
Textus Roffensis — Kent Records
Index
Where reference to the ‘original scribe’ is made, this refers to the anonymous scribe who copied by far the majority of the Textus around 1123. ‘Later hand’ and similar expressions thus refer to later scribes or annotators. Dates for the original individual documents (‘texts’) are provided in brackets where known. Folio numbers are given as either r (recto) or v (verso), meaning the front side and back side of a folio, respectively.Inserts
Three vellum leaves smaller than those of the twelfth-century manuscript were inserted at the beginning of the volume by Dr John Harris (c. 1666-1719) after the accidental submersion of Textus in the River Thames or Medway around 1716. The first inserted folio features several inscriptions copied from the previous cover of the manuscript by Harris, which possibly dated from the fourteenth-century rearrangement and rebinding of the quires around the time of Bishop Hamo of Hythe (c.1275-1352) .
The second folio leaf surrounds a portion of the previous bindings that had been annotated by Dean Balcanquel recording the loss and recovery of the manuscript around the time of the English Civil War.
The verso side of the final inserted leaf features a further note of ‘Arabick Numerals’ by Dr Harris and a set of ‘Saxon Characters’ by notable antiquarian Elizabeth Elstob (1683-1756).
Annotations of the original manuscript leaves include those by notable early legal scholarWilliam Lambarde.
1r-118r. Institutes from the Laws of the Kings of the English
Jump to: 119r-234v Cartulary
The first three texts in the rearranged manuscript are the lawcodes from the kingdom of Kent, the earliest of the Old English legal codes that have survived.
1r-3v | Æthelberht’s Code, c. 600 CE1 |
---|---|
This text represents the oldest surviving text written in Old English, as well as the oldest English lawcode. | |
3v-5r | Hlothere and Eadric’s Code c. 679-6852 |
Unique to Textus. | |
5r-6v | The Laws of Wihtræd, 6953 |
Unique to Textus. Wihtræd’s law is more focused on church matters than the laws of his predecessors. | |
7r-7v | Hadbot |
Laws on compensation for injury to those in holy orders. Possibly Archbishop Wulfstan of York, 1002-1023. | |
7v-8v | West-Saxon Genealogical Regnal List |
One of two genealogies in Textus, this one recording a lineage from Christ to the early kings of the Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms. | |
9r-24v | Alfred’s Domboc (‘book of laws’) including Alfred’s Preface, after 893 |
Within three sections, the first comprising a list of Alfred’s laws. The second, Alfred’s Preface, comprises a translation of most of chapters 20-23 of the book of Exodus (from the Old Testament of the Bible), which includes the Ten Commandments, and a rendering of apostolic law, including chapter 15 of Acts of the Apostles and two verses from the Gospel of Matthew (both from the New Testament of the Bible). The final section is Alfred’s own decrees. | |
24v-31v | Ine’s Code, c.7004 |
Ine was King of Wessex from 689 to 726. Ine’s Code was originally appended to Alfred’s law-code. | |
31v-32r | Be blaserum and be morðslihtum (‘Concerning arsonists and murders’), probably 10th century |
Anonymous and undated, though bearing similarities in language and content to the codes during Æthelstan’s reign, 924-939. | |
32r | Forfang: a reward for retrieving stolen property |
Anonymous, probably 2nd quarter of the 10th century.td> | |
32r-32v | Trial by Ordeal |
Thought to be the earliest of the anonymous codes, this one concerns ordeals. Anonymous and undated, though bearing similarities in language and content to the codes during Æthelstan’s reign, 924-939. Known by its Old English title Ordal. | |
32v | Spoil of the Slain, probably late 10th century |
This anonymous lawcode fragment forbids the robbery of corpses. Possibly Scandinavian in origin as it uses the term niðing meaning ‘outlaw’. | |
32v-37r | Æthelstan’s Grately Code, c.924-939 |
Æthelstan was King of the Anglo-Saxons from 924 to 927 and King of the English from 927 to his death in 939. This code’s main theme is thievery, but it also deals with treachery to lords, exchange and purchase, ordeals, witchcraft and punishment of slaves. Also known as II Æthelstan. | |
37r-38r | Æthelstan’s Exeter Code, c.927-939 |
This code addresses fugitives from law and the corruption of reeves, promising to take strong action against those who defy the law. The code survives only in Textus and a 16th-century transcript. Also known as V Æthelstan. | |
38r | Æthelstan’s Thunderfield Code, c.939 |
This addresses sanctuary for outlaws. This Old English version is unique to Textus, also known as IV Æthelstan. | |
38r | The King’s Peace, late 10th century |
This relates to physical boundaries or limits of the ‘King’s peace’. This Old English version is unique to Textus. | |
