The Peace of Edward and Guthrum forgery, c.1002-23

Dr Alexander Thomas introduces The Peace of Edward and Guthrum forgery, with a transcription and translation of Textus Roffensis, folios 40r-41v by Dr Christopher Monk.²

The Peace of Edward and Guthrum (hereafter Edward-Guthrum) is an infamous forgery of a Viking Age treaty text, supposedly between two kings, Edward the Elder (r.899-924) and Guthrum. It is well known among historians of the early medieval period because it was only discovered to be a fake in 1941 by Dorothy Whitelock.³ Up to that point, according to Patrick Wormald (p. 389), it had been considered a genuine text by many leading scholars in the field since at least 1568, including Felix Liebermann (the brother of the German impressionist artist, Max Liebermann), Benjamin Thorpe, and Frederick Levi Attenborough (the father of Sir David and Lord Richard Attenborough).⁴

Edward-Guthrum was created by Wulfstan, who was archbishop of York from 1002 until his death in 1023. In addition to his religious duties and responsibilities, Wulfstan of York became an influential figure within the court of Æthelred II, or ‘the Unready’, (r.978-1014 and 1014-1016) and helped to produce many of the King’s genuine law codes. Edward-Guthrum seems to have been created by Wulfstan to uphold the security and, to an extent, the authority of the Church in northern England, where Danish law was enforced.⁵ According to Wormald (p. 390), this appears to be evident from the second half of the preamble to Edward-Guthrum:

And they set worldly punishments also for those things for which they knew they might not otherwise regulate for the majority, knowing many a person would not otherwise submit to sacred remedy as they should. And thus they set a worldly remedy, in common with Christ and king, wherever a person would not submit legally to a sacred remedy as the bishops determine.⁶

Whitelock (pp. 7-9) highlights two reasons why Edward-Guthrum is a forgery. First, it uses many distinctive expressions, or formulae, which were frequently used by Wulfstan within his writings, including other law texts and homilies (Whitelock, p. 7). Second, the text uses terms not seen in any law code dating to before 1008, such as sibleger and leohtgesceot (Whitelock, pp. 8-9). Sibleger, meaning ‘incest’ in Old English, was an offence which features solely within the law codes of King Cnut (r.1016-1035), but also within Wulfstan’s writings (Whitelock, p. 8). Leohtgesceot was a church due, or payment, for lighting churches; this due also featured within Wulfstan’s works. There exist several lists of tenth-century church dues, and examples are found in Æthelstan’s Tithe Edict, Edmund’s First Law Code and Edgar’s Andover Code. Not one of these contains the term leohtgesceot (Whitelock, p. 9).

Yet before 1941, historians had good reason to believe Edward-Guthrum was genuine. After all, they had ten surviving land-granting charters,⁷ dating to the tenth century, which refer to a man called Guthrum who had the title dux or King. Some historians – for example, Thorpe (p. 166) and Attenborough (p. 97) – thought this could not have been the Guthrum, King of East Anglia, who had agreed the original peace with Edward the Elder’s father, Alfred the Great (r.871-899). This peace agreement is arguably found across two texts: the Treaty of Wedmore, which is a text with no surviving copies and which we only know about from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles,⁸ and the Treaty of Alfred and Guthrum (hereafter Alfred-Guthrum).⁹ As Guthrum died in 890, the land grants, and consequently Edward-Guthrum, must have been referring to a second Guthrum (Thorpe, p. 166, note a), and it was this assertion which provided much of the rationale behind the idea that Edward-Guthrum was genuine.

The Textus Roffensis version of Edward-Guthrum is very closely related to a copy of the text found within the manuscript known as Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, MS 383 (Wormald, p. 390).¹⁰ It also features within the Quadripartitus collection – a series of nine manuscripts¹¹ which in part provide a foundation to the Laws of Henry I, or the Leges Henrici Primi.¹² Edward-Guthrum features within seven of these manuscripts.¹³

Within Textus Roffensis, Edward-Guthrum is the only Danish peace document – a feature it shares with the manuscript known as British Library, Royal MS 11 B.ii. Textus Roffensis may not have included the genuine Alfred-Guthrum for two reasons. First, there may have been an unintentional omission by the scribe. Second, Textus Roffensis also includes the text known as Wergeld, which seems to be related to the earlier blood-feud laws of King Edmund (r.939-946) (Wormald, p. 390).¹⁴ Wormald explains that:

[Textus Roffensis] followed ‘Edward-Guthrum’ by Wergeld with no break, as if the two had become inextricably entwined, and it had no copy of Alfred-Guthrum at all. [Textus Roffensis’] copy[…], evidently disordered in that Wergeld came so hard on ‘Edward-Guthrum’, may just have lost Alfred-Guthrum, to which its rubric for ‘Edward-Guthrum’[…] should have applied (Wormald, p. 390).

It would therefore seem that the reasons behind Edward-Guthrum’s inclusion and Alfred-Guthrum’s exclusion from Textus Roffensis relied on the scribe and the texts’ transmission – the transmission being the way in which the texts were copied by scribe to scribe and from manuscript to manuscript.

In contrast, the aforementioned Cambridge manuscript has Edward-Guthrum following Alfred-Guthrum, which might suggest the scribe believed Edward-Guthrum was a successor to Alfred-Guthrum (Wormald, p. 390). Yet within Quadripartitus, Alfred-Guthrum and Edward-Guthrum are separated by a distinct third text, known evocatively as the Alfred-Guthrum Treaty Appendix.¹⁵ It is not clear why the scribe ordered these texts in this way within Quadripartitus; nevertheless, in this way, Edward-Guthrum is presented as a successor to Alfred-Guthrum (Wormald, p. 390).

The Peace of Edward-Guthrum may be a forgery by Wulfstan of York, but it provides a valuable insight into the importance, the peculiarities, and the occasionally complex transmission of early English laws.

Dr Alexander Thomas

Transcription

40r (select folio number to open facsimile)

Þis syndon þa domas ðe ælfred cyncg ⁊ guþrum
_AND þis is seo gerædnis, cyncg gecuran.
eac þe ælfred cyng, ⁊ guðrum cyng,
⁊ eft eadward cyng, ⁊ guðrum cyng
gecuran ⁊ gecwædon, þa þa engle ⁊ dene to fri-
þe ⁊ to freondscipe fullice fengon, ⁊ þa witan
eac þe syððan wæron oft ⁊ unseldan þæt seolfe
geniwodon, ⁊ mid gode gehihtan. Ðis ærest
þæt hig gecwædon, þæt hi ænne god lufian woldon,
⁊ ælcne hæþendom georne aweorpen.¹⁶ ⁊ hig
gesetton woruldlice steora eac for ðam þingum
þe hig wistan þæt hig elles ne mihton manegum
gesteoran, ne fela manna nolde to godcundre
bote elles gebugan swa hy sceolde. ⁊ þa woruld-
bote hig gesetton gemæne, criste, ⁊ cynge, swa
hwar swa man nolde godcunde bote gebugan
mid rihte to bisceopa dihte. ⁊ þæt is þonon æ-
rest þæt hig gecwædon, þæt cyricgrið binnan
wagum, ⁊ cyninges handgrið stande efne un-
wemme. ⁊ gif hwa cristendom wyrde, oððe
hæþendom weorþige, wordes oððe weorces,
gylde swa wer swa wite, swa lahslitte, be þam
þe syo dæde sy. ⁊ gyf gehadod man gestalie,
oððe gefeohte,¹⁷ oððe forswerige, oððe forlicge,

40v

gebete þæt be þam þe¹⁸ seo dæde sy, swa be were, swa be
wite, swa be lahslitte, ⁊ for gode huru bete swa
canon tæce, ⁊ þæs borh finde, oððe carcern¹⁹ ge-
buge. ⁊ gif mæssepreost folc miswyssige æt freol-
se, oððe æt fæstene, gylde xxx. scillinga mid englum,
⁊ mid denum þreo healf mare. Gif preost to riht-
andagan crisman ne fecce, oððe fulluhtes for-
wyrne, þam þe þæs þearf sy, gylde wite mid en-
glum, ⁊ mid denum lahslit, þæt is twelf oran. ⁊æt
syblegerum þa witan geræddan, þæt cyng ah þone
uferan, ⁊ bisceop þone nyþeran, butan hit man
gebete for gode ⁊ for worulde, be þam þe seo dæ-
de sy, swa bisceop getæce. Gif twegen gebro-
ðra, oððe twegen genyhe magas wið an wif for-
licgan, beten swyþe georne swa swa man geþafige,
swa be wite, swa be lah(slitte), be þam þe seo dæde sy. Gif gehadod man hine forwyrce mid deaþscyl-
de, gewilde hine man, ⁊ healde to bisceopes dome. ⁊ gif deaþscyldig man scrift spræce gyrne, ne
him man næfre ne wyrne. ⁊ ealle godes gerih-
to, forðige man georne be godes mildse,²⁰ ⁊ be þam
witan, þe witan toledan. Gif hwa teoþunge for-
healde, gylde lahslit mid denum, wite mid englum. Gif hwa romfeoh forhealde, gylde lahslit mid

41r

denum, wite mid englum. Gif hwa leohtgesceot ne
gelæste, gylde lahslit mid denum, wite mid englum. Gif hwa sulhælmyssan ne sylle, gylde lahslit mid
denum, wite mid englum. Gif hwa ænigra godcun-
dra gerihto forwyrne, gylde lahslit mid denum,
wite mid englum. ⁊ gif he wigie, ⁊ man gewundie,
beo his weres scyldig. Gif he man to deaþe ge-
fylle, beo he þonne utlah, ⁊ his hente mid he-
arme, ælc þara þe riht wille. ⁊ gif he gewyrce
þæt hine man afylle, þurh þi hine man gean godes
ryht, oððe þæs cynges geonbyrde, gif man þæt
gesoðige, licge ægylde. Sunnandæges cypinge
gif hwa agynne, þolie þæs ceapes, ⁊ twelf orena
mid denum, ⁊ xxx scillinga mid englum. Gif frigman
freolsdæge wyrce, ðolie his freotes, oððe gylde
wite lahslite. Ðeowman þolie his hyde, oððe hyd-
gyldes. Gif hlaford his þeowan freolsdæge
nyde to weorce, gylde lahslitte inne on deone
lage, ⁊ wite mid englum. Gif frigman rihtfæ-
sten abrece, gylde wite, oððe lahslite. Gif hit
þeowman gedo, ðolie his hyde, oððe hydgyldes. Ordel ⁊ aðas syndon tocwedene freolsdagum, ⁊
rihtfæstendagum, ⁊ se ðe þæt abrece, gylde
lahslit mid denum, wite mid englum. Gif man

41v

wealdan mage, ne dyde man næfre on sunnandæ-
ges freolse ænigne forwyrhtne, ac wylde ⁊ he-
alde, þæt se freolsdæg agan sy. Gif limlæweo
lama þe forworht wære weorþe forlæten, ⁊ he
æfter þam ðreo niht alibbe. Siððan man mot
hylpan be bisceopes leafe, se ðe wylle beorgan
sare ⁊ saule. Gif wiccan oððe wigleras, manswo-
ran, oððe morðwyrhtan, oððe fule afylede
æbære, horcwenan, ahwar on lande wurðan
agytene, ðonne fyse hi man of earde, ⁊ clæn-
sie þa ðeode, oððe on earde forfare hy mid eal-
le, buton hig geswican þe deoppar gebetan.²¹ Gif man gehadodne
oððe ælðeodigne þurh enig ðing forræde
æt feo oððe æt feore, þonne sceal him cyng be-
on oððan eorl ðær on lande, ⁊ bisceop ðere þeo-
de for mæg, ⁊ for mundboran, buton he elles oðer²²
ne²³ hæbbe, ⁊ bete man georne be ðam þe seo dæde sy,
criste ⁊ cyninge, swa hit gebyrige, oððe þa dæde
wrece swiðe deope, þe cyning sy on ðeode.²⁴

Translation

These are the judgements which King Alfred and King Guthrum approved.²⁵

And, moreover, this is the decree which King Alfred and King Guthrum,²⁶ and afterwards King Edward and King Guthrum, approved and proclaimed when the English and the Danes fully entered into peace and friendship; and the counsellors also,²⁷ who were later, often and frequently renewed the very same, and augmented it with good.²⁸

This is the first thing which they proclaimed, that they would love one God, and each would earnestly cast off heathendom. And they set worldly punishments also for those things for which they knew they might not otherwise regulate for the majority, knowing many a person would not otherwise submit to sacred remedy as they should.²⁹ And thus they set a worldly remedy, in common with Christ and king, wherever a person would not submit legally to a sacred remedy as the bishops determine.³⁰

And, therefore, this is first which they proclaimed, that the right of church sanctuary,³¹ and likewise the king’s protection, should stand unviolated.

And if anyone should violate Christianity or honour heathendom, in word or deed, that one should pay either wergild³² or a fine – or lahslit –³³ according to what the deed is.

And if an ordained person should steal, or fight, or falsely swear or fornicate, he should atone for it according to what the deed is, either by wergild or by a fine [Old English (OE) ‘wite’] – or by lahslit – and should atone especially before God as canon [law] teaches,³⁴ and should find surety for this or else go to prison.

And if a mass-priest should mislead the people with respect to festival or fasting,³⁵ he should pay 30 shillings among the English, and among the Danish three half-marks.³⁶

If a priest should not fetch the chrism at the right time or should refuse baptism, even though it is necessary, he should pay a fine [OE ‘wite’] among the English, and among the Danish lahslit, that is twelve oras.³⁷

And for incest the counsellors are to judge – the king has authority over the higher-ranked; a bishop, the lower-ranked – unless a person atones before God and before the world, according to what the deed is, as the bishop directs.

If two brothers, or two near relatives, lie with one woman, they should atone with great earnestness,³⁸ accordingly as one may decide, either by a fine [OE, ‘wite’] or by lahslit, according to what the deed is.

If an ordained person should become guilty himself of a crime deserving death, one should rule over him and hold to the bishop’s judgment.

If a condemned person should earnestly wish to confess, no one should ever refuse him.

And one should earnestly carry out all of God’s laws according to God’s mercy, and according to the penalty³⁹ which the [king’s] counsellors bring forth.

If someone should withhold a tithe payment, one should pay lahslit among the Danes, a fine [OE ‘wite’] among the English.

If someone should withhold Rome-money,⁴⁰ one should pay lahslit among the Danes, a fine [OE ‘wite’] among the English.

If someone should not meet the payment of ‘light-tax’,⁴¹ one should pay lahslit among the Danes, a fine [OE ‘wite] among the English.

If someone should not give plough-alms, one should pay lahslit among the Danes, a fine [OE ‘wite’] among the English.⁴²

If someone refuses any sacred dues, one should pay lahslit among the Danes, a fine [OE ‘wite’] among the English.

And if he should fight and wound someone, he should be liable for his wergild.

If he should put someone to death, he should then be an outlaw; and each of those who wishes justice may pursue and seize him with authority.⁴³

And if he should himself slay someone – through which he himself would strive against both God’s law and that of the king – if one may prove it to be true, he shall lie [dead] without compensation.⁴⁴

If someone should begin Sunday trading, that one should suffer the loss of the goods, and pay twelve oras among the Danish and 30 shillings among the English.

If a freeman should work on a feast day,⁴⁵ he should suffer the loss of his liberty, or pay a fine [OE ‘wite’] or lahslit. A slave should suffer the loss of his hide or [pay] a fine in lieu of flogging.⁴⁶

If a lord should oblige his slave to work on a feast day, he should pay lahslit within the Danelaw, and a fine [OE ‘wite’] among the English.

If a freeman should break a lawful fast,⁴⁷ he should pay a fine [OE ‘wite’] or lahslit. If a slave does this, he should suffer the loss of his hide or [pay] the fine in lieu of flogging.

