Æthelberht’s Code, c.600 CE
These are the judgements which King Æthelberht set down in Augustine’s day.
In this video I read from the first two folios of Æthelberht’s Code, followed by a translation. See below for translations of the entire code.
The literal, word-by-word, line-by-line translation, below, is offered to enable an understanding of the relationship between Old English and present-day English vocabulary, and as a means of aiding non-specialists to locate the text in the Textus Roffensis digital facsimile. It should be born in mind that the word-order in Old English often differs from that in present-day English. A non-literal translation, which provides the full sense of the original language, is also provided below.
Please note Text written within square brackets, on the lines of Old English, indicates where the letters are no longer readable in the manuscript but can nevertheless be understood to have been there originally. Words in square brackets in the translation are given to aid understanding or to indicate the implied meaning of the original language. Scribal abbreviations have been expanded where it is obvious how they should read; the expansions are indicated by italics. Occasionally, the scribe writes a word across the end of one line and the beginning of the next; this is indicated below by the use of a hyphen.
Transcription
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1r (select folio number to open facsimile)
Þis syndon þa domas þe æðelbirht cyning
asette on aGVSTinus dæge. GODES FEOH· ⁊ CI-
ricean1 ·xii· gylde. Biscopes feoh ·
·xi· gylde. Preostes feoh ·ix· gylde.
Diacones feoh ·vi· gylde. Clero-
ces4 feoh ·iii· gylde. Ciric friþ ·
ii· gylde. M[æðl]friþ ·ii· gylde. Gif cyning his
leode to him gehateþ ⁊ heom mon þær yfel gedo ·
ii· bote ⁊ cyninge ·L· scillinga. Gif cyning æt
mannes ham drincæþ, ⁊ ðær man5 lyswæs hwæt
gedo, twibote gebete. Gif frigman cyninge
stele ·ix· gylde forgylde. Gif in cyninges tu-
ne9 man mannan ofslea ·L· scill.10 Gif man
frigne mannan ofsleahþ, cyninge ·L· scill to
drihtinbeage. Gif cyninges ambiht-smið oþþe
laadrincmannan ofslehð, [me]duman leod-gelde
forgelde. Cyninges mundbyrd ·L· scillinga. Gif
frigman freum stelþ ·iii· gebete, ⁊ cyning age þ
wite ⁊ ealle þa æhtan. Gif man wiþ cyninges mæg-
denman15 geligeþ ·L· scillinga gebete. Gif hio grin-
dende16 þeowa sio ·xxv· scillinga gebete. Sio þridde
xii· scillingas. Cyninges fedesl ·xx· scillinga
forgelde. Gif on eorles tune man mannan
[ ]18 ofslæhþ ·xii· scill gebete. Gif wið eorles
birele man geligeþ ·xii· scill gebete. Ceorles mund-
byrd20 ·vi· scillingas. Gif wið ceorles birelan man
geligeþ ·vi· scillingum21 gebete. Aet þære oþere ðeo-
wan22 ·L· scætta. Aet þare þriddan ·xxx· scætta. Gif
man in mannes tun ærest geirneþ ·vi· scillingum
gebete. Se þe æfter irneþ ·iii· scillingas. Siððan ge-
hwylc25 scilling. Gif man mannan wæpnum bebyreþ
ðær ceas weorð, ⁊ man nænig yfel ne gedeþ ·vi· scillin-
gum27 gebete. Gif wegreaf sy gedon ·vi· scillingum
gebete. Gif man þone man ofslæhð ·xx· scillingum
gebete. Gif man mannan ofslæhð, medume leod-
geld ·c· scillinga gebete. Gif man mannan ofslæhð
æt openum græfe ·xx· scillinga forgelde,29 ⁊ in ·xl·
nihta ealne leod30 forgelde. Gif bana of lande
gewiteþ, ða mag[as] healfne leod forgelden. Gif man
frigne man geb[indeþ] ·xx· scill gebete. Gif man
ceorlæs hlafætan ofslæhð ·vi· scillingum gebete.
Gif læt ofslæhð þone selestan ·Lxxx· scill33 forgelde.
Gif þane oþerne ofslæhð ·Lx· scillingum forgelde.
Ðane þriddan ·xL· scillingum forgelden. Gif friman
edorbrecþe gedeþ ·vi· scillingum gebete. Gif man
inne feoh genimeþ, se man ·iii· gelde gebete. Gif
friman edor gegangeð ·iiii. scillingum gebete.
Gif man mannan ofslea agene scætte, ⁊ unfacne feo
gehwyilce gelde. Gif friman wið fries mannes wif
geligeþ, his wergelde abicge, ⁊ oðer wif his agenum
scætte begete, ⁊ ðæm oðrum æt þam gebrenge.
Gif man r[i]hthamscyld þurh stinð, mid weorðe for-
gelde. Gif feaxfang geweorð ·L· sceatta to bote.