38v–39v | How to swear an oath |
Anonymous, unknown date. Concerns instructions for swearing an oath. Also known by its Old English title Swerian. | |
39v | Concerning the Mercian Oath |
Anonymous, but associated with Wulfstan, Archbishop of York, 1002-1023. This relates to the ranking of men by the value of their oaths. Also known by its Old English title Be Mirciscan Aðe. | |
39v | Concerning Laws of the Mercians |
Anonymous but associated with Wulfstan, Archbishop of York, 1002-1023. This provides information on the payment of wergild (the legal value set on a person’s life according to rank) within Mercian society. This text refers to a king’s wergild and therefore can be seen as old-fashioned, as kings in Mercia had long ceased by the time Wulfstan either wrote or emended the law-code, the last king being Ceolwulf II who died in 879. Also known by its Old English title Be Mircna Laga. | |
40r-41v | Peace of Edward and Guthrum |
This text is a forgery. It was not written, as it claims, in the time of King Alfred. Archbishop Wulfstan of York (1002-23) may possibly have fabricated this treaty in an attempt to seek security for the Church in northern England once he became archbishop by reaffirming traditional rights and penalties regarding church sanctuary, crimes in which the Church has an interest, the responsibilities of priests, tithes, fasting, Sunday-work, and sorcery. | |
41v-42r | Wergeld |
Another code concerning wergilds. Anonymous, probably after 946, as closely associated with Edmund’s Second Code, below. | |
42r-43r | Edward the Elder’s First code, c.901-24 |
Edward the Elder was King of the Anglo-Saxons from 899 until his death in 924. | |
43r-44r | Edward the Elder’s Second Code (924-5) |
44r-45r | Edmund’s First Code (942-6) |
The code’s chief concerns are ecclesiastical: clerical celibacy, church dues and alms, and restoration of church buildings. | |
45r-46r | Edmund’s Bloodfeud Laws (c. 943-6) |
Also known as Edmund’s Second Code, the code’s primary concern is the prevention of feuds. | |
46r-47r | Æthelred’s Woodstock Code (997) |
Represents the regulations produced by a royal council meeting at Woodstock that may have taken place in 997. It is largely concerned with criminal surety 'according to English law’, and appears to be paired with Æthelred’s Wantage code (III Atr), also produced in 997, that treats the areas of England that were under Danish law. Also known as I Æthelred. | |
47r-47v | King William’s Statute, c. 1066-87 |
Concerns suits brought between Englishmen and Frenchman, and introduces to the English the Norman concept of trial by combat. This Old English version is unique to Textus. Also known by its Old English title Willelmes Cyninges Asetnysse. | |
48r-49v | Æthelred’s Wantage Code (997) |
This code was issued to the Five Boroughs of the Danelaw, its language contains a good deal of Scandinavian vocabulary. The code is chiefly concerned with the penalties for breach of peace, and includes regulations on the conduct of ordeals, arbitration and the clearance of condemned thieves. It includes perhaps the earliest description of a jury of presentment. This Old English version is unique to Textus, also known as III Æthelred. | |
49v-57r | Judgement of God |
Anonymous, date unknown. This relates to the three trials by ordeal, or ‘exorcisms’: boiling water, red-hot iron, and barley bread and cheese. Also known by its Latin title Iudicia Dei | |
57v | Cnut’s Charter for Christ Church, Canterbury (1023) |
Concerns the granting of the port of Sandwich and related water rights to Christ Church, Canterbury. Includes references to the arm of Saint Bartholomew, referring to a relic, a large cloak and Bartholomew’s gold crown. | |
58r-80r | The Institutes of Cnut (c.1066-1123) |
A Latin translation of Cnut’s Winchester code [I-II Cnut, c. 1023]; certain chapters from the laws of Alfred, Edgar, Æthelred; and various short anonymous treatises. | |
80r-81v | Articles of William I |
The text cannot wholly have been issued by William I, though some of the chapters may represent actual edicts of the king. The text treats issues of oath, murder fine, penalties, witnessing sales, proof based on ethnicity, suretyship, sale of slaves out of the country, and capital punishment (earlyenglishlaws.ac.uk). | |
81v-87v | Decretals of Pseudo-Isidore, c.925-950 |
This text contains excerpts from the Decretals, an influential collection of forgeries, purported to be written by earlier popes, which defend the position of bishops from secular authorities. Mary P. Richards observes: ‘its inclusion at this point of the Rochester law book is most interesting: following the Ten Articles [of William] as it does, the text provides authority from canon law to accompany the new civil code, and thus provides a sign of the growing separation of civil from ecclesiastical law during William’s reign’ (Texts and Their Traditions in the Medieval Library of Rochester Cathedral Priory (1988), p. 49). | |