An ordeal⁴⁸ and oaths shall be forbidden on feast days and lawful fasting days, and he who breaks that should pay lahslit among the Danes, a fine [OE ‘wite’] among the English.

If one has the power to govern, one should never put to death a criminal on any Sunday festival, but one should subdue and hold him until the feast day is passed.

If a criminal, who was maimed of limb, should be left [for dead], and after that he lives three nights, afterwards he who wishes to spare suffering and soul may help him, by the bishop’s leave.

If witches⁴⁹ or sorcerers, perjurers or murderers, or foul, polluted, notorious whores should be found to be anywhere in the land, then one should drive them from the country and cleanse the nation, or destroy them altogether in the country, unless they cease and then repent deeply.

If one should plot, through any means, against an ordained person or a foreigner,⁵⁰ with respect to property or life, then the king – or a jarl there in [Danish] land⁵¹ – and a bishop of the people shall be as kin and as protector, unless he may have someone else. And one should, as is fitting, atone earnestly according to the deed that has been done to Christ and king,⁵² who is king among the people; or one should punish the deed very severely.

Websites

Bosworth-Toller. Bosworth Toller’s Anglo-Saxon Dictionary online

Early English Laws, Early English Laws: Home

Sawyer, The Electronic Sawyer: Online Catalogue of Anglo-Saxon Charters, Electronic Sawyer: The Electronic Sawyer (cam.ac.uk)

Bibliography

Attenborough, F. L., The Laws of the Earliest English Kings (Russell and Russell, 1922).

Baker, P. S. (ed.), The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle: A Collaborative Edition (MS F) (D. S. Brewer, 2000).

Bately, J. M. (ed.), The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle: A Collaborative Edition (MS A) (D. S. Brewer, 1986).

Charles-Edwards, Thomas, ‘The Penitential of Theodore and the Iudicia Theodori’, in Archbishop Theodore: Commemorative Studies on His Life and Influence, ed. Michael Lapidge (Cambridge University Press, 1995), pp. 141-74.

Corèdon, Christopher, with Ann Williams, A Dictionary of Medieval Terms & Phrases (D. S. Brewer, 2004).

Cross, J. E. and Andrew Hamer, ed. and trans., Wulfstan’s Canon Law Collection (D. S. Brewer, 1999).

Cubbin, G. P. (ed.), The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle: A Collaborative Edition (MS D) (D. S. Brewer, 1996).

Cubitt, Catherine, ‘Bishops, Priests and Penance in Late Anglo-Saxon England’, Early Medieval Europe 14 (2006), pp. 41-63.

Downer, L. J. (ed.), Leges Henrici Primi (Clarendon Press, 1972).

Irvine, S. (ed.), The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle: A Collaborative Edition (MS E) (D. S. Brewer, 2004).

Jayakumar, S., ‘Some Reflections on the “Foreign Policies” of Edgar “the Peaceable”’, Haskins Society Journal 10 (2002), pp. 17-38.

Jurasinski, Stefan, The Old English Penitentials and Anglo-Saxon Law (Cambridge University Press, 2015).

Keynes, Simon, ‘Alms’, in The Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England, ed. Michael Lapidge, John Blair, Simon Keynes and Donald Scragg (Blackwell Publishing, 1999), p. 31.

Lambert, Tom, Law and Order in Anglo-Saxon England (Oxford University Press, 2017).

Liebermann, F., Die Gesetze Der Angelsachsen Hrsg. Im Auftrage Der Savigny-Stiftung (Niemeyer, 1903). Available at Early English Laws.

Miglio, Viola Giulia, ‘Old Norse and Old English Language Contact: Scandinavian Legal Terminology in Anglo-Saxon Laws’, Nordicum-Mediterraneum 5 (1), available as an open access article at Old Norse and Old English Language Contact: Scandinavian Legal Terminology in Anglo-Saxon Laws - Nordicum-Mediterraneum (unak.is)

Monk, Christopher J., ‘Framing Sex: Sexual Discourse in Text and Image in Anglo-Saxon England (Manchester University, unpublished PhD thesis, 2012), available here.

Nightingale, Pamela, ‘The Ora, the Mark, and the Mancus: Weight-Standards and the Coinage in Eleventh-Century England: Part 2’, The Numismatic Chronicle, vol. 144 (1984), pp. 234-48.

O’Keeffe, K. O. (ed.), The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle: A Collaborative Edition (MS C) (D. S. Brewer, 2001).

Staffrod, Pauline, ‘Ealdorman’, in The Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England, ed. Michael Lapidge, John Blair, Simon Keynes and Donald Scragg (Blackwell Publishing, 1999), pp. 152-53.

Taylor, S. (ed.), The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle: A Collaborative Edition (MS B) (D. S. Brewer, 1983).

Thorpe, B., Ancient Laws and Institutes of England: Comprising Laws Enacted Under the Anglo-Saxon Kings from Aethelbirht to Cnut (Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1840).

Whitelock, D., ‘Wulfstan and the So-Called Laws of Edward and Guthrum’, The English Historical Review 56 (1941), pp. 1-21. Available at JSTOR.

Wormald, P., “Quadripartitus”, Law and Government in Medieval England and Normandy Essays in Honour of Sir James Holt, ed. Hudson J. and Garnett G. (Cambridge University Press, 1994), pp. 111-147.

Wormald, P., The Making of English Law: King Alfred to the Twelfth Century, Vol. 1 Legislation and Its Limits (Blackwell, 1999).

Yorke (a), B. A. E., ‘Councils, King’s’, in The Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England, ed. Michael Lapidge, John Blair, Simon Keynes and Donald Scragg (Blackwell Publishing, 1999), pp. 124-25.

Yorke (b), B. A. E., ‘Guthrum’, in The Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England, ed. Michael Lapidge, John Blair, Simon Keynes and Donald Scragg (Blackwell Publishing, 1999), p. 223.

Footnotes

1 An imposture, or forgery, written by Wulfstan, archbishop of York (1002-23), thus giving us the eleventh-century date.

2 Sincere thanks to Elise Fleming for proofreading this introduction, translation and notes.

3 See Whitelock’s paper “Wulfstan and the so-called Laws of Edward and Guthrum” (1941). See bibliography for the full reference.

4 See for references to Edward-Guthrum, Felix Liebermann, pp. 128-134; Benjamin Thorpe pp. 166-176; and Frederick Levi Attenborough, pp. 102-109. Please refer to the bibliography for full references.

5 See the introduction for Edward-Guthrum on Early English Laws [accessed 8th March 2023].

6 Translation by Christopher Monk; see his full translation below.

7 See Sawyer, charter numbers S393, S400, S405, S412, S413, S416, S417, S418, S418a and S434 [accessed 8th March 2023].

8 The Treaty of Wedmore (also known as the Treaty of Chippenham) established a peace between the West Saxons and the Danes following a decades long conflict. It also resulted in Guthrum, King of East Anglia, and several of his men being baptised in the Christian faith personally by Alfred the Great. For various accounts of the Treaty of Wedmore, see Taylor, pp. 36-37, for the Abingdon I Chronicle; Bately, pp. 50-51, for the Winchester or Parker Chronicle; Cubbin, p. 27, for the Worcester Chronicle; Baker, pp. 71-72, for the Bilingual Canterbury Epitome; O’Keeffe, pp. 61-62, for the Abingdon II Chronicle; and Irvine, pp. 50-51, for the Peterborough or Laud Chronicle. Full references are given in the bibliography.

9 In contrast to Wedmore, copies of Alfred-Guthrum still exist. The text established a boundary between south-west and north-east England and introduced new regulations to aid relations between the two sides. See Early English Laws [accessed 9th March 2023] for more information on this text. Alexander Thomas’ doctoral thesis, which examined the boundary Alfred-Guthrum created, can be found within the British Library’s EThOS catalogue.

10 Within his The Making of English Law book (see bibliography for full reference) Wormald follows Liebermann’s system of assigning sigla (abbreviations) to early English manuscripts and law texts. For example, Textus Roffensis is given the siglum H, Edward-Guthrum is abbreviated to EGu, and the Cambridge manuscript is referred to as B.

11 For this introduction, the four manuscripts known as the “London Collection” are also included. See Patrick Wormald’s chapter on the Quadripartitus, pp. 111-147, for a fuller explanation. A full reference can be found within the bibliography.

12 The Laws of Henry I provide a record of those enforced during the reign of the King. The Laws contain aspects of pre-Norman Conquest texts among other evident sources. See L. J. Downer’s book and Early English Laws [accessed 9th March 2023] for more information on this text. Full references can be found in the bibliography.

13 This includes a manuscript within the “London Collection” as well as Textus Roffensis itself.

14 A transcription and translation of Wergeld is being prepared for the Textus Roffensis pages on this website; see also Early English Laws [accessed 9th March 2023].

15 See Wormald, pp. 379-80; and Jayakumar, p. 23, note 30.

16 The first ‘e’ in ‘aweorpen’ is inserted above the line.

17 The ‘o’ in ‘gefeohte’ is inserted above the line.

18 ‘þe’ is inserted above the line.

19 The second ‘r’ of ‘carcern’ is inserted above the line.

20 The ‘l’ of ‘mildse’ is inserted above the line.

21 ‘þe deoppor gebetan’ appears in the left margin. The scribe provides an insertion mark after ‘geswican’ with a corresponding mark alongside the text in the margin.

22 ‘oðer’ appears in the right margin.

23 ‘ne’ appears in the left margin.

24 In the manuscript the text known as Wergeld – beginning ‘Twelf’ – has been appended as if it carries straight on from Peace of Edward and Guthrum; however, the two are discrete texts. A transcription and translation of Wergeld is forthcoming for the Textus Roffensis pages of this website.

25 The heading was likely provided by the Textus Roffensis scribe, rather than included in the manuscript he was copying.

26 Barbara Yorke explains that, ‘Guthrum was the leader of a Viking force which joined the Great Army in England in 871. He came close to overcoming King Alfred of Wessex in 878 when he forced him into hiding after a surprise attack. Later in the same year Guthrum was decisively defeated at the battle of Edington and agreed to be baptised with Alfred as his godfather. Guthrum retreated to rule the Viking settlers in East Anglia and issued coins in his baptismal name of Æthelstan. The text of a treaty survives which Guthrum made with Alfred between 878 and his death in 890.’ See Yorke (b) in the bibliography.

27 The king’s counsellors or advisers were known collectively in Old English as the witan, literally ‘wise ones’ or ‘wise men’; we might use the modern term ‘king’s council’ to approximate the collective role. Those advising the king included members of the royal house, archbishops and bishops, prominent abbots, ‘ealdormen’ and other leading laymen, such as thegns. Occasionally, the queen or queen-mother and abbesses would have been consulted; for further information, see the overview in Yorke (a); details in bibliography.

28 Wulfstan rather cunningly alludes to later royal counsellors augmenting the decree with ‘good’. It would seem that such ‘good’ included his own fabrications! Perhaps the fact that Alfred and Guthrum had actually produced a peace treaty, which included various laws relating to criminal and legal matters (this treaty is not preserved in Textus Roffensis), gave the archbishop enough truth upon which to build his fictional set of laws.

29 ‘remedy’, or ‘penance’.

30 ‘sacred remedy as the bishops determine’. The allusion is probably to the use of penitentials – handbooks used by priests – for determining the amount of fasting due as penance for a wide variety of sins. For the role of bishops in the practice of penance, see Cubitt. A number of English penitentials were circulating from as early as the eighth century, including one Anglo-Latin penitential attributed to (though not actually written by) Theodore, archbishop of Canterbury (668-90), and, during Wulfstan’s time, several vernacular penitentials. For more on the vernacular penitentials, see Jurasinski, and, especially in the context of sexual sins, Monk; for the penitential of Theodore, see Charles-Edwards, and, especially in the context of sexual sins, Monk, appendix 2, pp. 254-60; see the bibliography for all references.

31 ‘church sanctuary’, literally, ‘church-peace within the walls’.

32 ‘wer’ is used in the text, an abbreviation for wergild, which is the monetary value placed on the life of a free person, used in early English laws in matters of compensation and fines.

33 ‘or a fine [OE ‘wite] or lahslit’. Attention is paid from this point in the law-code to the corresponding English and Danish terms, wite and lahslit, which in this context both mean ‘fine’. Viola Giulia Miglio explains concerning the term lahslit: ‘The term is of Scandinavian origin, and enters OE as lahslit […]: it means “breach of the law” or “fine for perturbing the peace/ for a committed crime”. […] A cognate is not found in ON [Old Norse], but this OE term is equivalent to ON lögbrot “breaking of the law”.’ (Miglio, 4.3; see the bibliography)

34 Wulfstan seems to be alluding to his ‘Canon law’ collection, a collation of religious and moral laws and regulations written by or attributed to figures of authority in the Christian Church; an edition and translation of Wulfstan’s collection is available, written by J. E. Cross and Andrew Hamer (see Cross in the bibliography).

35 ‘festival or fasting’, referring to Christian festivals – or feast days – and fasting periods assigned by the Church.

36 The Danish mark was a weight-standard measurement, composed of eight oras. Pamela Nightingale observes that ‘there is no evidence’ that it ‘was adopted in England outside the Danelaw before Cnut’s conquest’. The ‘half-mark’ is first referred to in English sources in the treaty of Alfred and Guthrum where it is used as the weight for gold. She continues to note its appearance in the law-codes of the Danelaw but that ‘even there it seems to have survived more as a traditional fine, rather than as the normal accounting unit or standard of weight’ (Nightingale, p. 235; see bibliography).

37 There were eight oras in the Danish mark (Nightingale, p.234; see bibliography), so this is the same fine as in the previous clause.

38 To understand this, we need to take into account Canon law, which forbade the marriage of a surviving brother to his deceased brother’s widow, as she was considered the surviving brother’s sister (Cross, pp. 153-54, no. 139; see bibliography). Moreover, Canon law stated that the man who married his brother’s wife or the wife of a ’blood-relation’ was to be excommunicated (Cross, p. 154, no. 140). With this clarification, the ‘they’ evidently means the unlawfully married couple, who according to Canon law would be expected to separate, (Cross, p. 102, no. 85), not simply atone with acts of penance. We see, then, with this clause, that the theme of incest of the previous clause is continued.

39 ‘according to the penalty’: reading OE ‘þam witan’ as ‘þam wite’.

40 Alms payments to Rome began in England at least as early as the eighth century when Offa, king of the Mercians (r. 757-96) promised a sizeable sum (365 mancuses) each year to the pope for supporting the poor and for the provision of lights. In the time of Alfred, king of Wessex (r. 871-99), the practice of sending payments to Rome appears to have continued, though there is no clear evidence that at this point individual households contributed to this. That romfeoh, ‘Rome-money’, was expected to be paid by all Christian men by the mid-tenth century is clear – essentially, it developed into the tax known as ‘Peter’s pence’, levied at one penny per household payable annually by St Peter’s Day, August 1st (Keynes; see bibliography). The inclusion in this present set of laws of a punishment against anyone not paying this Church due supports the conclusion that Wulfstan was its author.

41 i.e. a tax to fund church candles.

42 ‘Plough alms’ evidently refers to a penny taxation at Easter for each plough within a village; see sulh-ælmesse in Bosworth-Toller, and Eleemosyna carucarum in Corèdon (see bibliography).

43 This alludes to the legally acceptable practice of feuding – taking vengeance through killing – by the family members of the victim in order to satisfy justice. Feuding, using violence, including killing, to avenge an affront to one’s honour, was culturally ingrained in early medieval societies in England; a useful discussion of how feuding was integrated into social order can be found in chapter 5 of Lambert (see bibliography).

44 That is, the family of the man committing homicide cannot claim compensation when vengeance is taken against him.

45 Or ‘festival’, i.e. on a religious holiday.

46 ‘loss of his hide [OE ‘hyde’], or ‘skin’, i.e. the slave is to be flogged; ‘a fine in lieu of flogging’, literally, the ‘hide-payment’ or ‘skin-payment’ (OE ‘hyd-gyldes’); the same penalty appears below.

