[Forensic evaluation of physical damage in the early Middle Ages--a comparison with current occupational disability...

The legal systems of the Germanic tribes in the early Middle Ages elaborated detailed catalogs of forfeits in compensation for certain physical injuries. The perpetrator had to pay the forfeit to the injured person, or in case of manslaughter, to the tribe of the dead. By doing so he could avert the feud which otherwise faced him. These catalogs of forfeits exactly reflect the relative value that was appointed to certain parts of the body and to sensory functions. The catalog of the Lex Saxonum (c. 802), in which physical injuries are listed, ranging from loss of single phalanges, differentiated between thumb, forefinger, small finger, and the other fingers, to death, is compared with modern grades of disability. There are surprising parallels and interesting contrasts. Bilateral deafness is put on a level with bilateral blindness, the loss of both hands, both feet, both testicles, and death.