88r-92v | Æthelstan’s London Code (c. 930-40) |
This text is important for the history of guilds in London. This Old English version unique to Textus Roffensis, also known as VI Æthelstan. | |
92v-93r | Æthelstan modifies the penalties for theft (c. 930-39) |
This primarily relates to the age at which a thief could be executed. The scribe apparently has appended this to the previous code, perhaps not recognising its discreteness. | |
93r-93v | Geþincðo or Be wergildum 7 be geðinðum, early-11th-century |
This is a tract on the change of status, setting down what the criteria for social climbing had been in the past. It was seemingly composed by Archbishop Wulfstan of York (1002-1023) and the context is the social upheaval caused by the Viking attacks. | |
93v–94r | Laws of the Northumbrians, mid-10th-century |
Concerns wergilds for people in Northumbria. Also known by its Old English title Norðleod or Norðleoda Laga. | |
94v-95r | Concerning a woman’s betrothal, early-11th-century |
Also known by its Old English title Wifmannes beweddung. | |
95r | Charm for stolen livestock |
The instructions for giving the charm are written in Old English. The charm itself is a mixture of Latin and Old English and is quasi-Christian, incorporating references to the Cross of Christ and the names of the Old Testament figures Abraham and Job. | |
95r–95v | It he bequeathed, late-10th to early-11th centuries |
A formula for asserting the right to hold bequeathed land. Also known by its Old English title Hit becwæð. | |
96r-97v | Henry I’s Coronation Charter, 1100 |
This is the earliest of the surviving copies; the original was published 5 August 1100. | |
98r-99v | Excommunication curse no. 8, 10th or 11th-century |
A formula for excommunication of criminals. Also known by its Latin title Excommunicatio VIII. | |
99v-100r | Excommunication curse no. 9 |
Another excommunication formula, date uncertain. Also known by its Latin title Excommunicatio IX . | |
101r-101v | Genealogy of the West Saxon English Kings |
This traces the genealogy from Adam, through his good son Seth, then to various other Old Testament patriarchs, including Noah and his apocryphal son Scyf, who was apparently born on the ark! The genealogy finishes with Edward [the Confessor]. The kings of Mercia, Kent are listed, beginning with Æthelberht (II) son of Whitred, and finishing with the god Woden (Odin), as do several of the other genealogies. The following list follows the format of the previous, although the order is reversed and the list finishes with Christ. | |
105r-106v | Roman Popes |
Begins with Saint Peter and finishes with Celestine III (1191-98). | |
107r-107v | Byzantine Emperors |
As is traditional, the list starts with Constantine the Great, and it finishes abruptly with Leo III (717-741). | |
107v-108v | Bishops of Jerusalem |
There are spaces left at the end of some of the lists, apparently for updating names. | |
109r-109v | Bishops of Alexandria |
109v-110r | Popes of Antioch |
110v-116r | Lists of Archbishops of Canterbury and Bishops of England and Scotland |
Lists of the Archbishops of Canterbury and the Bishops of Rochester, London, Chichester, Winchester, Salisbury, Saint Albans, Wells, Exeter, Worcester, Cheshire, Leicester, Hereford, Lincoln, Norwich, York, Ripon, Durham and Casa Candida (Galloway, Scotland). | |
116v | List of twenty-four elders |
It is not known who these elders were, or the reason for this list. | |
116v | Popes responsible for introducing new forms of service into the liturgy |
116v | Names of the seven archangels |
This is a copy of the brief Nomina archangelorum, a text probably earlier than the end of the 8th cent. | |
117r | Notes of liturgy added to the Mass by thee further popes |
A note on the service of Mass instituted by Popes Celestine, Telesphorus and Sixtus. |
119r-234v. Cartulary
The second portion of Textus is the finest of the cathedral cartularies, or collections of charters. The portion also includes a number of miscellaneous records of use to the monks of St. Andrew’s.
The final vellum folio of the manuscript (235r) features an R within a ringed cross, presumably for Rochester/Roffensis, accompanied by a faint outline image of what might be a skull. There are several short but largely illegible inscriptions.
Footnotes
1 Æthelberht was King of Kent from about 589 until his death in 616.
2 The rubrics of the laws of Eadric and Hlothere indicate that they should be dated to the period of their joint rule 679-685. However, it is possible that the text represents a conflation of laws issued separately by the two kings (Hlothere r. 673-685; Eadric r. ca. 679-686).
3 Wihtred was king of Kent from about 690 until his death in 725.