47 In the sense that the fast is appointed according to Christian law or tradition, for example, the fasting period associated with Lent.

48 i.e. trial by ordeal.

49 Or, ‘wizards’.

50 Perhaps meaning a foreigner on pilgrimage.

51 ‘jarl’, translating OE ‘eorl’; eorl began to replace ealdorman during the reign of Cnut, king of England (r. 1016-35), both terms broadly meaning ‘nobleman’ (see Stafford, p. 153). In the context of this present law, where the focus is on distinguishing English and Danish legal terminology and practice, ‘jarl’ seems the most appropriate translation, as it was the title given to Danish chieftains within the Danelaw.

52 As the victim is under the protection of the king and bishop, the deed is, in effect, an assault on the honour of both Christ and the king.

Æthelstan’s Grately Code, c.926-c.930

Æthelstan’s Grately Code, dating to c. 926-c.930¹, concerns thievery, treachery to lords; the selling and buying of goods, Sunday trading, the punishments for arson and ‘secret’ murder by means of witchcraft; and the treatment of slaves. Transcription and translation from Old English of Textus Roffensis folios 32v-37r by Dr Christopher Monk.²

Background

Æthelstan was ‘king of the Anglo-Saxons and the Danes’ from either 924 or 925 to 927, and subsequently ‘king of the English’ from 927 until his death in October of 939 (Keynes, p. 514). He is often considered ‘the first English monarch’ (Foot, p. 10). Æthelstan’s major set of laws, known today as the Grately Code, survives in full in its original Old English only in Textus Roffensis. A truncated copy is found in an important compilation of Old English laws in a contemporaneous Cambridge University manuscript;³ and a few charred fragments from an early eleventh-century manuscript survive in the British Library.⁴ The text is known as the Grately Code because Grately, Hampshire, is the place from where the laws were probably issued. Though Grately is not mentioned in Textus Roffensis, the Latin version of the laws, that survives in the extensive legal collection known as Quadripartitus, produced during the reign of Henry I (r.1100-1135),⁵ does contain the statement that, ‘All this was established at the great assembly at Grately, at which Archbishop Wulfhelm was present and all the nobles and councillors whom King Athelstan could gather together.’ Dorothy Whitelock, whose English translation this is, suggests this may have come from a lost prologue to the law code (Whitelock, p. 422, and n. 1).

Content and themes

The main theme of Æthelstan’s Grately Code is thievery, but there are others too, including treachery to lords; the selling and buying of goods – Sunday trading is legislated against; the punishments for arson and murder, specifically ‘secret’ murder by means of witchcraft; and the treatment of slaves in various contexts is also touched upon. Within the Textus Roffensis web pages there is huge scope to develop further interpretive work about Æthelstan’s impact on law and order in early medieval England. For now, I would like to draw attention to two highlights within the Grately Code: the judicial process of the ordeals, and the concept of disobedience to the king.

The ordeals

I will be writing a more detailed post on the nature and significance of the judicial ordeals in early English laws but at this point I want to explain the basic principles of those ordeals mentioned in the Grately Code. The subsequent action taken against a ‘guilty’ person once the ordeal had finished varied significantly, depending on the circumstances of the crime and the person committing the crime; this is quite clear from reading Æthelstan’s pronouncements, below. I will endeavour to explore this aspect, too, in my future post. The ‘water-ordeal’, sometimes called the ‘cold water’ ordeal, refers to the plunging of an accused individual into cold water, probably a natural body of water, to the depth of one and a half ells, an ell probably being 45 inches or 114 cm (Zupko, p. 119). If the person sank, they were deemed without guilt; if they did not sink, then guilt was established.⁶ The ‘iron-ordeal’, sometimes called the ordeal by hot iron,⁷ involved the accused carrying in hand a piece of iron that had been heated on coals; it was carried for nine of his or her feet. This information is provided in the slightly later, anonymous law code known as Ordal; for my translation of this text go to Trial by Ordeal, mid-10th century — Rochester Cathedral. The Grately Code states that ‘there should be three nights before one undoes the hand’, an allusion to the part of the judicial process that involved the sealing – wrapping up in cloth – of the accused’s burnt hand and subsequent inspection of it for signs of innocence or guilt. Ordal is more explicit in its explanation of this part of the ordeal, stating that it should be determined on the third day ‘whether it be foul or clean inside the seal’. Neither text, however, clearly identifies the judicial significance of this: that if the hand is ‘foul’, then guilt is established; and if ‘clean’, then the individual is innocent. What is very interesting on this matter is the repeated use in the Grately Code of the Old English (OE) word ful to mean guilty. Sometimes, ful is used with direct reference to the ordeals, and at other times the judicial process of the ordeals is only implied. The core meaning of ful is ‘foul’, and in the context of disease and wounds means ‘festering’;⁸ this is how it is used in Ordal. Clearly, from the body of Old English legal texts, we can appreciate that the word also takes on a broader sense of ‘guilty’. Every time, however, that we read ful in the Grately Code, and elsewhere, we are tapping into a darkly visceral moment from early medieval history, to that point when the burnt hand of an accused had become infected, its foulness not merely indicating the beginnings of putrefaction but, more profoundly, guilt.

The threefold ordeal

It’s important to briefly look at the phrase ‘threefold ordeal’ that appears in the Grately Code, as its meaning is not explained therein. It is used directly in connection with the specific crimes of treachery to a lord, breaking into a church, and the deployment of witchcraft and sorcery leading to ‘murders’ – what might be usefully thought of as ‘secret’ killings.⁹ The use of the threefold ordeal is also implied for the crimes of arson and avenging a thief. We need, however, to turn to another Textus Roffensis law code, Be blaserum ⁊ be morðslihtum (‘Concerning arsonists and murders’), to grasp the meaning behind the use of ‘threefold’. Be Blaserum is an anonymous law code, and was perhaps a reformulating by local officials of Æthelstan’s commands about arson and murder – ‘at ground level’, as Wormald puts it (Wormald, pp. 367-38). You can find my translation of this law code here. Be blaserum shows that the ‘threefold’ aspect relates to two things: the accused must find three times as many ‘oath-supporters’ in order to avoid the ordeal; and, if unsuccessful in this, must face the iron-ordeal using a piece of iron three times as heavy as that used for the so-called ‘single’, or ‘simple’,¹⁰ ordeal. That is, the burning hot piece of iron would have weighed three pounds instead of the usual one. Though not part of the Grately Code, I should also mention another ordeal that had a ‘threefold’ aspect, namely the judgement by hot water.¹¹ Be blaserum explains that this required the accused to plunge the hand or arm into a cooking pot of boiling water to grasp a stone at the bottom, either ‘as far as the wrist’ for a ‘single’ ordeal or ‘up to his elbow’ for a ‘threefold’ ordeal. This three-fold feature of ordeals points to certain circumstances wherein more stringent measures were considered as necessary in the judicial process, something I will explore further in my future post.

The concept of disobedience to the king

There are numerous references within the laws of both Æthelstan and his predecessor, his father Edward the Elder (r. 899-924), to the payment of a fine for ‘disobedience’ (oferhyrness) to the king. It appears six times in the Grately Code. Tom Lambert observes regarding this ‘ideological concept’ that ‘[i]t seems to imply a royal right to issue commands not to engage in certain types of wrongdoing and to punish those who disobeyed’ (Lambert, p. 213). The types of wrongdoing associated with the ‘disobedience’ fine, argues Lambert, ‘could be characterised as breaches of legal procedure’ and ‘are all related to the proper functioning of legal structures’ (Lambert, pp. 213-14). In the example of the Grately Code, the fine is to be issued for those who refuse to attend assemblies; for the refusal to ride out on an enforcement raid (where a guilty person has his goods removed by the senior men of the borough and he is put under forced surety); for the receiving of another lord’s man who has been charged with a crime (thus helping him evade punishment); and finally, mentioned toward the end of the set of laws, it is to be issued against royal reeves who fail, fully or in part, to carry out the laws of the Grately Code. Lambert goes on to make the astute observation that we must not think that the ‘disobedience’ fine meant that that ‘kings had a general right to command their subjects and to punish disobedience’ outside the specific area of legal procedure (Lambert, p. 214).¹² He continues,

We certainly have no grounds for thinking that kings felt it appropriate to issue more sweeping commands encompassing forms of serious wrongdoing – commands that nobody commit theft or homicide, for example – and then to justify royal punishment of those acts with the theory that they constituted disobedience (Lambert, p. 214).

In other words, a king may issue a code of laws, but things like theft and homicide were viewed as crimes against the peace of the realm – everyone’s peace, we might say – not direct acts of disobedience to the king. Where certain duties to participate in communal legal procedures were not met, however, such was indeed viewed, at least by Æthelstan and his advisors, as disobedience to the king.

A note on reconstructions in the transcription

Water damage has affected the tops of all the Textus folios for the Grately Code, causing some of the text of the first few lines of each page to fade. Though most of the text is still legible, especially when using the zoom facility on the digital facsimile, some words are very difficult to make out. Therefore, the badly faded words in the opening few lines have been reconstructed in the transcript below by comparing the Cambridge University manuscript. Other reconstructions of other folios are guided by a sixteenth-century transcript of the British Library manuscript,¹³ made before it was largely destroyed in the infamous Cottonian fire of 1731.¹⁴ Reconstructions are shown in grey, rather than black, font.

Transcription

32v (select folio number to open facsimile)

Æþelstanes gerænesse. ¹⁵

33r

Ærest þæt man ne sparige nænne þeof ðe æt¹⁶
hæbbendre handa gefangen sy, ofer xii ¹⁷
winter, ⁊ ofer eahta peningas, ⁊¹⁸ gif hit hwa do,
forgylde ðone þeof be his were, ⁊ ne beo þam þeofe
na ðe geþingodre, oþþe hine be þam geladie. ¹⁹ Gif he hine þonne²⁰ werian²¹ wille oððe
oðfleo, ðonne ne sparige hine man.
Gif man ðeof on carcerne gebringe, ðæt he beo
xl nihta²² on carcerne, ⁊ hine man ðonne alyse²³ ut
mid cxx scillingum ⁊ ga seo mægþ him on borh ðæt he
æfre geswice. ⁊ gif he ofer ðæt stalige, forgildan hy
hine be his were, oþþe hine eft ðær inne gebrin-
gan. ⁊ gif hine hwa²⁴ forstande, forgilde
hine be his were, swa þam cyninge swa ðam ðe hit
mid ryhte togebyrige, ⁊ ælc man²⁵ ðara ðe þær mid
stande, gesylle ðam cyninge cxx scillinga to wite. Ond we cwædon
be þam hlafordleasan mannum, ðe man nan
ryht ætbegytan ne mæg, þæt man beode ðære
mægþe, ðæt hi hine to folcryhte gehamette,
⁊ him hlaford finden on folcgemote. ⁊ gif hi
hine ðonne begytan nyllen, oððe ne mægen to þam andagan, ²⁶
ðonne beo he syþþan flyma, ⁊ hine lecge for
ðeof se þe²⁷ him tocume, ⁊ se ðe hine ofer ðæt
feormige, forgylde hine be his were, oþþe he

33v

hine be ðam ladige. be ryhtes wærnunge.
Se hlaford se ryhtes wyrne, and for his yfelan
man²⁸ licge, ⁊ man ðone cing foregesece,²⁹ forgilde þæt
ceapgild, ⁊ gesylle þam cynge cxx scillinga. ⁊ se ðe
ðone cyng gesece³⁰ ær he him ryhtes bidde, swa oft swa him to gebyrie,³¹ gilde ðæt
ilce wite þe se oþer sceolde gif he him ryhtes
wyrnde. ⁊ se hlaford þe his ðeowan æt þyfþe ge-
wita sy, ⁊ hit him on open wurðe, ðolige ðæs þeo-
wan, ⁊ beo his weres³² scyldig æt frumcyrre. Gif he hit ofter do, beo he ealles scyldig þæs he
age, ⁊ eac swilce cynges hordera oððe ure gere-
fena swilc ðære ðeofa gewita wære ðe staledon,
beo he be ðam ilcan. be hlafordsearwum. Ond we cwædon be hlafordsearwe, ðæt he beo his
feores scyldig, gif he his ætsacan ne mihte, oþþe
eft on þam þrimfealdum ordale ful wære. ⁊ we cwædon be ciricbryce, gif he ful wære on ðam
ðryfealdan ordale, bete be þam þe seo domboc
secge. be wiccecræftum.
Ond we cwædon be þam wiccecræftum, ⁊ be libla-
cum, ⁊ be morðdædum, gif man þær³³ acweald wære,
⁊ he his ætsacan ne mihte, þæt he beo his feores
scyldig. Gif he þonne ætsacan wille, ⁊ on ðam
þrimfealdum ordale ful weorðe, þæt he beo cxx.

34r

nihta on carcerne, ⁊ nimen þa magas hine siððan
ut, ⁊ gesyllan þam cynge cxx scillinga, ⁊ forgildan
ðone wer his magum, ⁊ gangon him on borh,
ðæt he æfre swylces³⁴ geswice. be blæserum. Ða blysieras, and þa ðe ðeof wrecon, beon þæs il-
can ryhtes wyrðe, ⁊ se þe ðeof wrecan wille, ⁊
nanne man ne gewundige, gesylle þam cyninge
cxx. scillinga to wite³⁵ for ðan æthlype.³⁶ ⁊ we cwædon be ðam
anfealdum ordale æt þam mannum þe oft be-
ti_htlede wæron, ⁊ hy fule wurdon, ⁊ hy ni_ton
hwa hy on borh nime, gebringe man hy³⁷ on carcer-
ne, ⁊ man hy don ut swa hit her beforan gecweden³⁸
is. be landleasum mannum. Ond we cwædon gif hwylc landleas man folgode
on oþre scire, ⁊ eft his magas gesece, þæt
he hine on þa gerad feormige, ðæt he hine to
folcryhte gelæde,³⁹ gif he þær gylt gewyrce, oþþe forebete.⁴⁰
Se ðe yrfe befo, be yrfes ætfenge.
nemne him man v men his neahgebura, ⁊ begite
ðara v, i ðæt him midswerige, þæt he hit on folc
ryht him toteo, ⁊ se þe hit him geagnian wille,
nemne him man x men,⁴¹ ⁊ begite þara twegen, ⁊ sylle
þone að þæt hit on his æhte geboren wære,
butan þam⁴² rimaðe, ⁊ stande þæs cyreaþ ofer xx

34v

be hwearfe. penega.⁴³ ⁊ nan man ne hwyrfe nanes yrfes bu-
tan ðæs gerefan gewitnesse, oððe þæs mæsse-
preostes, oððe þæs landhlafordes, oþþe þæs
horderes, oððe oþres ungelygenes⁴⁴ mannes. Gif
hit hwa do, gesylle xxx scillinga to wite, ⁊ fo se land-
hlaford to þam hwearfe.⁴⁵ be wohre⁴⁶ gewitnesse.
Gif man þonne afinde þæt heora⁴⁷ ænig on wohre⁴⁸
gewitnesse wære, þæt næfre his gewitnes eft
naht ne forstande, ⁊ eac gesylle xxx scillinga to wite. Ond we cwædon, se ðe scyldunga⁴⁹ bæde æt ofslage-
num þeofe, ðæt he eode ðreora sum to,⁵⁰ twegen on fæde-
ran maga, ⁊ þridda on medren, ⁊ þone aþ syllen
ðæt hy on heora⁵¹ mæge⁵² nane þyfðe nyston, ðæt
he his feores wyrðe nære for ðam gilte, ⁊ hy gan
siððan xii sume, ⁊ gescyldigen hine swa hit
ær gecweden wæs. ⁊ gif ðæs deadan mægas ðider
cuman noldon to ðam andagan, gilde ælc ðe hit
ær sprece cxx scillinga. Ond we cwædon þæt man nænne ceap ne gecea-
pige butan porte ofer xx penega, ac ceapige
ðær binnan on þæs portgerefan gewitnesse,
oððe on⁵³ oþres unlygenes⁵⁴ mannes, oððe eft on þara
gerefena gewitnesse on folcgemote. Ond we cweðaþ ðæt ælc burh sy gebet xiiii.