Gif banes blice weorðeþ ·iii· scillingum gebete. Gif
banes bite weorð ·iiii· scillingum gebete. Gif sio
uterre hion gebrocen weorðeþ ·x· scillingum ge-
bete. Gif butu sien ·xx· scillingum gebete. Gif
eaxle gelæmed weorþeð ·xxx· scill gebete. Gif
oþer eare nawiht gehereð ·xxv· scill gebete.
Gif eare of weorð aslagen ·xii· scill gebete. Gif
eare þirel weorðeþ ·iii· scill gebete. Gif eare
sceard weorðeþ ·vi· scill gebete. Gif eage of we-
orð42 ·L· scillingum gebete. Gif muð oþþe eage woh
weorðeþ ·xii· scill gebete. Gif nasu ðyrel weorð
viiii· scillingum gebete. Gif hit sio an hleore
iii· scill gebete. Gif butu ðyrele sien ·vi· scill
gebete. Gif nasu ælcor sceard weorð gehwylc ·
vi· scill gebete. Gif ðirel weorþ ·vi· scill gebete.
Se þe cinban forslæhð, mid ·xx· scillingum for-
gelde. Æt þam feower toðum fyrestum æt
gehwylcum ·vi· scillingas. Se toþ se þanne
bi standeþ ·iiii· scill. Se þe ðonne bi ðam standeþ ·
iii· scill. And þonne siþþan gehwylc scilling. Gif
spræc awyrd weorþ ·xii· scillingas. Gif widoba-
ne gebroced weorðeþ ·vi· scill gebete. Se þe earm
þurh stinð ·vi· scillingum gebete. G[if][e]arm
forbrocen weorð ·vi· scill gebete. Gif þuman of
aslæhð ·xx· scill. Gif ðuman nægl of weorðeþ·
iii· scill gebete. Gif man scytefinger of aslæhð·
viiii· scill gebete. Gif man middelfinger of aslæhð·
iiii· scill gebete. Gif man goldfinger of aslæhð·
vi· scill gebete. Gif man þone lytlan finger of
aslæhð ·xi· scill gebete. Æt þam neglum ge-
hwylcum, scilling. Æt þam lærestan wlitewam-
me ·iii· scillingas. And æt þam maran ·vi· scill.
Gif man oþerne mid fyste in naso slæhð ·iii· scill.
Gif dynt sie, scilling. Gif he heahre handa dyn-
tes onfehð, scill forgelde. Gif dynt sweart sie
buton wædum ·xxx· scætta gebete. Gif hit sie
binnan wædum, gehwylc ·xx· scætta gebete.
Gif hrif wund weorðeþ ·xii· scill gebete. Gif he
þurhðirel weorðeþ ·xx· scill gebete. Gif man
gegemed weorðeþ ·xxx· scill gebete. Gif man
cearwund sie ·xxx· scill gebete. Gif man ge-
kyndelice lim awyrdeþ, þrym leudgeldum hine
man forgelde. Gif he þurhstinð ·vi· scill gebete.
Gif man inbestinð ·vi· scill gebete. Gif þeoh gebro-
cen weorðeþ ·xii· scillingum gebete. Gif he healt
weorð, þær motan freond seman. Gif rib forbro-
cen weorð ·iii· scill gebete. Gif man þeoh ðurhstingþ
stice gehwilce ·vi· scillingas. Gyfe53 ofer ynce scilling,
æt twam yncum twegen, ofer þry ·iii· scll.54 Gif
wælt wund weorðeþ ·iii· scillingas gebete. Gif fot
of weorðeþ ·L· scillingum forgelden.55 Gif seo my-
cle57 ta of weorðeþ ·x· scll forgelden. Æt þam o-
ðrum59 taum gehwilcum healf gelde, ealswa æt þam
fingrum ys cwiden. Gif þare mycclan taan nægl
of weorþeð ·xxx· scætta to bote. Æt þam oþrum
gehwilcum ·x· scættas gebete. Gif friwif locbore
leswæs hwæt gedeþ ·xxx· scll gebete. Mægþ-
bot61 sy swa friges mannes. Mund þare betstan
widuwan eorlcundre ·L· scillinga gebete. Ðare
oþre ·xx· scll, ðare þriddan ·xii· scll. Þare
feorðan ·vi· scll. Gif man widuwan unagne ge-
nimeþ63 ·ii· gelde seo mund sy. Gif man mægþ
gebigeð ceapi geceapod sy, gif hit unfacne is,
gif hit þonne facne is, ef þær æt ham gebren-
ge67 ⁊ him man his scæt agefe. Gif hio cwic bearn
gebyreþ healfne scæt age, gif ceorl ær swylteþ.
Gif mid bearnum bugan wille, healfne scæt age. Gif ceorl
agan wile swa an bearn. Gif hio bearn ne gebyreþ fæ-
deringmagas71 fioh agan, ⁊ morgengyfe. Gif man
mægþman nede genimeþ, ðam agende ·L· scillinga, ⁊
eft æt þam agende, sinne willan ætgebicge. Gif hio
oþrum mæn in sceat bewyddod sy ·xx· scillinga ge-
bete.75 Gif gængang76 geweorðeþ ·xxxv· scill, ⁊ cyninge
xv· scillingas. Gif man mid esnes cwynan geligeþ
be cwicum ceorle ·ii· gebete. Gif esne78 oþerne79 ofslea unsyn-
nigne,81 ealne weorðe forgelde. Gif esnes eage ⁊ foot
of weorðeþ aslagen, ealne weorðe hine forgelde.