Historical Consultant for creatives and the heritage sector.

The Peace of Edward and Guthrum forgery, c.1002-23
Dr Alexander Thomas introduces The Peace of Edward and Guthrum forgery, Textus Roffensisfolios 40r-41v.

Æthelstan’s Grately Code, c.926-c.930
Transcription and translation from Old English of Textus Roffensisfolios 32v-37r by Dr Christopher Monk.

Concerning arsonists and murders, probably 10th century
Concerning arsonists and murders (Be blaserum ⁊ be morðslihtum), anonymous, probably the 2nd quarter of the 10th century. Translation from Old English of Textus Roffensis folio 31v-32r by Dr Christopher Monk.

Forfang: a reward for retrieving stolen property, probably 10th century
Transcription and translation from Old English of Textus Roffensis folio 32r by Dr Christopher Monk.

Æthelstan modifies the penalties for theft (c.930-39)
Concerning both the age at which a thief could be executed and the lower limit of the value of property stolen for which a thief could be put to death.

Concerning a woman’s betrothal, early 11th century
Be wifmannes beweddung (‘Concerning a woman’s betrothal’) (early-11th-century). Translation from Old English of Textus Roffensis folios 94v-95r by Dr Christopher Monk.

Confirmation of the privileges of St Andrew’s Priory by Archbishop William de Corbeil, c.1123-1136
Transcription and translation from Latin of Textus Roffensis folio 103r by Jacob Scott (pending review).

Confirmation of the privileges of St Andrew’s Priory by Archbishop Theobald of Bec, c.1139
Translation from Latin of Textus Roffensis, folios 131r-132r by Jacob Scott (pending review).

Henry I confirms the division of lands, c.1123
Translation from Latin of Textus Roffensis, folios 218r-220r by Jacob Scott (pending review).

List of individual benefactors and their donations to Rochester Cathedral, recorded c.1123
Translation from Latin of Textus Roffensis, folios 182v-186v by Jacob Scott (pending review).