35r

niht ofer gangdagas.⁵⁵ Oþer þæt ælc ceaping sy bin-
nan porte.⁵⁶ Þridda þæt an mynet, sy ofer eall ðæs
cynges onweald, ⁊ nan man ne mynetige butan on
porte. ⁊ gif se mynetere ful wurðe, slea man of
þa hand, ðe he ðæt ful mid worhte, ⁊ sette uppon⁵⁷
ða mynetsmiððan. ⁊ gif hit þonne tyhtle sy,
⁊ he hine ladi_an wille, ðonne ga he to þam hatum
isene, ⁊ ladige þa hand mid ðe man tyhð ðæt he
þæt facen mid worhte. ⁊ gif he on þam ordale ful
wurðe, do man þæt ilce swa hit ær beforan cwæð. On cantwarabyrig
vii myneteras, iiii ðæs cynges, ⁊ ii þæs⁵⁸ biscopes, i
ðæs abbodes. To hrofeceastre ii cynges, ⁊ i þæs⁵⁹ bi-
scopes. To lundenbyrig viii. To wintaceastre vi. To læwe ii. To hæstingaceastre i. Oþer to cisse-
ceastre. To hamtune ii. To wærham ii. To exece-
astre ii. To sceaftesbyrig ii. Elles to þam oþrum
burgum i.
Feorðe, þæt nan scyldwyrhta ne lecge nan scepes
fellon⁶⁰ scyld, ⁊ gif he hit do, gilde xxx scillinga.
Fifte, ðæt ælc man hæbbe æt þære syhl ii ge-
horsede men. Syxte, gif hwa æt þeofe medsceatt⁶¹ nime, ⁊
oþres ryht afylle, beo he⁶² his weres scyldig.

35v

Seofoðe, þæt nan man ne sylle nan hors ofer sæ, butan he
hit gifan wille. Ond we cwædon be þeowan men gif he ful wurþe
æt þam ordale þæt man gulde þæt ceapgild, ⁊
swinge hine man⁶³ ðriwa, oððe þæt oþer gild sealde, ⁊ sy
þæt wite be healfum wurðe æt þam ðeowum. Gif hwa gemot forsitte
þriwa, gilde ðæs cynges oferhyrnesse, ⁊ hit beo
seofon nihtum ær geboden ær ðæt gemot sy. Gif he þonne ryht wyrcan nylle, ne þa oferhyr-
nesse syllan, þonne ridan þa yldestan men to ealle
þe to⁶⁴ þære byrig hiron, ⁊ nimon eall ðæt he age, ⁊
setton hine on borh. Gif hwa þonne⁶⁵ nylle ridan mid
his geferan, gilde cynges oferhyrnesse. And⁶⁶ beode man on þam gemote ðæt man eall⁶⁷ friþi-
ge þæt se cyng friþian wille, ⁊ forga þyfðe be his
feore, ⁊ be eallum þam þe he⁶⁸ age, ⁊ se þe be witum
geswican nylle, ðonne ridan þa yldestan⁶⁹ men to ealle
þe⁷⁰ to þære byrig hyron, ⁊ nimon eall ðæt he age,
⁊ fo se cyng to healfum, to healfum ða men
ðe on þære rade beon, ⁊ setton hine on borh. Gif he
nite hwa hine aborgie hæfton hine. Gif he nylle hit⁷¹
geþafian, leton hine licgan⁷² butan he ætwinde. Gif
hwa hine wrecan wille, oððe hine fælæce, þonne

36r

beo he fah wið ðone cyng ⁊ wið ealle his freond. Gif he ætwinde, ⁊ hwa hine feormige, sy he his
weres scyldig, butan he hine ladian⁷³ durre, be þæs flyman were⁷⁴
þæt⁷⁵ he hine flyman nyste.
Gif hwa þingie for ordal, ðingie on ðam ceapgilde
þæt he mæge, ⁊ naht on ðam wite, butan hit
se gifan wille, þe hit togebyrige. ⁊ ne underfo nan
man oþres mannes man butan his leafe þe he
ær folgode. Gif hit hwa do agife þone man, ⁊ bete
cynges oferhyrnesse, ⁊ nan man ne tæce his ge-
tihtledan man fram him, ær he hæbbe ryht
geworht. Gif hwa ordales weddige, ðonne cume he þrim
nihtum ær to þam mæssepreoste þe hit halgian
scyle, and fede hine sylfne mid hlafe, ⁊ mid wæ-
tere, ⁷⁶ ⁊ sealte, ⁊ wyrtum ær he togan scyle, ⁊ ge-
stande him mæssan þæra þreora daga ælcne,
⁊ geoffrige⁷⁷ to, ⁊ ga to husle ðy dæge þe he to ðam
ordale gan scyle, ⁊ swerige ðonne þane að, þæt
he sy mid folcryhte unscyldig ðære tihtlan,
ær he to þam ordale ga. ⁊ gif hit sy⁷⁸ wæter, ðæt he
gedufe oþre healfe elne on þam rape. Gif hit
sy ysenordal, beon ðreo niht ær man þa hand
undo, ⁊ ofga ælc man his tihtlan mid foreaðe

36v

swa we ær cwædon, ⁊ beo þæra ælc fæstende on ægþera⁷⁹
hand⁸⁰ se ðær mid sy, on⁸¹ godes bebode, ⁊ ðæs ærcebi-
scopes, ⁊ ne beo ðær on naþre healfe⁸² na⁸³ ma manna
þonne xii. Gif se getihtloda man ðonne⁸⁴ maran we-
rude beo þonne twelfa sum, þonne beo þæt ordal
forad, butan hy him fram gan willan. Ond se þe yrfe bycge on gewitnesse, ⁊ hit eft
tyman scyle þonne onfo se⁸⁵ his, þe he hit ær ætbohte,
beo he swa freoh swa ðeow, swa hweðer⁸⁶ he sy. ⁊ ðæt
nan cyping ne sy sunnan dagum. Gif hit ðon-
ne hwa do, þolige ðæs ceapes, ⁊ gesylle xxx scillinga to wite.⁸⁷ Gif minra gerefa⁸⁸ hwylc þonne⁸⁹ þis don nylle, ⁊ læs
ymbe beo þonne we gecweden habbað, þonne gyl-
de he mine oferhyrnesse, ⁊ ic finde oþerne
ðe wile. And⁹⁰ se biscop amanige þa oferhyrnesse
æt þam gerefan, þe hit on his folgoþe sy. Se ðe of ðissa gerædnesse ga, gilde æt frum cirre
v pund, æt oþrum cirre his were,⁹¹ æt þriddan
cirre ðolige ealles þæs þe⁹² he age, ⁊ ure eal-
ra freondscipes. Ond se ðe man að swerige, ⁊ hit him on open
wurþe, ðæt he næfre eft aðwyrþe ne sy, ne
binnan nanum gehalgodum lictune ne licge
þeah he forðfare⁹³ butan he hæbbe ðæs biscopes

37r

gewitnesse ðe he on his scrift⁹⁴ scire sy, þæt he hit swa
gebett hæbbe swa him his scrift scrife, ⁊ his scrift
hit gecyþe þam biscope binnan xxx nihta
hweþer he to þære bote cirran wolde. Gif he swa
ne do, bete be þam þe se biscop him forgifan
wille.

Translation

Æthelstan’s laws

First, that one should not spare any thief who is caught red-handed, [who is] over 12 years, and [the value is] over eight pennies; and if one does so, he should pay for the thief according to his wergild⁹⁵ – and it will not be settled for the thief – or let him clear him [by an oath] by that [amount].

If he [the thief] wants to resist or flee,⁹⁶ then one should not spare him.

If one brings a thief into prison, in that case he will be in prison forty nights, and one may then redeem him with 120 shillings,⁹⁷ and the family will act as guarantor for him,⁹⁸ so that he should desist evermore.

And if he steals after that they should pay for him with his wergild, or bring him there again.

And if anyone stands up for him, he should pay for him with his wergild, whether to the king or to the one to whom it rightly belongs; and each one of those who stands by him, let them give to the king 120 shillings as a fine.

And we spoke concerning the lordless men, from whom one cannot obtain justice, that one should bid their family, so that they bring him home to [face] justice,⁹⁹ and find him a lord in the public assembly.

And if they then will not, or cannot, bring him on the appointed day, then he will afterwards be an outlaw, and he who comes upon him may kill him as a thief.¹⁰⁰ And he who harbours him after that, should pay for him with his wergild, or clear himself [by oath] to [the value of] that.¹⁰¹

Concerning refusal of justice¹⁰²

The lord who refuses justice, and takes the part of his evildoer,¹⁰³ and appeals to the king, he should pay back the market-price [of what is stolen], and give to the king 120 shillings.

And he who appeals to the king before he demands justice from him [the wrongdoer] – as often as it becomes him¹⁰⁴ – should pay the same fine as the other would have,¹⁰⁵ if he had refused him justice.¹⁰⁶

And the lord who is an accessory to theft by his slave, and this becomes known about him, should forfeit his slave,¹⁰⁷ and should be liable to his wergild in the first instance.¹⁰⁸

If he does it often, he should be liable for all that he owns; and, likewise, any of the king’s treasurers or of our reeves, who were accessories of the thieves who stole, should be subject to the same.

Concerning treachery against one’s lord

And we declared concerning treachery against one’s lord that he should be liable to forfeit his life if he is unable to deny it [the charge] or if he were afterwards found guilty at the threefold ordeal. And we declared concerning breaking into a church,¹⁰⁹ that if he were found guilty at the threefold ordeal, he should pay according to what the lawbook says.¹¹⁰

Concerning witchcrafts

And we declared concerning witchcrafts, and concerning sorceries,¹¹¹ and concerning murders,¹¹² if one were thereby killed, and he is unable to deny it, then he should be liable to forfeit his life.

If he then wishes to deny it, and at the threefold ordeal is found guilty, [we declared] that he be 120 nights in prison, and then the [guilty person’s] family will take him out and give to the king 120 shillings, and pay the wergild to his [the murdered person’s] family, and go surety for him so that he hereafter should desist from such.

Concerning arsonists

The arsonists and those who avenge a thief should be measured by the same judgment,¹¹³ and he who wishes to avenge a thief, but no one is wounded, should give to the king 120 shillings as a fine for the assault. And we declared concerning the single ordeal,¹¹⁴ with regard to those persons who often were accused and were found guilty, and they know no one to stand surety for them, one should bring them to prison, and one should release them as it was stated here before.

Concerning landless persons

And we declared that if any landless person took service in another shire and afterwards seek his family,¹¹⁵ he [the family member] may take him in [the landless man] on the condition that he lead him to justice, should he carry out an offence there, or else pay compensation.¹¹⁶

Concerning the taking possession of property¹¹⁷

He who seizes property, one should obtain for him 5 persons from his neighbours, and from the 5 get one who should swear with him that he claims it according to public law;¹¹⁸ but he who wishes to declare it as owned by himself,¹¹⁹ one should take for him 10 men, and from them two [oath-supporters], and he should give the oath that it was born on his land – the oath of all is not needed¹²⁰ – and this selected oath is to be valid [in cases] over 20 pennies.¹²¹

Concerning exchange [of property]

And no one is to exchange any property without the witness of the reeve, or the mass-priest, or the land-lord,¹²² or the treasurer or other trustworthy person.

If such is done, one should pay 30 shilling as a fine, and the land-lord is to take the exchanged property.

Concerning false witness

If one should then find that any of them gave false witness, never again shall his witness be valid; and also he should pay 30 shillings as a fine.

And we declared that he who may demand payment for a slain thief should come forward with three others,¹²³ two from the father’s kin and the third from the mother’s; and they are to give the oath that they have not known of any thievery in their relative – for which guilt he would not be worthy of life. And they [the slayers of the man]¹²⁴ shall then go with 12 others, and shall prove him [the slain thief] liable as it was declared before. And if the dead person’s family does not come forward at the appointed day, each one who spoke before of it [those demanding the payment] should pay 120 shillings.

And we declared that no one should trade any goods over 20 pennies outside the town,¹²⁵ but should trade there inside with the witness of the town-reeve,¹²⁶ or other trustworthy person; or thereafter with the witness of the reeves at a public assembly.

And we declare that each borough be repaired 14 nights after Rogationtide.¹²⁷

Second, that each market be within a town.

Third, that a single coinage be over all the king’s realm, and no one may mint outside of a town. And if the minter be found guilty, one should cut off the hand with which he committed the crime, and set it above the mint.¹²⁸

And when there is an accusation, and he wishes to clear himself, then he should go to the [ordeal] of hot iron, and he should redeem the hand with which he was accused of committing the crime.¹²⁹ And if he be found guilty in the ordeal, one should do the same as is stated before.

In Canterbury [there are to be] 7 minters, 4 of the king, two of the bishop,1 of the abbot. At Rochester, 2 of the king and one of the bishop. At London, 8. At Winchester, 6. At Lewes, 2. At Hastings, 1. Another at Chichester. At Southampton, 2. At Wareham, 2. At Exeter, 2. At Shaftesbury, 2. Otherwise, in the other boroughs, 1.

Fourth, that no shield-maker may lay sheepskin on a shield, and if he does he should pay 30 shillings.

Fifth, that each person should have in respect to the plough two mounted men.¹³⁰

Sixth, if anyone takes a bribe from a thief, and another’s rights are suppressed, he should be liable for his wergild.

Seventh, that no person may sell any horse overseas, unless he wishes to gift it.¹³¹

And we declared concerning an enslaved person, if he is found guilty at the ordeal, that one should pay the market value [of the stolen goods],¹³² and one should beat him three times, or else a second payment should be given; and the [public] fine with respect to slaves should be at half the rate.¹³³

If someone fails to attend an assembly three times, one should pay [a fine] for disobedience to the king; and it should be announced seven nights before the assembly happens.

If he then will not carry out what is right, nor will pay the disobedience fine, then the most senior men shall ride there, all who belong to the borough, and take all that he owns, and place him under surety.¹³⁴ If, however, anyone will not ride with his fellows, he should pay [a fine] for disobedience to the king.

And one should announce in the assembly that one should be at peace with all that the king should wish to be at peace with,¹³⁵ and refrain from theft on pain of death and by all that he may own. And he who does not wish to cease, [even] for [such] penalties, then the most senior men shall ride there, all who belong to the borough, and take all that he owns; and the king should take possession of half, and half to the men who are on the raid; and they should set him under surety.

If he does not know anyone to stand surety for him, they should imprison him. If he will not allow this, let him lie [dead] – unless he should escape.

If anyone wishes to avenge him or carry on a feud for him, then he will be at enmity with the king and with all his [the king’s] friends.

If he should escape, and someone harbours him, he should be liable for his wergild, unless he dares to clear himself – by the [amount of the] fugitive’s wergild – that he did not know him to be a fugitive.

If someone should make terms for the ordeal, he may make terms [based] on the market value, and not on the penalty, unless he, to whom it belongs, wishes to grant it.¹³⁶

And no one should receive the man of another without the permission of him whom he served before. If someone does so, he should give back the man, and pay [the fine of] disobedience to the king; and no one may dismiss from himself an accused man of his own before he has rendered justice.

