<i>Quousque veritatem suam non inveniat</i> : fonte della conoscenza, accertamento della verità giudiziaria e semantica verbale tra evidenzialità e modalità epistemica nelle leggi dei Longobardi

Abstract This study explores some aspects of the linguistic expression of evidentiality and epistemic modality in the legislative texts of the Lombards, focusing on the Edictum Rothari and the laws of Liutprand. The research examines how verbal constructions in these legal documents encode information sources and contribute to the process of judicial truth-finding. Lombard laws, structured primarily around specific cases rather than general principles, place significant emphasis on the means of verifying offenses, the characteristics of the inflicted damage, and the modalities of defense. A key hypothesis of this study is that both evidentiality and epistemic modality (and their interactions) play a crucial role in the syntax and textual construction of Lombard legislation.