Gif man mannes esne gebindeþ ·vi· scll gebete. Ðeo-
wæs82 wegreaf se ·iii· scillingas. Gif þeow steleþ ·
ii· gelde gebete.
Literal translation
These are the judgements which Æthelberht king set in Augustine’s day.
God's property & [the] Church’s, 12[-fold] compensation.2
[A]3 bishop’s property 11[-fold] compensation.
[A] priest’s property, 9[-fold] compensation.
[A] deacon’s property, 6[-fold] compensation.
[A] cleric’s property, 3[-fold] compensation.
[Infringement of] Church peace 2[-fold] compensation.
[Infringement of] assembly peace, 2[-fold] compensation.
If [the] king his people to him summons & to them [a] person there evil does 2[-fold] restitution & [to the] king 50 shillings.
If [the] king at [a] person’s home drinks,6 & there [a] person corrupt anything does,7 double-restitution [one] should pay.
If [a] freeman [from the] king steals, 9[-fold] compensation [he] should pay.8
If in [the] king’s house11 [a] person someone slays, 50 shillings.
If one [a] free person slays, [to the] king 50 shillings as lord-money.
If [the] king’s official-smith12 or escort [one] slays, average man-price [one should] pay.
[Violation of the] King’s protection, 50 shillings.
If [a] freeman [from a] freeman steals, 3[-fold] [one] should pay, & [the] king owns that fine or13 all the possessions.14
If one with [the] king’s maiden lies, 50 shillings [one] should pay.
If she [a] grinding slave be, 25 shillings [one] should pay.
Be [she] third[-class], 12 shillings.
[For the] King’s feeding, 20 shillings [one] should pay.17
If in [a] nobleman’s house [a] person someone slays, 12 shillings [one] should pay.
If with [a] nobleman’s cupbearer one lies, 12 shillings [one] should pay.
[For violation of a] ceorl’s protection,19 6 shillings.
If with ceorl’s cupbearer onelies, 6 shillings [one] should pay. For the second-[rank] slave, 50 sceattas.23 For the third[-rank], 30 sceattas.
If [a] person into someone’s house first breaks,24 6 shillings [one] should pay.
He who next breaks [in], 3 shillings.
After, each one [a] shilling.
If [a] person [for] someone weapons supplies where [a] quarrel occurs, but one not any evil not does,26 6 shillings [one] should pay. If highway robbery28 is done, 6 shillings [one] should pay. If one the person slays, 20 shillings [one] should pay.
If [a] person someone slays, [an] average man-price of 100 shillings [one] should pay.
If [a] person someone slays, at [the] open grave 20 shillings [one] should pay, & in 40 nights all man[-price] [one] should pay.
If [the] killer from [the] land departs, the kin half [the] man[-price] should pay.
If one a free-man31 binds, 20 shillings [one] should pay.
If one [a] ceorl’s loaf-eater32 slays, 6 shillings [one] should pay.
If [a] freed-man34 [one] slays of the highest rank, 80 shillings [one] should pay.
If the second[-rank] [one] slays, 60 shillings [one] should pay.
[If] the third[-rank], 40 shillings [one] should pay. If [a] freeman hedge-breaking35 does, 6 shillings [one] should pay. If one within property takes, that one 3[-fold] compensation should pay.
If [a] person someone slays, [with one’s] own money or unblemished property, whichever, [one] should pay.
If [a] freeman with free man’s wife lies, [with] his wergild [he] should pay recompense, & another wife [with] his own money obtain, & to the other [man] at home36 [he] should bring [her].
If [a] person [the] rihtmanscyld37 through pierces, with [its] worth [one] should pay back.
If seizing of hair occurs, 50 sceattas as recompense.
If [a] bone’s cutting occurs, [with] 4 shillings [one] should compensate.
If the outer hion39 broken becomes, [with] 10 shillings[one] should compensate.
If both be [broken], [with] 20 shillings [one] should compensate.
If[a] shoulder lamed becomes, 30 shillings [one] should pay.
If either ear nothing hears,40 30 shillings [one] should pay.
If [an] ear off becomes struck,41 12 shillings [one] should pay.
If [an] ear pierced becomes, 3 shillings [one] should pay.
If [an] eargashed becomes, 6 shillings [one] should pay.
If [an] eye off becomes,43 [with] 50 shillings [one] should compensate.
If [the] mouth or [an] eye damaged becomes, 12 shillings [one] should pay.
If [a] nose pierced becomes[with] 9 shillings [one] should compensate.
If it be on [the] cheek, 3 shillings [one] should pay.
If both [cheeks] pierced be, 6 shillings[one] should pay.