If anyone should pledge [to undertake] the ordeal, then he should come the third night beforehand to the mass-priest who shall consecrate it [i.e. the ordeal], and he should sustain himself with bread and with water and salt and vegetables before he shall go thereto; and he should be present at mass each of those three days, and should make his offering, and go to the housel on the day on which he shall go to the ordeal;¹³⁷ and he should then swear the oath that he is, according to public law, innocent of the charge, before he goes to the ordeal.

And if it is [the ordeal of] water, that he should sink one and a half ells on the rope.¹³⁸ If it is the iron-ordeal, there should be three nights before one undoes the hand.¹³⁹ And let each person begin his accusation with a preliminary oath just as we declared before; and each of those, of both sides,¹⁴⁰ who are there should fast, according to God’s command and that of the archbishop; and there should not be on either side any more than 12 persons. If then the accused person be one in a company of more than twelve, then the ordeal should be void, unless they be willing to go from him.

And he who buys property before a witness, and afterwards has to vouch warranty for it, then he from whom he previously bought it should take back his [goods],¹⁴¹ be he free or slave,¹⁴² whichever he is.

And [we declared] that there be no trading on Sunday. If then anyone does this, he should forfeit the goods, and pay 30 shilling as a fine.

If any of my reeves is then unwilling to do this,¹⁴³ or does less than we have declared, then he should pay [the fine] of disobedience to me, and I shall find another who will. And the bishop, in whose district it be,¹⁴⁴ should exact the [fine of] disobedience from the reeve. He who departs from these laws should pay in the first instance 5 pounds, and on the second occasion his wergild; on the third occasion he should suffer the loss of all that he owns, and the friendship of us all.

And he who swears a false oath, and it comes into the open about him, [we have declared] that he never afterwards be oath-worthy, nor should be laid within any holy cemetery should he die,¹⁴⁵ unless he would have the testimony of the bishop in whose confession-shire he is,¹⁴⁶ that he has repented for it just as his confessor has prescribed for him. And his confessor should make it known to the bishop within 30 nights whether he was willing to turn to atonement. If he does not do so, he should pay according to what the bishop will allow him.¹⁴⁷

Bibliography

Bartlett, Robert, Trial by Fire and Water: The Medieval Judicial Ordeal (Clarendon Press/Oxford University Press, 1986).

Clark Hall, J. R., A Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, fourth edition (University of Toronto Press, 1960).

Foot, Sarah, Æthelstan (Yale University Press, 2011).

Gilbey, Walter, Horses Past and Present (Vinton & Co., Ltd, 1900), available via Project Gutenberg EBook

Gittos, Helen, Liturgy, Architecture, and Sacred Places in Anglo-Saxon England (Oxford University Press, 2013).

Keynes, Simon, ‘Appendix: Rulers of the English, c.450-1066’, in The Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England, ed. Michael Lapidge, John Blair, Simon Keynes, and Donald Scragg (Blackwell Publishing, 1999).

Lambert, Tom, Law & Order in Anglo-Saxon England (Oxford University Press, 2017).

Liebermann, Felix, Die Gesetze der Angelsachsen, 3 volumes (M. Niemeyer, 1903–16) (edition available via Early English Laws website for each law code).

Whitelock, Dorothy, English Historical Documents, Volume I, c.500-1042, second edition (Eyre Methuen/Oxford University Press, 1979).

Wormald, Patrick, The Making of English Law: King Alfred to the Twelfth Century (Blackwell Publishing, 1999).

Zupko, Ronald E., A Dictionary of Weights and Measures for the British Isles: The Middle Ages To the Twentieth Century (American Philosophical Society, 1985).

Websites

Bosworth & Toller dictionary Bosworth-Toller Anglo-Saxon Dictionary online (bosworthtoller.com)

British Library, Medieval manuscripts blog, Medieval manuscripts blog

Colin Flight’s website, Durobrivis

DOE. The Dictionary of Old English: A to I; limited free access here

Early English Laws, Early English Laws: Home

Parker Library On the Web: Manuscripts in the Parker Library at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, Parker Library On the Web - Spotlight at Stanford

Footnotes

1 This is Dorothy Whitelock’s date: Whitelock, p. 417.

2 Many thanks indeed to Elise Fleming for kindly proofreading the commentary, translation and notes.

3 Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, MS 383, folios 14v-15v; the text starts at the bottom of 14v with the heading, ‘Be ðeofum.’ and ends abruptly at the bottom of 15v. Thus only about one fifth of the Grately Code is preserved in the Cambridge manuscript. The digital facsimile can be found here [accessed 22 February 2023].

4 London, British Library, Cotton MS Otho B.xi.

5 For more on Quadripartitus, see Wormald, pp. 236-44.

6 See the index in Bartlett, p. 178, ‘for specific historical examples of the use of the ‘cold water’ ordeal.

7 See the index in Bartlett, p. 178, for specific historical examples of the use of the ‘hot iron’ ordeal.

8 See DOE, fūl adj., 1, 1.a.ii and 1.a.iii; and for the legal meaning of ‘guilty’, see 4c.

9 Whitelock, p. 418, translates ‘be morðdædum’ (literally, ‘deeds of murder’) as ‘concerning[…] secret attempts on life’; similarly, Wormald, p. 367, in translating the law code Be blaserum ⁊ be morðslihtum, gives ‘about[…] underhand killings’ for ‘be þam morþslyhtum’ (literally, ‘concerning murder-slaughters’).

10 Bartlett, p. 31, uses ‘simple’ rather than ‘single’. The OE word anfeald, literally ‘one-fold’, can be translated either way, though DOE offers ‘simple’ in legal contexts: see ān-feald 2.f., ‘in legal phrases referring to the usual form of an oath, charge, ordeal, etc. without amplification or modification: anfeald aþ / lad / ordal / spræc / tihtle / wegild “simple oath / purgation / ordeal / suit / charge / compensation”. My view is that in the context of ordeals, anfeald specifically relates to measurement (a one pound weight in the iron-ordeal); moreover, where ordeals can also be þrimfeald – threefold, it makes good sense to translate anfeald as ‘single’ rather than ‘simple’.

11 See the index in Bartlett, p. 178, for historical examples of the use of ordeal by ‘cauldron’.

12 My own emphasis.

13 The transcript (London, British Library, Additional MS 43703) was made in 1562 by the antiquarian Laurence Nowell; a digital facsimile of the transcript is available on the Early English Laws website, here [accessed 22 February 2023]. Colin Flight’s transcript of the laws of Textus Roffensis has also proved useful in reconstructing illegible words, and is available here [accessed 22 February 2023].

14 A British Library blog post on the fire is available here [accessed 22 February 2023].

15 ‘gerædnesse’ is the more expected spelling, as is noted by Liebermann, Early English Laws: Liebermann edition [accessed 15 December 2022].

16 There is water damage at the top of the folio, which makes some words on the first six lines difficult or impossible to read. The affected words are shown in grey font and have been reconstructed based upon the text in Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, MS 383, folios 14v-15r. Also, in the top right margin, there is what appears to be a Latin annotation in a later, non-medieval hand; I cannot make out most of the words.

17 Flight has ‘xx’, but with the benefit of the zoom feature on the digital facsimile it is possible to see that ‘xii’ is written. This corresponds with both the Cambridge manuscript and the Nowell transcript, both of which have ‘twelf’ (‘twelve’).

18 ‘7’ is inserted above the line.

19 ‘þingodre.’ is followed by an insertion mark; the corresponding insertion mark in the right margin has the text (lines 5 and 6), ‘oþþe hine be þam geladie’, so I have inserted the text accordingly. Though the inserted text is faded, I can make out the spelling of the last word as ‘geladie’ and so have opted not to use the different ‘geladige’ from the Cambridge manuscript.

20 ‘þonne’ is inserted above the line.

21 There is an erasure between and a line connecting ‘weri’ and ‘an’.

22 There is a line written between ‘ni’ and ‘hta’.

23 ‘ne a’ is inserted above the line to correct ‘ðone lyse’ to ‘ðonne alyse’.

24 There is a space left after ‘hwa’.

25 ‘man’ is inserted above the line.

26 ‘to þam andagan’ was evidently added as a correction of an omission as it extends into the margin.

27 ‘þe’ is inserted above the line.

28 ‘man’ is inserted in the margin, to the side of ‘licge’.

29 The ‘ge’ of ‘foregesece’ is inserted above the line.

30 The ‘ge of ‘gesece’ is inserted above the line.

31 ‘swa oft swa him to gebyrie,’ appears in the left margin, along with an insertion mark, now badly faded; the corresponding insertion mark in the main body is inserted after ‘bidde,’.

32 Old English wer is used in this context as an abbreviation for wergild.

33 ‘þær’ is inserted above the line.

34 ‘swylces’ is inserted above the line.

35 ‘to wite’ is inserted above the line.

36 The ‘t’ of ‘æthlype’ is inserted above the line.

37 ‘hy’ is inserted above the line.

38 The ‘ge’ of ‘gecweden’ is inserted above the line.

39 The ‘ge’ of ‘gelæde’ is inserted above the line.

40 ‘oþer forebete’ is added later, extending into the margin.

41 ‘men,’ is inserted above the line.

42 ‘þam’ is inserted above the line.

43 The words ‘penega’, ‘[bu]-tan ðæs’ and ‘preostes’ at the beginning of the first three lines, shown in grey font, have been reconstructed by comparing Nowell’s transcription.

44 The second ‘e’ of ‘ungelygenes’

45 The ‘fe’ of ‘hwearfe’ is inserted above the line.

46 The ‘h’ of ‘wohre’ is inserted above the line.

47 The ‘o’ of ‘heora’ is inserted above the line.

48 The ‘h’ of ‘wohre’ is inserted above the line.

49 A mark along the line splits the word ‘scyld¬_unga’.

50 ‘to,’ is inserted above the line.

51 The ‘o’ of ‘heora’ is inserted above the line.

52 The ‘e’ of ‘mæge’ is inserted above the line.

53 ‘on’ is inserted above the line.

54 The first ‘e’ of ‘unlygenes’ is inserted above the line.

55 Comparison with the Nowell transcript has helped to clarify some of the faded words – those shown in grey font – at the top of this page.

56 The ‘e’ of ‘porte’ is inserted above the line.

57 The second ‘p’ of ‘uppon’ is inserted above the line.

58 ‘þæs’ is inserted above the line.

59 ‘þæs’ is inserted above the line.

60 The second ‘l’ of ‘fellon’ is inserted above the line.

61 The final ‘t’ of ‘medsceatt’ is inserted above the line.

62 ‘he’ is inserted above the line.

63 ‘man’ is inserted above the line.

64 ‘þe to’ is added in the left margin to correct an omission.

65 ‘þonne’ is inserted above the line.

66 The ‘A’ of ‘And’ is an alteration of ‘O’.

67 The second ‘l’ of ‘eall’ is inserted above the line.

68 ‘he’ is inserted above the line.

69 The ‘e’ of ‘yldestan’ is inserted above the line.

70 ‘þe’ is inserted into the left margin to correct an omission.

71 ‘hit’ is inserted into the right margin to correct an omission.

72 ‘gan’ of the word ‘licgan’ is inserted above the line.

73 A space with an ‘¬_’ splits the word ‘ladian’.

74 ‘þæs flyman were’ is inserted into the right margin to correct an omission.

75 The abbreviation for ‘þæt’ is inserted into the left margin to correct an omission.

76 The first ‘e’ of ‘tere’ is inserted above the line.

77 The ‘ge’ of ‘geoffrige’ is inserted above the line.

78 ‘sy’ is inserted above the line.

79 The ‘þera’ part of the word ‘ægþera’ is inserted into the right margin as a correction.

80 The words in grey font on this and the previous line have been reconstructed by comparing the Nowell transcript; however, ‘fastende’ is not clear in Nowell (Nowell has a rather untidy hand) but is just about decipherable using zoom on the Textus digital facsimile.

81 ‘on’ is inserted above the line.

82 The final ‘e’ of ‘healfe’ is inserted above the line.

83 ‘na’ is inserted above the line.

84 The first ‘n’ of ‘ðonne’ is inserted above the line.

85 ‘se’ is inserted above the line.

86 The ‘hwe’ of ‘hweðer’ is inserted above the line.

87 ‘to wite’ is inserted into the right margin to correct an omission.

88 The ‘a’ of ‘gerefa’ is separated from the rest of the word by the extended bar of the ‘f’.

89 ‘þonne’ is inserted above the line.

90 The original ‘O’ of ‘Ond’ is altered to ‘A’ (‘And’).

91 The final ‘e’ of ‘were’ is inserted above the line.

92 ‘þe’ is inserted above the line.

93 The ‘ð’ of ‘forðfare’ is inserted above the line.

94 ‘scrift’ is inserted above the line.

95 That is, the wergild of the thief. The wergild was the value of the life of a free person according to their rank; it was used in matters of law with respect to payment of compensation and fines.

96 ‘resist’, or ‘defend himself’, as Whitelock, p. 417, renders it. The sense, however, is not that the thief wishes to legally defend himself but rather that the thief, who has been caught in the act, attempts physically to resist capture.

97 120 shillings appears to equate to the wergild of a free person of the lowest class.

98 ‘family’, or ‘kindred’.

99 Compare DOE, ‘folc-riht noun […] 1. public law, customary law […] 2. to folcrihte lædan ‘to lead (someone acc.) to justice’.

100 More literally, ‘lay him as a thief’, with the sense of causing him to lie dead.

101 Following Liebermann, ‘oder reinige sich [durch Eid] im Werthe dieses [Wergelds]’, ‘or purify himself [by oath] to the worth of this [wergeld]; Early English Laws: Liebermann edition [accessed 16 December 2022]; Whitelock, p. 418, gives: ‘or to clear himself by an oath of that amount’. The basic sense is that the one accused of harbouring an outlawed thief must pay a wergild as a fine or clear himself from the accusation by swearing an oath; see the entry for ladian in the online Bosworth & Toller dictionary: Bosworth-Toller Anglo-Saxon Dictionary online (bosworthtoller.com) [accessed 16 December 2022].

102 The refusal of justice relates to a lord’s denial or prevention of prosecution at his own court of an individual under his jurisdiction (a freeman who has sworn fealty to his lord), either by the lord taking the side of the culprit and then appealing to the king, or by ignoring or pre-empting due process at his own court by directly appealing to the king first.

103 See Clark Hall, ‘licgan […] 1. for take the part of’; Clark Hall cites this line in Æthelstan’s law as the example for this rather specific use of the verb. Literally, the meaning is that the lord ‘lies (down) for’ the evildoer. As an alternative, we could read ‘licge’ (‘lies’, as in ‘lies down’) to be an error for ‘leoge’ (‘lies’, as in ‘tells a lie’), giving us the sense that the lord lies for the culprit, in other words, he defends a guilty man who is under his jurisdiction.

104 Alluding to the importance of the lord regularly holding court.

105 ‘the other’, here, is referring back to the lord of the previous sentence who stands up for one of his guilty men.

106 In the sense of refusing to bring the criminal to justice.

107 It is unclear what happens to the slave.

108 The lord must pay a penalty fine equivalent to his own wergild – a slave would not have a wergild.

109 DOE also suggests cyric-bryce could perhaps also mean ‘sacrilege in a wider sense’.

110 Here referring to pre-existing laws, specifically, it would seem, to the laws of Alfred which state that if one steals anything in church one would pay compensation and a fine, and lose one’s hand; see Whitelock, p. 418, n. 3.

111 Other uses of lyblac ‘sorcery’ in Old English texts point to acts that cause harm; Bosworth & Toller define it as ‘the art of using drugs or potions for the purpose of poisoning, or for magical purposes’, bosworthtoller.com/21921 [accessed 12 February 2023].

112 The ‘murders’ here are, contextually, associated with the foregoing ‘witchcrafts’ and ‘sorceries’ and so may perhaps best be understood as surreptitious killings. Note that Whitelock (p. 418) gives ‘secret attempts on life’ and observes (p. 418, n. 4), ‘literally, “murders”. Open killing was not regarded as murder in Anglo-Saxon law.’