List of Royal Donations to Rochester Cathedral from 604 to the reign of William II, recorded c.1123
Translation from Latin of Textus Roffensis, folios 215r-216r by Jacob Scott (pending review).

List of various donors and their gifts to Rochester Cathedral and Priory, recorded c.1123
Translation from Latin of Textus Roffensis, folios 201r-202v by Jacob Scott (pending review).

Offices and masses for monastic houses in confraternity with St Andrew’s Priory, Rochester, c.1123
Translation from Latin of Textus Roffensis, folios 222r-223v by Jacob Scott (pending review).

Donation to Rochester Cathedral of ten yokes of land and a village with rights in meadow, forest, and marsh near Rochester, 855
Translation from Latin of Textus Roffensis, folios 139v-140r by Jacob Scott (pending review).

Donation of land to Rochester Cathedral partly within and partly to the north of Rochester, 868
Translation from Latin of Textus Roffensis, folios 131r-132r by Jacob Scott (pending review).

Three sulungs at Cuxton to Rochester Cathedral with the church of St Michael, 880
Æthelwulf of Wessex grants to St Andrew’s and Bishop Swithwulf. Translation from Latin of Textus Roffensis, folios 141v-142v by Jacob Scott (pending review).

Three plough-lands at Malling to Rochester Cathedral, Kent 942-946
Edmund I grants land at Malling, Kent, to Bishop Burhric of Rochester (c.942-944). Translation from Latin of Textus Roffensis folios 143r-144r by Jacob Scott (reviewed by Dr Christopher Monk). Translation of Old English, commentary and notes by Dr Christopher Monk.

Ten sulungs at Bromley to Rochester Cathedral in return for money, 955
Eadgar of Wessex grants ten sulungs at Bromley to St Andrew’s in return for money paid by Bishop Ælfstan of Rochester to himself and his præfectus Wulfstan (955). Translation from Latin of Textus Roffensis, folios 150r-152r by Jacob Scott (pending review).

Three sulungs and a fourth at Bromhey with a fishery and swine-pastures, 801
Translation from Latin of Textus Roffensis, folios 135v-136v by Jacob Scott (pending review).

Eighty acres and half a village, and also a marsh, 860 (altered to 790)
Translation from Latin of Textus Roffensis, folios 131r-132r by Jacob Scott (pending review).
- Accounts
- Alkham
- Ashford
- Aylesford
- Bekesbourne
- Betteshanger
- Biddenden
- Blackmanstone
- Brenzett
- Bromhey
- Bromley
- Burham
- Canterbury
- Capel
- Chalk
- Charing
- Charters
- Chatham
- Chelsfield
- Cliffe
- Cooling
- Custumale Roffense
- Cuxton
- Dartford
- Deal
- Dover
- East Peckham
- Eastbridge
- Eastry
- Faversham
- Fawkham
- Feet of Fines
- Folkestone
- Food
- Foots Cray
- Frindsbury
- Gillingham
- Goudhurst
- Gravesend
- Haddenham
- Hadlow
- Halling
- Harbledown
- Hawkhurst
- Hawkinge
- Higham
- Hoath
- Hoo
- Horton Kirby
- Hythe
- Ifield
- Inscriptions
- Ivychurch
- Laws
- Lewisham
- Littlebourne
- Lydd
- Lyminge
- Maidstone
- Medicine
- Medieval
- Military History
- Modern
- Monasticism
- Monumental Inscriptions
- North West Kent Family History Society
- Northfleet
- Orlestone
- Preston near Wingham
- Rainham
- Ramsgate
- Records
- Ringwould
- Rochester
- Rochester Cathedral
- Saltwood
- Sandwich
- Shipbourne
- Shoreham
- Sittingbourne
- Snargate
- Snave
- Snodland
- Snodland Historical Society
- Stansted
- Stoke
- Stone in Oxney
- Stourmouth
- Stowting
- Strood
- Sturry
- Surveys
- Tenterden
- Textus Roffensis
- Tithe Commutation Surveys
- Tonbridge
- Westwell
- Wills
- Woolwich
- Wouldham