If [a] nose otherwise gashed becomes, [for] each [gash] 6 shillings [one] should pay.
If [?the throat]44 gashed becomes, 6 shillings [one] should pay.
He who [the] jawbone breaks, with 20 shillings [he]
should make good.
For the four teeth foremost for
each 6 shillings.
The tooth which then beside stands, 4 shillings.
The [one] which then beside that [one] stands, 3 shillings.
And then thereafter, each [a] shilling.
If speech harmed becomes, 12 shillings.
If [a] collarbone broken becomes, 6 shillings [one] should pay.
He who [an] arm through stabs, 6 shillings [one] should pay.
If [an] arm broken becomes, 6 shillings [one] should pay.
If [a] thumb off [one] strikes, 20 shillings.
If [a] thumbnail off becomes,45 3 shilllings [one] should pay.
If one [a] shooting-finger46 off strikes, 9 shillings [one] should pay.
If one [a] middle finger off strikes, 4 shillings [one] should pay.
If one [a] gold-finger47 off strikes, 6 shillings [one] should pay.
If one the little finger offstrikes, 11 shillings [one] should pay.
For48 the nails49 each, [a] shilling.
For the least facial disfigurement, 3 shillings.
And for the greater, 6 shillings.
If [a] person another [person] with [a] fist in [the] nose strikes, 3 shillings.
If [a] blow [it] be, [a] shilling.
If he [from a] raised hand blow receives, [a] shilling [one] should make good.
If [a] blow black be50outside clothing, 30 sceattas [one] should pay.
If it be inside clothing, [for] each [bruise] 20 sceattas [one] should pay.
If [a] belly wound becomes, 12 shillings [one] should pay.
If he pierced-through becomes, 20 shillings [one] should pay.
If [a] person healed becomes, 30 shillings [one] should pay.51
If [a] persongrievously wounded be, 30 shillings.
If [a] person [the] genital limb damages,52 [with] three man-prices himone should compensate.
If he through-stabs [it], 6 shillings [he] should pay.
If [a] person into-stabs [it], 6 shillings [one] should pay.
If [a] thigh brokenbecomes, [with] 12 shillings [one] should compensate.
If he lame becomes, then must friends arbitrate.
If [a] rib brokenbecomes, 3 shillings [one] should pay.
If [a] person [a] thigh through-stabs, [for] stab each, 6 shillings.
If [the stab wound is] over [an] inch, [a] shilling; for two inches, two [shillings]; over three [inches], 3 shillings.
If a welt-wound occurs, 3 shillings [one] should pay.
If [a] foot off becomes,56 with 50 shillings [one] should compensate.
If the big toe off becomes,58 [with] 10 shillings [one] should pay.
For the other toes, each half [the] payment, as for the fingers is discussed.
If the big toenail off becomes, 30 sceattas as recompense.
For the others, each 10 sceattas [one] should pay.
If [a] free-woman key-holder corrupt anything does, 30 shillings [she] should pay.60
Maiden-compensation is that of [a] free person.62
[For violation of the] protection of the foremost widow [of] noble kin, 50 shillings [one] should pay.
Of the second [rank], 20 shillings; of the third, 12 shillings.
Of the fourth, 6 shillings.
If one [a] widow unowned takes, 2[-fold] compensation the protection should be.64
If one [a] maidenbuys [with a] [bride-]price, [the] transaction should be,65 if it honest is;66 if it, then, dishonest is, afterward there to [her] home [he] should bring [her] and [to] him one his money should repay.68
If she [a] living child bears, half [the] wealth [she] should obtain, if [the] husband first dies.
If with [the] children to live [she] should wish, half [the] wealth [she] should obtain.69
If [another] husband to obtain [she] should wish, [a provision] as [for] one child.70
If she [a] child not bears, [her] father’s kin [the] property [they] obtain, and [the] morning gift.72
If one [a] maiden [by] force takes, [to] the owner73 50 shillings, &afterward from the owner, his consent [one] should buy.74
If she [to] another man by payment betrothed be, 20 shillings [he] should pay.77
If [a] return [of the maiden] occurs, 35 shillings, & [to the] king15 shillings.
If one with [a] servant’s wife lies while alive [the] husband [is], 2[-fold] [one] should pay.80
If [a] servant another slays [who is] innocent, [the] entire worth [of the victim] [one] should make good.
If a servant’s eye or footoff becomes cut, [the] entire worth [to] him [one] should pay.
If [a] person someone’s servant binds, 6 shillings [one] should pay.
[For a] slave’s highway robbery, [payment] should be 3 shillings.
If [a] slave steals 2[-fold] compensation [one] should pay.83
Complete translation
These are the judgements which King Æthelberht set down in Augustine’s day.84
God’s property and the Church’s, [one should make good] with a 12-fold compensation.
A bishop’s property, with an 11-fold compensation.
A priest’s property, with a 9-fold compensation.
A deacon’s property, with a 6-fold compensation.
A cleric’s property, with a 3-fold compensation.
[Infringement of] church peace, with a 2-fold compensation.
