its fall; not
by any ruler, but by several jurists. Not even the
names of these are all known, though two of them
were the well-known John of Ibelin, who composed,
before 1266, the "Livre des Assises de la Cour des
Barons", and Philippe de Navarre, who, about the
middle of the thirteenth century, compiled the
"Livre de forme de plait en la Haute Cour".
There are nine treatises in the "Assizes of Jerusa- lem ", and they concern themselves with two kinds of law: Feudal Law, to which the Upper Court of Barons was amenable; and Common Law, which was applied to the Court of the Burgesses. The latter is the older of the two and was drawn up before the fall of .lerusalem. It deals with questions of civil law, such as contracts, marriage, and property, and touches on some which fall within the province of special courts, such as the "Ecclesiastical Court" for canonical points, the "Cour de la Fonde " for commerce, and the "Cour de la Mer " for admiralty cases. It deals rather with what the law enjoins in these several fields than with determining penalties for transgressions. The celebrated " Livre de la Haute Cour" of Ibelin was adopted, after revision (13.59), as the official code of the Court of Cyprus, which kingdom succeeded to the title and regulations of Jerusalem. We possess only the official text of this, which is not much older than the works of French lawyers of Rouen and Orleans. But the superiority of the " Assizes of Jerusalem " is that it reflects the genuine character of feudal law, whereas the works of the French feudalists betray something of the royal influence which affected those sections after the revival of the Roman law. No other work dwells so insistently on the rights of the vassal towards his lord, no other throws such a light on the resolution of a disputed point by an appeal to arms, its challenge, its champions, its value as evidence. In brief, the "Assizes of Jerusalem" give us a faith- ful and vivid picture of the part played by the law in the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem.
Beugnot, Recuril des historuns des Croimdes: Lois, 2 vols, in fol. (Paris, 1841-43). an edition which supersedes the older ones of Thaumapriere (1690). Kansler (1839), Foucher (1840); Padlin Paris, review of Beugnot 's edition, in the Journal des Savanls (Paris. 1841); Monnier, Godefroy de Bouillon, et les Assises de Jerusalem (Acad^mie des Sciences morales, Paris, 1873-74). Consult also any work on feudal or medieval law. Ch. Moeller.
Assmayer, Ignaz, an Austrian musician, b. at Salzburg, 11 February, 1790; d. in Vienna, 31 August, 1862. He studied under Brunmayr and Michael Haydn, and later, when he went to Vienna, he re- ceived further instruction from Eybler. In 1808 he was organist at St. Peter's in his native town, and here he wrote his oratorio "Die Siindfiuth " (The Deluge) and his cantata "Worte der Weihe ". Some time after his removal to Vienna, in 1815, he became choirmaster at the Schotten-lvirche, and in 1825 was appointed imperial organist. After hav- ing served eight years as vice-choirmaster, he re- ceived in 1846 the appointment of second choir- master to the Court, as successor to Weigl. His principal oratorios, "Das Geliibde ", "Saul und David", and "Sauls Tod", were repeatedly per- formed by the T onkiin slier -Societat, of which he was conductor for fifteen years. He also wrote fif- teen masses, two requiems, a Te Deum, and various smaller church pieces. Of these two oratorios, one mass, the requiems, and Te Deum, and furthermore sixty secular compositions, comprismg symphonies, overtures, pastorales, etc., were published. As to his style Grove calls it correct and fluent, but want- ing in both invention and force. Baker, Biogr. Diet, of Musicians; Riemann, Diet, of Music; Grove, Diet, of Music and Musicians.
J. A. Voloker.
Association, Right of Voluntary. — I. The Legal Right. A voluntary association means any group of individuals freely united for the pur- suit of a common end. It differs, therefore, from a necessary association inasmuch as its members are not under legal compulsion to become associated. The principal instances of a necessary association are a conscript military body and civil society, or the State; the concept of voluntary association covers organizations as diverse as a manufacturing corpora- tion and a religious sodality. The legal right of vol- untary association — the attitude of civil authority toward bodies of this nature — has varied in different ages and still varies in different countries. Under the rule of Solon the Athenians seem to have been free to institute such societies as they pleased, .so long as their action did not conflict with the public