113 Presumably meaning that those accused of arson or who avenge a thief should face the threefold ordeal.

114 Or ‘simple ordeal’. The ‘single ordeal’, in the context of the ordeal by hot iron, refers to the one pound weight of the hot iron, as opposed to the three pound weight of the ‘threefold ordeal’.

115 In the sense of ‘if he should return to his family’, his kin group in the shire from where he originated.

116 Presumably, ‘there’ refers to ‘another shire’ in the earlier clause. Thus the one who takes in the returning landless relative, if it turns out they have committed an offence in the other shire, must be prepared to either take him back to face justice or pay the compensation on his behalf.

117 A more modern legal term would be ‘attachment’.

118 DOE, folc-riht 1, ‘public law, customary law’.

119 This is referring to the one who is accused of stealing the property.

120 More literally, ‘without the number-oath [OE rim-að]’, that is, the oath of the whole number of support witnesses.

121 DOE cyre-āþ, ‘selected oath, an oath sworn by an accused man and a selection of oath-takers nominated by the judge or the adversary of the accused man, in contrast to an oath butan cyre’; cyre A.1.a, ‘butan cyre “without selection (of the oath-takers by the judge or adversary)”’.

122 Or, ‘lord of the estate’, Whitelock, p. 419; i.e. the lord of the persons wishing to make the exchange.

123 This relates the circumstance of contested guilt after a person has been slain as a thief; the demand of the family members would be for the slain person’s wergild. Most likely this is the context where the victims of theft acted in vengeance against the thief, as they had the right to do if he was caught in the act, but where the family of the thief contest the guilt and provide three family members as compurgators and testify to his innocence.

124 Following Liebermann, who reads ‘they’ as the party who has slain the man, whereas Whitelock suggests it could possibly mean that the family of the slain person must prove him to be liable to be paid for, which I personally find too awkward; see Whitelock, p. 419, ns. 3 and 4.

125 OE port has the sense in this context of a town with market rights, perhaps one with a harbour; see Clark Hall, port.

126 Or, ‘port-reeve’.

127 OE gang-dæg, literally ‘walking day’, in the plural meaning Rogationtide, the three days preceding the Feast of the Ascension. Rogationtide in the early medieval period was associated with penance and prayer but also the blessing of crops and the local community by clergy, who would lead the laity in a procession around the landscape, walking barefoot and holding relics, crosses and holy books. There is evidence for less sombre celebrations among the laity: games, huge feasts and even horse-racing. For more information, see Gittos, pp. 134-39.

128 Literally, ‘mint-smithy’. Presumably, the hand would stand as a visible sign to all in the community that the particular metalworker responsible for illegal minting was dishonest.

129 Here, the order is confusing but it seems logical that the accusation and ordeal take place before guilt is established and the minter loses his hand. The redemption of his hand is therefore the saving of his hand.

130 The meaning of the Old English is not entirely clear. Liebermann in his German translation gives a ‘probable’ reading meaning ‘that everyone who owns a plough should keep 2 mounted men/warriors’; see Lieberman, p. 159 [accessed 24 February 2023]. Similarly, Whitelock, p. 420 and n. 3, translates it as ‘every man is to have two well-mounted men for every plough’ and notes that ‘If this refers to military service, the demand is much heavier than in later times, when there is some evidence that one man went from five hides.’ On balance, this probably does relate to the obligation of lords, who hold plough-lands, to provide horsemen to the king.

131 Walter Gilbey (1831-1914), a well-known horse-breeder of the Victorian period, offers his perspective on Æthelstan’s forbidding of the export of horses in his work Horses Past and Present (available online as a Project Gutenberg EBook): King Athelstan (925-940) is entitled to special mention, for it was he who passed the first of a long series of laws by which the export of horses was forbidden. Athelstan's law assigns no reason for this step; but the only possible motive for such a law must have been to check the trade which the high qualities of English-bred horses had brought into existence. At no period of our history have we possessed more horses than would supply our requirements, and Athelstan's prohibition of the export of horses beyond sea, unless they were sent as gifts, was undoubtedly due to a growing demand which threatened to produce scarcity. This king saw no objection to the importation of horses: he accepted several as gifts from Continental Sovereigns, and evidently attached much value to them, for in his will he made certain bequests of white horses and others which had been given him by Saxon friends.

132 The responsibility for recompensing the victim of theft with the market value of the stolen goods lay with the slave’s owner, though other early English laws suggest slaves themselves may have had personal money, in which case we may assume that this money would be used first. This payment may be read as additional to returning the goods.

133 This is alluding to the fine that goes into the public coffers; it is in addition to recompensing the victim of the theft. The slave’s owner is responsible for this.

134 Likely with the sense that he will be imprisoned if no-one stands surety for him; see the next law, below.

135 DOE gives for friþian ‘to be at peace with, protect, preserve, defend’; so the sense here appears to be that all should defend and uphold the king’s position in a judicial matter.

136 This appears to relate to someone interceding (see þingian in Bosworth Toller) in order to settle a dispute relating to theft; that is, the trial by ordeal does not take place because the intercessor is able to get the accused/thief and the accuser/victim to reach a settlement, though this settlement has to be based on the true value of the goods, not on the payment of a fine (which may be of less value), unless the accuser/victim grants the latter. This intercession thus guarantees that the accused/thief is spared the horror of the ordeal – which at any rate may well lead to a monetary penalty – and the accuser/victim obtains recompense.

137 OE husel survives in the archaic housel, meaning the administering and/or receiving of the Eucharist, i.e. holy communion.

138 ‘oþre healfe’, ‘one and a half’, following Whitelock, p. 421. An ell was a measurement for cloth in the late medieval period, ‘generally containing 45 inches (1.143m)’ according to A Dictionary of Weights and Measurements for the British Isles: The Middle Ages To the Twentieth Century, ed. Ronald E. Zupko (American Philosophical Society, 1985), p. 119.

139 The hand is bound after the ordeal of carrying the hot iron bar. It is then inspected three days later: if it is not infected, the person is deemed without guilt; if it is infected, guilt is established.

140 Literally, ‘of both hands’; Whitelock, p. 421, gives ‘of both parties’; it would seem, however, that the phrase alludes to the practice of the advocates of both the accused and the accuser physically lining up on the left-hand and right-hand sides inside the church, where the ordeal takes place; see by way of comparison, the instructions in the law known as Ordal.

141 The context appears to be where an accusation is made, subsequent to the sale, that the goods (quite possibly referring to livestock) were stolen, and the buyer then has to vouch that he bought them in good faith; and due to the fact that the sale was witnessed by an official, the buyer can return the goods and the seller is obliged to take them back. Thus the person unwittingly buying stolen goods is saved from being accused.

142 That a seller or buyer – which is not clear – may be a slave seems to imply that a slave, perhaps on behalf of his lord, may have been involved in the process of selling and/or buying.

143 The ‘this’ appears to refer to the upholding of the entire set of laws of the Grately code, rather than just the preceding law of Sunday trading; see the reference to those who deviate from ‘these laws’ (OE ‘ðissa gerædnesse’), which follows shortly after.

144 ‘district’, OE folgoþ; Whitelock, p. 421, gives ‘diocese’.

145 ‘die’, more literally, ‘go forth’.

146 ‘confession-shire’, a literal translation of ‘scrift-scire’; Francesca Tinti (Tinti, p. 34) explains that ‘the use of the term scriftscir indicates the importance of confession’ in defining the territories over which a church holds spiritual jurisdiction.

147 In other words, the oath-breaker may pay a monetary payment in lieu of an act of penance, the amount being determined by the bishop.

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.

Thought to be the earliest of the anonymous Old English law codes,¹ this text concerns the judicial process for those accused of arson or murder,² and it relates some of the particulars of trial by ordeal.³

It is this brief law that enables us to understand that a ‘threefold’ ordeal of iron, referred to elsewhere in the Old English laws (see, for example, Æthelstan’s Grately Code), involved increasing threefold the weight of the iron bar, to be carried by the accused, from one to three pounds. In another anonymous law, known as Ordal,⁴ we learn that the iron bar was heated upon coals and was carried by the accused for a measurement of nine of his, or her, feet.

This text is also important for showing that the crimes of arson and murder required greater support of one’s oath – the declaration of one’s innocence – if the accused were to escape the ordeal. The deepening of one’s oath threefold meant the accused had to find three times the usual number of people to publicly stand as ‘oath-supporters’.

Transcription

31v (select folio number to open facsimile)

_We cwædon be þam blaserum, cxxi⁵
⁊ be þam morþslyhtum, þæt man dypte þone
aþ be þryfealdum, ⁊ myclade þæt ordalysen
þæt hit gewege þry pund, ⁊ eode se man sylf

32r

to þe man tuge, ⁊ hæbbe se teond cyre, swa wæter-
ordal, swa ysenordal, swa hwæþer him leofra
sy. Gif he ðone að forþbringan ne mæg, ⁊
he þonne ful sy, stande on þæra yldesta man-
na dome, hweþer he lif age þe nage, þe to ðære
byrig hyran.

Translation

See Translation Notes

We declared concerning arsonists and concerning murders that one should deepen the oath threefold,⁶ and one should enlarge the ordeal-iron so that it should weigh three pounds, and the person who is the one accused should walk themself;⁷ and the accuser should have the choice, whether the water-ordeal or the iron-ordeal,⁸ whatever is pleasing to him.

If he [the accused] is unable to bring forth the oath,⁹ and he then be guilty [after the ordeal], it should stand on the judgement of the most senior men that belong to the borough court whether he keeps his life or not.

Bibliography

Wormald, Patrick. The Making of English Law: King Alfred to the Twelfth Century (Blackwell, 1999).

Website

Early English Laws, Early English Laws: Home

Footnotes

1 See the introductory comments on the Early English Laws website.

2 Wormald, p. 367, gives ‘underhand killings’.

3 Many thanks to Elise Fleming for kindly proofreading the introduction, translation and notes.

4 Ordal follows this text just a few lines after it finishes, there being the fragmentary text known as Forfang in between the two.

5 The number (121) indicates that this short law is integrated into the law code of King Ine of Wessex (reigned 688-726), which itself is appended to the laws of Alfred the Great (reigned in Wessex 871-899).

6 That is, the accused person must find three times the usual number of people to act as supporters of his oath of denial.

7 OE man signifies a person of either sex. There was to be no representative serving as substitute; the accused person themself had to hold the heated iron and walk the length of the ordeal.

8 It is unclear whether the ‘water-ordeal’ here refers to the so-called ‘hot water’ ordeal (plunging one’s hand or arm into boiling water), described in Ordal, or the so-called ‘cold water’ ordeal (being plunged into a body of water to a certain depth), outlined in Æthelstan’s Grately Code.

9 That is, he is unable to assemble the increased number of oath-supporters.

Forfang: a reward for retrieving stolen property, probably 10th century

Forfang: a reward for retrieving stolen property. Anonymous, probably 2nd quarter of the 10th century. Transcription and translation from Old English of Textus Roffensis folio 32r by Dr Christopher Monk.

The three lines of this fragmentary text is the ‘summary clause’ of an anonymous code known today as Forfang,¹ which deals with the reward for retrieving stolen property, both human (i.e. slaves) and animal (specifically, horses). The Textus Roffensis scribe seems to have been working from a truncated exemplar, so he did not include the remaining text of this law (Wormald, p. 369). In fact, Forfang, a little peculiarly, is presented as if it is the final part of the previous law, which concerns arson and murder (which can be found here).²

The summary clause in isolation is confusing. It begins to make sense once we take into account what it is summarising. The full text of Forfang is found in the manuscript Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, MS 383, at folio 9v, and the late Patrick Wormald’s interpretation of this is as follows:

The gist is that ‘wise men have ordained (witan habbað gerædd)’ that the reward is to be fifteen pence, whether for men (i.e. runaways) or horses, throughout the whole land, regardless of the number of shires traversed in the search. It had once been the case that rewards were proportionate to the distances involved, and paid at the rate of one penny for every shilling’s worth of goods stolen, but it was now thought unfair to burden the ‘small man’ with the cost of an excessive reward as well as extended travel. (Wormald, p. 369.)

The summary clause thus specifies that the reward the owner was to pay the finder for retrieving his stolen goods was now to be fixed at 15 pennies in every case.

Transcription

32r (select folio number to open facsimile)

Forfang ofer eall, sy hit on
anre scipe,³ sy hit on ma, fiftyne peningas,
⁊ æt ælcon smalon orfe, æfre æt scyllinge penig.

Translation

See Translation Notes

The reward everywhere, be it over one shire or more, [shall be] fifteen pennies, and so with the property of any small [man], ever before at one penny [per] one shilling[‘s worth of goods].

Bibliography

Wormald, Patrick. The Making of English Law: King Alfred to the Twelfth Century (Blackwell, 1999).

Website

Parker Library On the Web: Manuscripts in the Parker Library at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, Parker Library On the Web Home

Footnotes

1 Many thanks to Elise Fleming for proofreading the introduction, translation and notes.

2 For more on the transmission of Forfang, see Wormald, p. 370.

3 ‘scipe’ is an error for ‘scire’.

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. Translation from Old English of Textus Roffensis folios 92v-93r by Dr Christopher Monk.

This text,¹ found only in Textus Roffensis, is a modification of King Æthelstan’s legislation on the penalties for theft.² It concerns 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.

In his first known pronouncements on theft, recorded in what is known as the Grately Code (issued at Grately, Hampshire, c.926-c.930),³ Æthelstan stated: ‘First, that one should not spare any thief who is caught red-handed, [who is] over 12 years, and [the value is] over eight pennies’.⁴ The modification, made by the king during a meeting with his counsel at Whittlebury,⁵ changes the age to 15 and the property value to 12 pennies.

Legal and cultural context

That thieves caught in the act could legitimately be killed was well established before Æthelstan; however, he insisted ‘on a stricter implementation of existing punishments’, as Tom Lambert notes in his study, Law & Order in Anglo-Saxon England (Lambert, p. 175).

After first granting an amnesty for thieves (seen in the Exeter Code, which also appears in Textus Roffensis), ‘such that those who committed theft could for a specified period compensate their victims without suffering any punishment’, the king, at Thunderfield (Surrey), ushered in what Lambert calls ‘the dawn of a new, distinctly merciless order’ (Lambert, p. 175). The Thunderfield Code states:

And if there is a thief who has committed theft since the council was held at Thunderfield, and is still engaged in thieving, he shall in no way be judged worthy of life, neither by claiming protection nor by making monetary payment, if the charge is truly substantiated against him – whether it is a freeman or a slave, a noble or commoner, or, if it is a woman, whether she is a mistress or maid – whosoever it may be, whether taken in the act or not taken in the act, if it is known for certainty [sic] – that is if he shall not make a statement of denial – or if the charge is proved in the ordeal, or if his guilt becomes known in any other way. (Lambert, pp. 175-76.)

The extension of execution to those not caught in the act was radical. And the removal of protection and monetary compensation was brutal. This is the context, then, in which the Whittlebury modification falls.

Æthelstan’s punishment of those who committed thievery was, indeed, ‘distinctly merciless’. However, we learn from the modification that the king found the execution of persons ‘so young’ – as young as twelve – and for ‘so little’ – as little as eight pennies – just a little uncomfortable. It seemed to him ‘too cruel’, we are told.

Lest, however, we are tempted to think of Æthelstan as a kind-hearted ruler, the modification still allowed for the killing of children younger than fifteen in certain circumstances, namely, where they put up a fight in resisting capture or attempted to flee.

If the child had his life spared, he was either to be imprisoned or his family were to redeem him with the full value of his wergild, that is, the legal price of his life, which was something every free person was granted according to their rank. Unfortunately, should the wergild payment not be forthcoming – perhaps the family could not afford it – then the child had to become enslaved.