[Infringement of] assembly peace, with a 2-fold compensation.
If the king summons his people to him and one does evil to them there, a 2-fold restitution and 50 shillings to the king.
If the king is drinking at someone’s home and one does anything corrupt there, one should pay double restitution.
If a freeman steals from the king, he should make good with a 9-fold compensation.
If one slays someone in the king’s house, one should pay 50 shillings.
If one slays a freeman, 50 shillings to the king as lord-money.
If one slays a court-smith or escort of the king, one should pay an average man-price.
[For violation of] the king’s protection, 50 shillings.
If a freeman steals from a freeman, he should pay back 3-fold, and the fine belongs to the king – or all the possessions.85
If one lies with a king’s maiden, one should pay 50 shillings.
Should she be a grinding slave, one should pay 25 shillings.
Should she be third class, 12 shillings.
For the feeding of the king, one should pay 20 shillings.
If one slays someone in a nobleman’s house, one should pay 12 shillings.
If one lies with a nobleman’s cupbearer, one should pay 12 shillings.
[For violation of] a ceorl’s protection, 6 shillings.
If one lies with a ceorl’s cupbearer, one should pay 6 shillings.
For the second-rank slave, 50 sceattas.
For the third-rank, 30 sceattas.
If one breaks into someone’s house first, one should pay 6 shillings.
He who breaks in next, 3 shillings.
After that, each one a shilling.
If one supplies weapons for someone where a quarrel occurs, and yet no harm occurs, one should pay 6 shillings.
If highway robbery is committed, one should pay 6 shillings.
If one slays the person, one should pay 20 shillings.
If one slays someone, one should pay an average man-price of 100 shillings.
If one slays someone, one should pay 20 shillings at the open grave and pay the whole of the man-price within forty nights.
If the killer departs the land, the kinsmen should pay half the man-price.
If one binds a freeman, one should pay 20 shillings.
If one slays a member of a ceorl’s household, one should pay 6 shillings.
If one slays a freed man of the highest rank, one should pay 80 shillings.
If one slays one of the second rank, one should pay 60 shillings.
If of the third rank, one should pay 40 shillings.
If a freeman breaks into an enclosure, he should pay 6 shillings.
If one takes property from within, that one should pay with a three-fold compensation.
If a freeman enters an enclosure, he should pay 4 shillings.
If one slays someone, he should pay compensation with his own money or unblemished property, whichever.
If a freeman lies with a wife of another freeman, he should give recompense with his wergild [‘man-price’] and obtain another wife with his own money and bring her to the other man at his home.
If a person pierces through a rihthamscyld, one should make good with its value.86
If seizing of the hair occurs, 50 sceattas as recompense.
If exposure of a bone occurs, one should compensate with 3 shillings.
If cutting of a bone occurs, one should compensate with 4 shillings.
If the outer hion becomes broken, one should compensate with 10 shillings.87
If both should be broken,88 one should compensate with 20 shillings.
If a shoulder is made lame, one should compensate with 30 shillings.
If either ear is made deaf, one should compensate with 25 shillings.
If an ear is struck off, one should compensate with 12 shillings.
If an ear is pierced [or, perhaps, ‘perforated’], one should compensate with 3 shillings.
If an ear is gashed, one should compensate with 6 shillings.
If an eye is lost, one should compensate with 50 shillings.
If a mouth or an eye is damaged [or ‘made crooked’], one should compensate with 12 shillings.
If a nose is pierced, one should compensate with 9 shillings.
If it be on the cheek, one should compensate with 3 shillings.
If both [cheeks] are pierced, one should compensate with 6 shillings.
If a nose becomes otherwise gashed, one should compensate for each [gash] with 6 shillings.
If [the throat] becomes pierced, one should compensate with 6 shillings.89
He who breaks the jawbone, he should make good with 20 shillings.
For the four front teeth, 6 shillings each.
The tooth which then stands besides, 4 shillings.
The one which then stands to the side of that one, 3 shillings.
Then each one after that, a shilling.
If speech becomes damaged, 12 shillings.
If a collarbone is broken, one should compensate with 6 shillings.
He who stabs through an arm, he should compensate with 6 shillings.
If an arm is broken, one should compensate with 6 shillings.
If one strikes off of thumb, 20 shillings.
If a thumbnail becomes detached, one should compensate with 3 shillings.
If one strikes off a shooting finger [i.e., forefinger], one should compensate with 9 shillings.
If one strikes off a middle finger, one should compensate with 4 shillings.
If one strikes off a gold-finger [i.e., ring finger], one should compensate with 6 shillings.
If one strikes off the little finger, one should compensate with 11 shillings.
For each of the fingernails, a shilling. For the least facial disfigurement, 3 shillings.
And for the greater, 6 shillings.
If one strikes another in the nose with a fist, 3 shillings.
If it should be a blow, a shilling.
If he receives a blow from a raised hand, one should make recompense of a shilling.
If a blow leaves a bruise outside the clothing, one should pay 30 sceattas.
If it is inside the clothing, one should pay 20 sceattas.
