in some status of wardship to the males of the family—and a freeborn Lombard woman who married an aldius (semi-free man) or a slave might be slain or sold by her male kin—the respect, amounting to a taboo, that was owed to a freeborn Lombard woman was notable. Anyone who would "place himself in the way" (injure) of a free woman or girl must pay 900 solidi, an immense sum. For comparison, anyone who would "place himself in the way" of a free man had to pay him 20 solidi if there was no bodily injury, and in similar cases involving another man's slave, handmaid or aldius, 20 solidi to the lord had to be paid as the price for copulation with another man's slave. Roman slaves were of lower value in these matters compared to Germanic slaves. Physical injuries were all minutely catalogued, with a price set for damage done to each tooth, finger or toe. Property was a concern: many laws in the Edict dealt specifically with injuries to an aldius or to a household slave. A still lower class, according to their assigned values, were the agricultural slaves. In the laws pertaining to inheritance, illegitimate offspring had rights as well as legitimate ones. No father could disinherit his son except for certain grievous crimes. Donations of property were made in the presence of an assembly called the thinc, which gave rise to the barbarous Latin verb thingare, to grant or donate before witnesses. If a man wishes to thingare his property, he must make the gairethinx ("spear donation") in the presence of free men. Slaves might be emancipated in various ways, but there were severe laws for the pursuit and restoration of fugitives. In judicial procedure, a system of compurgation prevailed, as well as the wager of battle. The general assembly of free men continued to add ritual solemnity to important acts such as the enactment of new laws or the selection of a king. Lombard law applied to Lombards solely. The Roman population ruled by Lombard aristocracy expected to live under long-codified Roman law. The Edict stipulated that foreigners who came to settle in Lombard territories were expected to live according to the laws of the Lombards unless they obtained from the king the right to live according to some other law. Later, by the reign of King Liutprand (712–743), most inhabitants of Lombard Italy were