Upholding peace

We may wonder why punishment for theft was so disproportionate and brutal. In the broader context of law and order in the centuries before the Norman Conquest of England, the treatment of thievery is a complex subject that merits more than a few sentences. However, we might summarise one key reason for the legislating of harsh punishment for thieves by referring to the final words of this modification law, in which King Æthelstan states: ‘If we uphold it thus, then I trust to God that our peace [‘frið’] will be better than it was before’.

The peace here alluded to might be best understood as communal – ‘our peace’ – the peaceful state of all the people, the whole kingdom. In Anglo-Saxon laws the supressing of theft is closely associated with this peace, as if there were a collective responsibility to remove the tyranny of thieves (see Lambert, pp. 207-210). We may thus read the ‘evermore frightening punishments’ for thieves (Lambert, p. 210) as an attempt at deterrence, and as the king taking the lead in upholding the peace of the kingdom.

At some point in its transmission the modification text was appended to another of Æthelstan’s law codes, also unique to Textus, which was issued at London, sometime after Thunderfield. You will notice that it begins with ‘Twelfthly’, following on from the previous eleven sections in the London Code.

Transcription

92v (select folio number to open facsimile)

_Twelfte, þæt se cyng cwæð nu eft at witlanby-
rig to his witan, ⁊ het cyðan þam arcebiscope be þeo-
drede biscop, þæt him to hreowlic þuhte, þæt man
swa geongne man cwealde oððe eft for swa
lytlan swa he geaxod hæfde, þæt man gehwær dyde. Cwæð þa þæt him þuhte, ⁊ þam þe he hit wiðrædde,
þæt man nænne gingran mann ne sloge þonne xv.
wintre man, buton he hine werian wolde, oððe
fleoge, ⁊ on hand gan nolde, þæt hine man þonne
lede, swa æt maran, swa æt læssan, swa hwæðer
hit þonne wære. ⁊ gif he þonne on hand gan
wille, þonne do hine man on carcern, swa

93r

hit æt greatanlea gecweden wæs, ⁊ hine be þam
ylcan lynige.⁶ Oððe gif he in carcern ne cume,
⁊ man nan næbbe, þæt hi hine niman be his ful-
lan were on borh, þæt he æfre ma ælces yfeles
geswice. Gif seo mægð him ut niman nelle,
ne him on borh gan, þonne swerige he swa him
bisceop tæce, þæt he ælces yfeles geswycan wille,
⁊ stande on þeowete be his were. Gif he þonne
ofer þæt stalie, slea man hine, oððe ho, swa man
þa yldran ær dyde. ⁊ se cyng cwæð eac, þæt
man nænne ne sloge for læssan yrfe þonne
xii. pænigas weorð, buton he fleon wille, oððe hine
werian, þæt man ne wandode þonne þeah hit læsse
wære. Gif we hit þus gehealdað, þonne gely-
fe ic to gode, þæt ure frið bið betera, þonne hit
æror wæs.

Translation

See Translation Notes

Twelfthly, that the king now spoke once more to his council at Whittlebury, and made it known to the archbishop,⁷ through Bishop Theodred,⁸ that to him it seemed too cruel that one so young a person should be slain, or for so little, as he had learned was done everywhere.

He then said that it seemed to him, and to those with whom he had discussed it, that one should not slay a young person less than fifteen years old,⁹ unless he wishes to fight,¹⁰ or flees, and does not wish to submit; in that case one may lay him low,¹¹ whether for a greater or lesser [offence], whichever it then might be.

And if, however, he wishes to submit, then one should put him in prison, as it was agreed at Grately, and, according to the same, let him be redeemed.¹²

Or if he does not go to prison, or none is available,¹³ that they take him under surety of his full wergild,¹⁴ that he for evermore cease from all evil.

If the kindred is unwilling to take him out [from prison], or stand surety for him, then he should swear as the bishop directs him, that he will cease from all evil, and he should stand in slavery for his wergild.¹⁵

If then he should steal after that, one should slay or hang him, as one would do with an older person.

And the king also said that one may not slay anyone for less than property worth 12 pennies; unless he wants to flee, or fight, in which case one should not hesitate, even though it were for less.

If we uphold it thus, then I trust to God that our peace will be better than it was before.

Bibliography

Lambert, Tom, Law & Order in Anglo-Saxon England (Oxford University Press, 2017).

Lapidge et al, The Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England, ed. Michael Lapidge, John Blair, Simon Keynes, and Donald Scragg (Blackwell Publishing, 1999).

Whitelock, Dorothy, English Historical Documents c.500-1042, second edition (Eyre Methuen/Oxford University Press, 1979).

Websites

Early English Laws, Early English Laws: Home.

Bosworth Toller’s Anglo-Saxon Dictionary online, Bosworth-Toller Anglo-Saxon Dictionary online (bosworthtoller.com).

Further reading

Wormald, Patrick, The Making of English Law: King Alfred to the Twelfth Century (Blackwell, 1999).

Footnotes

Use your browsers 'back' button to jump back to the text.

1 Many thanks to Elise Fleming for proofreading the introduction, translation and notes.

2 Æthelstan was regarded as ‘king of the English’ from 927 until his death on 27 October 939. Prior to being king of the unified kingdom of the English, he was recognised as king in Mercia and his brother Ælfweard as king in Wessex, following the death of their father, Edward the Elder on 2 Aug. 924. As Ælfweard did not long survive his father, Æthelstan became king ‘of the Anglo-Saxons’, being consecrated as ‘king of the Anglo-Saxons and of the Danes’ on 4 September 925 (Lapidge et al, p. 514).

3 Whitelock’s date, p. 417.

4 ‘Ærest thæt man ne sparige nænne þeof þe æt hæbbendre handa gefangen sy, ofer xii winter, ⁊ ofer eahta peningas’, Textus Roffensis, folio 33r, opening lines. A full translation of the Grately Code is available on the Textus pages of this website.

5 Whittlebury today is a village in the south of Northamptonshire, close to the border of Buckinghamshire.

6 ‘lynige’ appears to be an error for ‘lysige’, as noted by Felix Liebermann: see Early English Laws: Liebermann edition [accessed 14 December 2022]. The verb, therefore, is lisian ‘to redeem’: see the entry at Bosworth-Toller Anglo-Saxon Dictionary online (bosworthtoller.com) [accessed 14 December 2022].

7 Wulfhelm, the archbishop of Canterbury, was appointed c. 926; his term ran until his death on 12 February 941.

8 Theodred, the bishop of London, was consecrated between 909 and 926; his term ran until his death, which was between 951 and 953.

9 Literally, ‘less than fifteen winters’.

10 Or, ‘defend himself’; Whitelock, p. 427, gives ‘unless he tried to defend himself’.

11 Or, ‘kill him’; Whitelock, p. 427, gives ‘in that case he was to be struck down’.

12 That is, according to the same agreement at Grately.

13 More literally, ‘or/and one has none’.

14 The ‘they’ here refers to those redeeming the criminal; we can presume this typically would have been the child’s parents or other relatives; see the clause that follows. The wergild (Old English wer is an abbreviated form of wergild) was the established monetary value of a free person’s life according to their rank. This amount would have to be paid in order to redeem the criminal.

15 That is, the child must become a slave in lieu of the unforthcoming wergild payment.

Concerning a woman’s betrothal, early 11th century

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

This is a legal formula, probably originally dating to the early eleventh century, that establishes the prenuptial rights of a betrothed woman in England in the decades before the Norman Conquest, including her property entitlement on the death of her husband. It also provides us with insights into the betrothal practices of the period, such as the roles of kinsmen for both the woman and the man; and it addresses the obligation to have a priest present at the marriage, not only in order to bless the union but also to ensure the couple are not too closely related.

Transcription

94v (select folio number to open facsimile)

_Gif man mædan Be wifmannes beweddunge.
oððe wif weddian wille, ⁊ hit swa hire, ⁊ freon-
dan gelicige, ðonne is riht ðæt se brydguma
æfter godes rihte, ⁊ æfter woroldgerysnum
ærest behate, ⁊ on wedde sylle ðam ðe hire
forsprecan synd, þæt he on ða wisan hire ge-
ornige ðet he hy æfter godes rihte healdan
wille swa wær his wif sceal, ⁊ aborgian his frind
ðæt. Æfter ðam is witanne hwam ðæt foster-
lean gebyrige, weddige se brydguma eft þæs,
⁊ hit aborgian his frynd. Ðonne syððan cyþe se
brydguma hwæs he hire geunge wið þam ðet heo
his willan geceose, ⁊ hwæs he hire geunge gif
heo læng sy ðonne he. Gif hit swa geforword bið,
þonne is riht ðæt heo sy healfes yrfes wyrðe, ⁊
ealles gif hy cild gemæne habban bute heo eft
wær ceose, trymme he eal mid wedde þæt þæt
he behate, ⁊ aborgian frynd þæt. Gif hy þonne
ælces þinges sammæle beon, ðonne fon magas
to, ⁊ weddian heora magan to wife, ⁊ to rihtlife
ðam ðe hire girnde, ⁊ for to þam borge se ðe ðæs
weddes waldend sy. Gif hy man ðonne ut of
lande lædan wille on oðres þegnes land, ðonne
bið hire ræd ðæt frynd ða forword habban

95r

ðæt hire man nan woh to ne do. ⁊ gif heo gylt
gewyrce ðæt hy moton beon bote nyhst, gif heo
næfð of hwam heo bete[.]¹ æt þam giftan sceal mæsse-
preost beon mid rihte se sceal mid godes bletsun-
ge heora gesomnunge gederian an ealre gesund-
fulnesse. Wel is eac to warnianne ðæt man
wite ðæt hy ðurh mægsibbe to gelænge ne beon,
ðe læs ðe man eft twæme ðæt man ær awoh
tosomne gedydan.

Translation

See Translation Notes

Concerning a woman’s betrothal.

If one wishes to betroth a maiden or woman,² and it is pleasing to her and her kinsmen,³ then it is right that the [prospective] bridegroom, according to God’s laws and to worldly customs, should first make a promise, and give a pledge to those who are her spokespersons, that he desires her in such a way that he shall keep her as his wife, according to God’s law; and his kinsmen are to stand surety for it.

After that, it is to be known to whom the payment for [her] maintenance belongs:⁴ the bridegroom shall give a pledge as before, and his kinsmen stand surety for it.

Then, afterwards, the bridegroom should declare what he would give her should she accept his wish [to marry her], and what he would give her if she outlives him. If it be agreed upon, then it is right that she be worthy of half the property, and all of it if they have a child together, unless she were to choose another man; he should confirm all that he may promise with a pledge; and his kinsmen will stand surety for it.

If they then be in agreement over all these things, then the kin may take and betroth their kinswoman as wife, and to a lawful life, ⁵ to him who desired her, and he who is head of the betrothal shall be granted the surety payment.

If one should then wish to lead her out of the land into another thegn’s land, then it is advisable that kinsmen obtain for her the assurance that no one will do any harm to her; and, if she should commit a wrong, that they be allowed to substitute for paying compensation, if she does not have anything with which to make compensation.

At the marriage there shall be by law a mass-priest, who shall with God’s blessing join them together in all prosperity. It is also well to take heed that one knows that they are not through kinship too close, lest afterwards one must destroy what previously was wrongfully joined together.

Cited works

DMLBS. Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, available here

DOE. The Dictionary of Old English: A to I; limited free access here

Whitelock, Dorothy, English Historical Documents c.500-1042, second edition (Eyre Methuen/Oxford University Press, 1979).

Footnotes

Use your browsers 'back' button to jump back to the text.

1 Clearly, this is the end of the clause concerning the matter of the bride being taken to a new land. For some reason the scribe has not indicated that a new clause, relating to the marriage ceremony, follows.

2 Implicit, perhaps, is that the ‘woman’ (‘wif’) is a widow; see Whitelock, p. 467.

3 Old English freond, ‘friend’, takes on the sense of ‘kinsman’ in certain contexts. Freond is used in the interlinear gloss of the Lindisfarne Gospels, corresponding to Latin cognatus ‘kinsman or relative by marriage’ (see DOE, frēond, 3; and DMLBS, cognatus, c).

4 The fosterlean, ‘payment for maintenance’ (DOE), appears to refer to a payment by the prospective husband that represents the cost to her parents of bringing up the woman as a child.

5 Whitelock, p. 468, offers ‘in lawful matrimony’.

Donation to Rochester Cathedral of ten yokes of land and a village with rights in meadow, forest, and marsh near Rochester, 855

Æthelwulf of Wessex grants to his minister, Dunn, ten yokes of land and a village, together with rights in meadow, forest, and marsh near Rochester (855). Dunn’s will is added. Translation from Latin of Textus Roffensis, folios 139v-140r by Jacob Scott.

Campbell, no. 23. The text begins with a red display initial ‘I’ and is marked by a large, black cross in the left margin. Dunn’s will begins on 140r with a green display initial ‘I’ is marked by a large, black cross in the left margin. The will is written in Old English.

Transcription

139v (select folio number to open facsimile)

+ In nomine trino
diuino, ego oeðeluulfus rex occidentalium saxonum
necnon et cantuariorum, pro decimatione agrorum quam
deo donante cęteris ministris meis facere de-
creui, tibi dunne ministro meo dabo unam
uillam, quod nos saxonice an haga dicimus in me-
ridię castelli hrobi, et decem iugera a meridia-
no plaga uilluli illius adiacentia, necnon et duo
iugera prati, et x. carros cum siluo honestos
in monte regis, et communionem marisci quę
ad illam uillam antiquitus cum recto pertinebat, et
hoc ipsum tibi ad habendam et possidendam con-
cedendo donamus, et post dies tuos cuicunque
herede tibi placuerit derelinquendam cum ple-
na libertate habeas potestatem. Hanc predictam
donationem et libertatem ego oeðeluulf rex
deo donante perfeci anno dominicę incarnationis
dccclv. indictione iii.a hoc est diuina gratia
largiente qua>ndo< ultra mare romam perrexi, coram
his testibus qui hoc mecum consentiendo subscri-
pserunt. + Ego aeðeluulf rex hanc meam

140r

donationem et libertatem cum signo sanctę crucis christi
roboraui et subscripsi. + Ego ceolnoð archiepiscopus
consensi et subscripsi. + Ego aeðelberht rex con-
sensi et subscripsi. + Ego lullede dux consensi et
subscripsi. + Ego aeðelmod dux consensi et subscri-
psi. + Ego ælfred filius regis consens>i< et subscripsi. + Ego eadred dux consensi et subscripsi. + Ego
æðelric dux consensi et subscripsi. + Ego cineheh
miles consensi et subscripsi. + Ego milred miles con-
sensi et subscripsi. + Ego ceolmund miles con-
sensi et subscripsi. + Ego lulla miles consensi et sub-
scripsi. + Ego æðelred miles consensi et subscri-
psi. + Ego wulflaf miles consensi et subscripsi. + Ego æðelred miles consensi et subscripsi. + Ego
wæhtgar miles consensi et subscripsi. + Ego duduc
miles consensi et subscripsi. + Ego osberht miles
consensi et subscripsi. + Ego sigenoð miles consensi
et subscripsi. + IN nomine domini. Dunn hafað þas boc gesald
his wife ⁊ ðæt land þe þær an gewriten is
an godes ęst, ðæt hio hæbbe hire dæg ⁊ his
bruce, ⁊ efter hire dæge, geselle hit on
ðæs halgan apostoles naman sancte andreas

140v

ðam hirode >in< mid unnan godes ⁊ his ha>l
for unc buta ⁊ ealle uncre eldran butan hi
hit mit unnan hiredes of gan to rihtan gafo-
le swaswa hyt hy geðingian magan, butan ælcen
bræde, oððe beswice,⁊ hy ðonne se hired hit geearnian
mid heora godcundnæsse ofer twelf
monoð, ⁊ stande simle mid cwide seo boc on ðæs
hiredes handa.