If a belly wound occurs, one should compensate with 12 shillings.
If he is pierced through, one should compensate with 20 shillings.
If a person becomes healed, one should compensate with 30 shillings.90
If a person should be grievously wounded, one should compensate with 30 shillings.
If one destroys the genital limb,91 he should compensate him with three man-prices.92
If he stabs through it, he should compensate with 6 shillings. If one stabs into it, one should compensate with 6 shillings.
If a thigh becomes broken, one should compensate with 12 shillings.
If he becomes lame, then friends must arbitrate.93
If a rib is broken, one should compensate with 3 shillings.
If a person stabs through a thigh, for each stab 6 shillings.
If a wound is over an inch, a shilling.
For two inches, two shillings.
Over three, three shillings.
If a welt-wound occurs, one should pay 3 shillings.
If a foot is cut off, one should compensate with 50 shillings.
If the big toe is cut off, one should pay 10 shillings.
For the other toes, one should pay half the payment decided elsewhere for the fingers.
If the big toenail becomes removed, 30 sceattas as recompense.
For each of the others, one should pay 10 sceattas.
If a free-woman key-holder does anything corrupt, she should pay 30 shillings.94
Maiden-compensation is that of a free man [or ‘person’].
[For violation of the] protection of the foremost widow of noble rank, one should pay 50 shillings.
Of the second rank, 20 shillings.
Of the third, 12 shillings.
Of the fourth, 6 shillings.
If one takes an unowned widow, [violation of her] protection should be a 2-fold compensation.95
If a man buys a maiden with a [bride-]price, the transaction should stand if there is no deception.96
If then there is deception, afterwards he shall bring [her] to [her] home, and one should repay him his money.
If she bears a living child, she should obtain half the wealth [or ‘property’] if the husband dies first.
If she should wish to live with the children, she should obtain half the wealth [or ‘property’].97
If she should wish to obtain another husband, [a provision] as for one child.
If she does not bear a child, her father’s kin should obtain her property and the morning-gift.
If one takes a maiden by force, to the owner one should pay 50 shillings, and afterwards one must procure from the owner his consent [to marry her].
If she be betrothed through goods to another man, one should pay 20 shillings.
If a return [of the maiden] happens, 35 shillings and 15 shillings to the king.
If one lies with a hired labourer’s wife while the husband is alive, one should pay back 2-fold.
If a hired labourer [or ‘servant’] should slay another who is innocent, one should pay back [to the victim’s master] the entire worth [of the victim].
If a servant’s eye, or foot, is removed, one should pay to him the entire worth.
If one binds another’s servant, one should compensate with 6 shillings.
For a slave’s highway robbery, [compensation] shall be 3 shillings.
If a slave steals, there should be paid a 2-fold compensation.
Further Reading
Books
Tom Lambert, Law and Order in Anglo-Saxon England (Oxford University Press, 2017)
Lisi Oliver, The Beginnings of English Law (University of Toronto Press, 2002).
Journal articles
Christine Fell, ‘A “friwif locbore” revisited’, Anglo-Saxon England 13 (1984), pp. 157–66.
Carole Hough, ‘The early Kentish “divorce laws”: a reconsideration of Æthelberht, chs. 79 and 80’, Anglo-Saxon England 23 (1994), 19–34.
Footnotes
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1 ‘Ciricean’ (‘Church’s’) is written over two lines.
2 The sense of this and the next few clauses is that if someone steals or damages the said property, that person must make good, or pay back, a compensatory amount beyond the value of the goods concerned, from twelve-fold down to two-fold, according to rank.
3 There is no indefinite article (‘a’) in Old English.
4 ‘Cleroces’ (‘Cleric’s’) is written over two lines.
5 ‘man’ (and its variant spellings, e.g., ‘mon’, above) can mean a person of any gender, so can be translated as ‘a person’ or ‘one’, or something similar.
6 Or ‘is drinking’.
7 Meaning: ‘and a person does anything corrupt there’.
8 Or ‘make good’.
9 ‘tune’ (‘house’) is written over two lines.
10 An abbreviated form is used here, and elsewhere in the law-code. I have not expanded it because it is not clear what the grammatical case of the noun is.
11 Or ‘household’, ‘estate’, or ‘dwelling’.
12 Or ‘court-smith’; this seems to be referring to an official blacksmith (or another craftsman, e.g., a carpenter) of the king’s household or court.
13 Or ‘&’. See Lisi Oliver’s discussion on why ‘or’ is the probable sense here: The Beginnings of English Law (2002), p. 65, note d.
14 The sense here, as I understand it, is that if the thief does not pay the fine owed to the king, all his possessions are seized.
15 ‘mægdenman’ (‘maiden’) is written over two lines.
16 ‘grindende’ (‘grinding’) is written over two lines.
17 If a person defaulted on his responsibility to provide the king with sustenance as he moved around his realm, or he wished to commute it to a monetary payment, he owed 20 shillings to the king; see Lisi Oliver, ‘Cyninges fedesl: The Feeding of the King in Æthelberht ch. 12’, Anglo-Saxon England 27 (1998), pp. 59-75.
18 Text has been erased.
19 A ceorl was the lowest rank of freeman.
20 ‘mundbyrd’ (‘protection’) is written across two lines.
21 The abbreviation ‘-ū’, here and elsewhere, has been expanded. The spelling ‘scillingum’ is the first of several uses of what Oliver refers to as ‘the dative of quantity’ and may be translated properly as ‘with 6 shillings one should pay’. See Oliver, The Beginnings of English Law, pp. 32-4.
22 The ‘n’ has been added above the ‘a’.
23 Oliver explains: ‘The Kentish shilling was a gold piece containing 20 sceattas; the sceatta was a smaller gold piece equal in weight to a grain of barley.’ See The Beginnings of English Law, p. 67, note d.
24 i.e., is the leader among a group breaking into the house.
25 ‘gehwylc’ (‘each one’) is written across two lines.
26 Old English has a double negative.
27 ‘scillingum’ (‘shillings’) is written across two lines.
28 ‘highway robbery’ translates ‘weg-reaf’, literally ‘[high]way plunder’.
29 The verb forgieldan (‘forgelde’) has the same essential meaning – ‘to pay’ – as the verb betan (‘gebete’), which has up to this point been the preferred term. More subtly, ‘forgelde’ literally means ‘for-yield’, with the sense of ‘pay back’, whereas ‘gebete’ has the sense of ‘make amends’, and in later writings is associated with penance.
30 The manuscript reads ‘leo-d’. At this point, and following, leod is used as short-hand for leod-geld (‘man-price’).
31 Or ‘free person’.
32 The sense of hlafæta is a member of one’s household, a dependent.
33 ‘scill’ is inserted above the final ‘x’.
34 A læt, a ‘freed-man’, seems to refer to a former slave freed through a process of manumission, though not someone who has yet obtained the status of freeman; for more details, including a discussion of ‘the three generations’ (corresponding to the three classes in this law-code) ‘required for the descendants of a freedman to acquire full freedom’, see, David A. E. Pelteret, Slavery in Early Medieval England: From the Reign of Alfred until the Twelfth Century (Boydell, 1995), pp. 294-96; see also Oliver, The Beginnings of English Law, pp. 91-3.
35 A literal rendering of ‘edor-brecþe’, it appears to refer to breaking into an enclosure, violating someone’s property; see Oliver, The Beginnings of English Law, p. 69, note c.
36 ‘at home’ translates ‘æt þam’ though this assumes either ‘þam’ (‘that’) is an error for ‘ham’ (‘home’) or that ‘æt þam’ (‘at that [one’s home]’) is idiomatic; see Oliver, The Beginnings of English Law, p. 69, note f.
37 ‘rihthamscyld’ is not attested elsewhere in Old English works and its meaning is uncertain.
38 Here, and elsewhere in this law-code, the Old English word for ‘shillings’ is in the dative case, indicating ‘with 3 shillings’, etc. This use of the ‘dative of quantity’ does lead me here, and in other clauses that follow, to translate betan (‘gebete’) as ‘compensate’ rather than simply ‘pay’, but ‘pay’ would still work.
39 The meaning of ‘hion’ is unclear as it is not used anywhere else in Old English texts; Oliver tentatively offers ‘?=covering of the skull’ for ‘outer hion’, The Beginnings of English Law, p. 71. I suggest the injury may be the exposing of the skull. Oliver discusses in detail the problem of the translation at pp. 101-2.
40 Or ‘is made deaf’.
41 Meaning ‘If an ear is struck off’.
42 ‘weorð’ (‘becomes’) is written across two lines.
43 Meaning ‘If an eye is lost’.
44 The scribe has missed out what it is that is being pierced; it has been suggested that throtu ‘throat’ was intended; see Oliver, The Beginnings of English Law, p. 70, note c.
45 Meaning ‘is stuck off’ or ‘becomes detached’.
46 i.e., the forefinger.
47 i.e., the ring-finger.
48 Literally, ‘At’.
49 This seems to refer to the finger nails, as the thumbnail has already been mentioned.
50 Meaning ‘if a blow [to the body] leaves a bruise’.
51 This is probably referring to the assailant paying costs to compensate the victim for any medical treatment received; see Oliver, The Beginnings of English Law, pp. 104-5.
52 Or ‘destroys’.
53 A rather tall ‘f’ has been added later after ‘Gy’, and the ‘e’ is added over the ‘o’ of the following word.
54 The abbreviation for ‘shillings’ is modified at this point, and in several places after this, omitting the ‘i’.
55 The ‘-n’, both here and in the next clause, is a scribal error: it should read ‘forgelde’ to make sense.
56 Meaning ‘if a foot is cut off’.
57 ‘mycle’ is written over two lines.
58 Meaning ‘if the big toe is cut off’.
59 ‘oðrum’ is written across two lines.
60 This clause is discussed in detail by Christine Fell, ‘A “friwif locbore” Revisited’, Anglo-Saxon England 13 (1984), pp. 157-66; see also Oliver, The Beginnings of English Law, pp. 110-11.
61 ‘Mægþbot’ is written across two lines. A point is added after ‘bot’ to separate it from the following word, ‘sy’; I haven’t reproduced it here.
62 Or ‘free man’. This clause appears to equate free women to free men in terms of compensation; see Oliver, The Beginnings of English Law, p. 106.
63 ‘genimeþ’ is written across two lines.
64 The ‘unowned’ widow probably refers to a widow without kin to protect her. Such a widow receives a recompense twice that of a protected widow. See further, Oliver, The Beginnings of English Law, pp. 111-12.
65 i.e., it should stand. For a discussion of the ‘price’ for obtaining a wife, see Oliver, The Beginnings of English Law, pp. 106-7.
66 Possibly an allusion to the virginity of the maiden.
67 ‘gebrenge’ is written across two lines.
68 i.e., it is repaid by the kin, usually the father, who received the bride-price.
69 For a discussion of this and the following clause, see Carole Hough, ‘The early Kentish “divorce laws”: a reconsideration of Æthelberht, chs. 79 and 80’, Anglo-Saxon England 23 (1994), 19–34. Oliver summarises Hough’s argument in The Beginnings of English Law, pp. 112-14, explaining that this relates to widowhood, not divorce.
70 This is the earliest reference to the Kentish practice of ‘gravelkind’ by which inheritances were divided among all the children; see Oliver, The Beginnings of Early English Law, pp. 113-14.
71 ‘fæderingmagas’ (‘father’s kin’) is written across two lines.
72 The ‘morning gift’ appears to refer to a gift the wife receives after consummation of a marriage: see Oliver, The Beginnings of English Law, pp. 106-7.
73 i.e., the owner of her protection, from among her kin, typically the maiden’s father; for a discussion of this and the following two clauses, see Oliver, The Beginnings of English Law, pp. 108-9
74 i.e., he should pay a bride-price in order to marry the maiden.
75 ‘gebete’ is written across two lines.
76 The final ‘g’ has been squeezed in later and is elongated to fit it in.
77 To the betrothed man, it would seem.
78 The esne, at this time in Kent, was probably a poor, landless labourer who hired himself out to his lord; he was above a slave as can be seen by the fact that his marital rights were protected; however, note below the allusion to binding an esne, which suggest the lack of any real freedom; see Pelteret, Slavery in Early Medieval England, pp. 271-72.
79 ‘oþerne’ inserted above the line.
80 Oliver explains this means two-fold what he would have paid had the woman been unmarried: The Beginnings of English Law, p. 79.
81 ‘unsynningne’ (‘innocent’) is written across two lines.
82 ‘þeowæs’ (‘slave’s) is written across two lines.
83 Oliver discusses the question of who pays the compensation for crimes committed by a slave (and those referred to as ‘esne’): The Beginnings of English Law, pp. 114-16.
84 This heading is provided by the Textus Roffensis scribe and is not normally considered to be part of the original lawcode.
85 The sense here, as I understand it, is that if the thief does not pay the fine owed to the king, all his possessions are seized.
86 The word rihthamscyld is not attested elsewhere in Old English writings and its meaning is uncertain, so I have not translated it.
87 The meaning of hion is unclear as it is not used anywhere else in Old English texts; so I have left it untranslated. Lisi Oliver tentatively offers ‘?=covering of the skull’ for ‘outer hion’, see The Beginnings of English Law, p. 71. I suggest the injury may be the exposing of the skull.
88 This may refer to the skull being both exposed and fractured.
89 The scribe has missed out what it is that is being pierced; it has been suggested that throtu ‘throat’ was intended; see Oliver, The Beginnings of English Law, p. 70, note c.
90 This is probably referring to the assailant paying medical fees; see Oliver, Beginnings of English Law, pp. 104-5.
91 A euphemism for the penis.
92 The high payment, i.e., the equivalent of the value of three men, may be viewed as compensating the injured man for loss of future children.
93 It is possible that the injury would require the use of a crutch and so it would have an impact on the use of an arm too, requiring further compensation, to be decided upon by the concerned parties; see Oliver, The Beginnings of English Law, pp. 99-100.
94 Old English ‘friwif locbore’, literally, ‘free-woman lock-bearer’, translated here as ‘key-holder’, most likely signifies a house-keeper with responsibility for a household and its stores; see Christine Fell, ‘A “friwif locbore” revisited’, Anglo-Saxon England 13 (1984), pp. 157–66; and Oliver, The Beginnings of English Law, pp. 110-11.
95 The ‘unowned’ widow probably refers to a widow without kin to protect her. Such a widow receives a recompense twice that of a protected widow. See further, Oliver, The Beginnings of English Law, pp. 111-12.
96 Possibly alluding to the maiden’s virginity.
97 For a discussion of this and the following clause, see Carole Hough, ‘The early Kentish “divorce laws”: a reconsideration of Æthelberht, chs. 79 and 80’, Anglo-Saxon England 23 (1994), 19–34.