Translation

+ In the name of the divine Trinity, I, Æthelwulf, King of the West Saxons as well as of the Kentish, for the tithe of the fields which, by God's grace, I have decreed to give to my other ministers, I will give to you, Dunne, my servant, one village, which we Saxons call "haga," situated to the south of Rochester Castle, and ten acres on the southern side of that village, as well as two acres of meadowland, and ten honorable loads of wood from the forest on the king's mountain, and the shared use of the marshland which has traditionally belonged to that village by right. This gift I grant to you for your possession and enjoyment, and after your days, you shall have the right to bequeath it to any heir of your choosing with full freedom. This donation and freedoms I, King Æthelwulf, with God's help, have completed in the year of the Lord's incarnation 855, in the third indiction. This is by the divine grace that was bestowed upon me when I journeyed beyond the sea to Rome, in the presence of these witnesses who have agreed and subscribed with me. I, King Æthelwulf, have confirmed and subscribed to this gift and freedoms with the sign of the holy cross of Christ.

+ I, Archbishop Ceolnod, agreed and subscribed.

+ I, King Æðelberht, agreed and subscribed.

+ I, Duke Lulled agreed and signed.

+ I, Duke Aeðelmod, agreed and signed.

+ I, Ælfred, son of the king, consented and subscribed.

+ I, Duke Eadred, agreed and signed.

+ I, Duke Edelric, agreed and subscribed.

+ I, Cineheh the knight, agreed and subscribed.

+ I, Milred the knight, agreed and subscribed.

+ I, Ceolmund the knight, agreed and subscribed.

+ I, Lulla the knight, agreed and subscribed.

+ I, Ædelred the knight, agreed and subscribed.

+ I, Wulflaf the knight, agreed and subscribed.

+ I, Ædelred the knight, agreed and subscribed.

+ I, Waehtgar the knight, agreed and subscribed.

+ I, Dudoc the knight, agreed and subscribed.

+ I, Osberht the knight, agreed and subscribed.

+ I, Sigenoð the knight, agreed and subscribed.

In the name of the Lord… his wife ⁊ ðæt land þe þær an gewriten is an godes ęst, ðæt hio hæbbe hire dæg ⁊ his bruce, ⁊ efter hire dæge, geselle hit on ðæs halgan apostoles naman sancte andreas ðam hirode >in< mid unnan godes ⁊ his ha>l gena for unc buta ⁊ ealle uncre eldran butan hi hit mit unnan hiredes of gan to rihtan gafo-le swaswa hyt hy geðingian magan, butan ælcen bræde, oððe beswice, ⁊ hy ðonne se hired hit geearnian mid heora godcundnæsse ofer twelf monoð, ⁊ stande simle mid cwide seo boc on ðæs hiredes handa.

Donation of land to Rochester Cathedral partly within and partly to the north of Rochester, 868

Æthelred I of Wessex grants to Cuthwulf, bishop of Rochester, land partly within and partly to the north of Rochester (868). Translation from Latin of Textus Roffensis, folios 131r-132r by Jacob Scott (pending review).

Campbell, no. 26. Probably genuine, but note Campbell: ‘This charter is of unusual form’. No rubric. The text begins with purple display initial ‘R’ and is marked by a large, black cross in the left margin. The boundaries are written in Old English, beginning on the first line of 141r, marked by a black cross, and continuing for another thirteen lines.

Transcription

140v (select folio number to open facsimile)

+ Regnantem in perpetuum domino deo nostro omnipoten-
ti sabaoth, cui patent cuncta penetra-
lia cordis et corporis, terrestria simul et
caelestia, necnon super aethera regnans in sedibus al-
tissima, et alta omnia sua dicione gubernans, cuius
amore et ęternis premiis ego aeðered rex occi-
dentalium saxonum necnon et cantuariorum, dabo et
concedo amico meo cuðwulfo hrofensis ęcclesię
episcopo aliquam partem terrę iuris mei hoc est in
duo loco, alia in ciuitate dorobroeuia, alia
in aquilone ciuitate marisco et prata longe et
lato alta et aquęflua, usque ad flumine modico
et magno meadowege flumina, uocatus et
ueribracho et fretos circulo et cingulo. In-
cipiunt pellati, pirigfliat, et scipfliat,

141r

pausunt in flumine. + Her sint ða gemæra
oð miadowegan fram dodding hyrnan west
andlanges stræte, ut oð weall ⁊ swa be norðan
wege ut oð liabinges cota, ⁊ swa be liabinges
cotum oð þæt se weall east sciat, ⁊ swa east bin-
nan wealle oð ða miclan gatan angæn dodding
hirnan, ⁊ swa ðanne suð an geriaht fram
ða gatan andlanges weges be eastan ði lande
suð oð doddinghyrnan. Þanne be norðan weal-
le mers ⁊ maeða, oð mediwægan sindan þa gemæra.
Fram miadawegan binnan twam fliatum tiala
sint genemde, pirifliat, ⁊ scipfliot, ða gescea-
dað æt land westan ⁊ eastan oððæt weallfæ-
stenn. Þus >hit< is befangen mid friodome, amen >soð<.
+ Ego æðered rex hęc omnia dabo et concedo cuð-
wulfo meo dilecto fratre et episcopo in sempiternam he-
reditatem sibi habendum et possidendum, feliciterque
in dies eius perfruendum, et post dies eius cuicunque
ei herede placuerit ad derelinquendum liberam
ab omni seruitute >et< regali subiectione liberrima,
quam diu christiana fides in terra serbatur ęternaliter
permaneat, hoc ipsumque omnibus successoribus nostris
in nomine omnipotentis dei obserbare precipimus.
Et si quis hoc serbare uoluerit, seruet eum

141v

omnipotens deus. Si quis uero per tyrannicam potestatem frin-
gere aut minuere uoluerit, sciat se maledi-
ctum esse a christo nisi emendare boluerit deo et ho-
minibus. Manente hac kartula in sua nichilo-
minus firmitate roborata, his testibus consen-
tientibus, quorum hic, illic, nomina infra scripta
sunt, et signo sanctę crucis corroborata.
+ Ego æðered rex confirmationem cum uexillo
sanctę crucis christi corroborabi et subscripsi. + Ego
alhferð episcopus consensi et subscripsi. + Ego heah-
mund episcopus consensi et subscripsi. + Ego wulfhere
dux consensi et subscripsi. + Ego eadred dux con-
sensi et subscripsi. + Ego ælfstan dux consensi
et subscripsi. + Ego wigstan dux consensi et sub-
scripsi. + Ego ælfstan dux consensi et subscripsi.
+ Ego drihtwald dux consensi et subscripsi.
+ Ego ecgbearht minister consensi et subscripsi.
+ Ego beorhtnoð minister consensi et subscripsi.
+ Ego ordulf minister consensi et subscripsi. + Ego
æsca minister consensi et subscripsi. Actum est
autem anno ab incarnatione domini nostri iesu christi
dccclxviii.

Translation

Reigning eternally our Lord God the Almighty of Hosts, to whom all the interior parts of the heart and body, both terrestrial and celestial, as well as over the ether reigning in the highest seats, and governing all high things by his dominion, are revealed to him, by whose love and eternal rewards, I, Æthelred, King of the West Saxons as well as of Kent, will give and grant to my friend Cuðwulf, bishop of the church at Rochester some part of the land of my right, this is in two places, one in the city of Rochester, the other in the north of the city of Marisco[?], and meadows far and wide, high and flowing, as far as the little river and the great meadow rivers, called, and the arm, and the belt, and the girdle. They begin to be driven, to Pirigfliat and Scipfliat, they pause in the river. oð miadowegan fram dodding hyrnan west andlanges stræte, ut oð weall ⁊ swa be norðan wege ut oð liabinges cota, ⁊ swa be liabinges cotum oð þæt se weall east sciat, ⁊ swa east binnan wealle oð ða miclan gatan angæn doddinghirnan, ⁊ swa ðanne suð an geriaht fram ða gatan andlanges weges be eastan ði lande suð oð doddinghyrnan. Þanne be norðan wealle mers ⁊ maeða, oð mediwægan sindan þa gemæra. Fram miadawegan binnan twam fliatum tiala sint genemde, pirifliat, ⁊ scipfliot, ða gesceadað æt land westan ⁊ eastan oððæt weallfæstenn. Þus >hit< is befangen mid friodome, amen >soð<.

+ I, King Ered, will give all this and grant to Cuðwulf, my beloved brother and bishop, to have and possess as an eternal inheritance for himself, and to enjoy it during his days, and after his days to whomsoever he pleases as an heir to leave free from all servitude >and< free from royal subjection, as long as the Christian faith is preserved on earth, may it continue eternally, and this very thing we command all our successors to observe in the name of Almighty God.

And if anyone wants to keep this, let him keep it, Almighty God will keep him. If any one wishes to break or diminish by tyrannical power, let him know that he is cursed by Christ unless he is willing to make amends to God and man. Remaining in this charter, strengthened in its firmness nonetheless, with the consent of these witnesses, whose names here and there are written below, and strengthened with the sign of the holy cross.

+ I, King Ælthelred, with the sign of the holy cross of Christ confirmed and subscribed.

+ I, Bisop Alhferð, agreed and subscribed.

+ I, Bishop Heamund, agreed and subscribed.

+ I, Duke Wulfhere, agreed and subscribed.

+ I, Duke Eadred, agreed and signed.

+ I, Duke Ælfstan, agreed and subscribed.

+ I, Duke Wigstan, agreed and subscribed.

+ I, Duke Ælfstan, agreed and subscribed.

+ I, Duke Drihtwald, agreed and subscribed.

+ I, Ecgbearht the minister, agreed and subscribed.

+ I, Beorhtnoð the minister, agreed and signed.

+ I, Ordulf the minister, agreed and subscribed.

+ I, æsca the minister, agreed and subscribed. Enacted in the year from the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ 868.

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 three sulungs at Cuxton with the church of St Michael (880). Translation from Latin of Textus Roffensis, folios 141v-142v by Jacob Scott (pending review).

Campbell, no. 27. Fraudulent charter. Campbell: ‘This is a very doubtful charter. King Æthelwulf died in 858, but this charter is dated 880, the indiction agreeing. [...] the charter is [...] the work of a reckless compiler, who did not disturb himself to ascertain the dates of a king so well known as Æthelwulf, nor recall that 880 would fall in the reign of Ælfred the Great.’ The text begins with a green display initial ‘R’ and is marked by a black cross in the left margin. ‘ The boundaries, beginning at line six and finishing at line 12 of 142r, are written in Old English mixed with the Latin terms ‘in meridie’ (‘in the south’), ‘In occidente’ (‘in the west’), and ‘In aquilone’ (‘in the north’).

Transcription

141v (select folio number to open facsimile)

De cucolanstane.
+ Regnante in perpetuum domino nostro iesu christo, ego

142r

aeðelulf rex saxonum, dabo pro remedio animae
meę terram ad ęcclesiam sancti andree apostoli christi et
suuiðuulfo episcopo aliquam partem in illo loco quę dicitur
cucolanstan atque ęcclesiam sancte michaelis archan-
geli. Hęc sunt termina trium aratrum circumia-
centia. In oriente miodowæge, in meridie healling
wara mearc up wið halles meres. In occidente
briogoning wara mearc oð norðdune norðan.
In aquilone east and langnes dune oð cinges
mear’, ⁊ ut fram cingesmerce, oð ða aldan
stræt east be ðare aldan stræte oð hlið, ⁊
þanan ut be ðan hliðe oð þa ea medewegan,
ut habeat et possideat et cuicumque uoluerit
illo uiuente seu moriente derelinquat, et post
se tradendum concedamus liueram ab omni seruitu-
te cum omnibus ad eam rite pertinentibus, cum furis
comprehensione et cum omnibus rebus quę ad ęcclesiam
sancte andreę pertinent cum campis siluis pratis pa-
scuis paludis, in minimis et in maximis notis
et ignotis. Si quis uero quod absit heredum successo-
rumque nostrorum donationem immutare aliter uel
minuere studeat, sciat se in primis omnipo-
tentis dei iram incurrere, et uiuentem in hac
uita benedictionem carere, et in nouissimo

142v

maledictione subiacere. Qui uero hęc augenda cu-
stodierit nichilque inrogarit aduersi, sit be-
nedictus in secula seculorum, amen. Scripta est hęc
kartula anno dominicę incarnationis domini nostri
iesu christi dccclxxx. indictione xiii. his testi-
bus consentientibus et subscribentibus quorum
hic nomina infra tenentur ascripta. + Ego
æðelred archiepiscopus cum signo sanctę crucis christi confirma-
ui. + Ego swiðuulf episcopus consensi et subscripsi.
+ Ego æðelwald dux consensi et subscripsi. + Ego beorn-
uulf dux consensi et subscripsi. + Ego ealhmund
miles consensi et subscripsi. + Ego beornuulf miles
consensi et subscripsi. + Ego beorhtuulf miles consen-
si et subscripsi. + Ego deoruulf miles consensi et
subscripsi. + Ego ceolbald miles consensi et subscri-
psi. + Ego ealhhere miregus consensi et subscripsi.
+ Ego deoring miregus consensi et subscripsi. + Ego
beornhelm minister regis consensi et subscripsi.
+ Ego osmund minister regis consensi et subscri-
psi. + Ego beorhtred minister regis consensi
et subscripsi. + Ego noðhelm minister regis
consensi et subscripsi. + Hęc sunt prata æt
cetham duos agros. Æt scite cocce, oðer healf
æcer mæde.

Translation

Concerning Cuxton:

Reigning perpetually, our lord Jesus Christ, I, Æthelwulf, king of the Saxons, will give for the remedy of my soul land to the church of Saint Andrew the Apostle of Christ and to Swithwulf the bishop some part in that place called Cuxton and the Church of Saint Michael the Archangel. These are the boundaries of the three ploughs: In the east miodowæge, in the south Halling wara mearc up wið halles meres. In occidente briogoning wara mearc oð norðdune norðan. In aquilone east and langnes dune oð cinges mear’, ⁊ ut fram cingesmerce, oð ða aldan stræt east be ðare aldan stræte oð hlið, ⁊ þanan ut be ðan hliðe oð þa ea medewegan, that he may have and possess it and leave it to whomsoever he wills, living or dying, and after surrendering himself let us grant freedom from all servitude with all that properly belong to it, with the arrest of thieves and with all things that belong to the church of Saint Andrew with fields, forests, meadows, pastures, marshes, in the least and in the greatest known and unknown. If anyone, who is absent from our heirs and successors, endeavours to change or diminish the gift in any other way, let him know that he will be the first to incur the wrath of Almighty God, and that he will be deprived of a living blessing in this life, and will be subjected to a very new curse. He who shall keep this thing to be increased, and nothing shall be questioned against him, may he be blessed for ever and ever, amen. This letter was written in the year of our Lord Jesus Christ’s Incarnation 880, indictment 13. To these consenting witnesses and subscribers whose names are here below written.

+ I, Archbishop ædelred, confirmed with the sign of the holy cross of Christ. I, Bishop Swiðuulf, agreed and subscribed. I, Duke Edelwald, agreed and subscribed.

+ I, Duke Beornuulf, agreed and subscribed.

+ I, Ealhmund the knight, agreed and subscribed.

+ I, Beornwulf the knight, agreed and subscribed.

+ I, Beorhtwulf the knight, agreed and subscribed.

+ I, Deorwulf the knight, agreed and subscribed.

+ I, Ceobald the knight, agreed and subscribed.

+ I, Ealhhere Miregus, agreed and subscribed.

+ I, Deoring Miregus, agreed and signed.

+ I, Beornhelm the king's minister, agreed and subscribed.

+ I, Osmund, the king's minister, consented and subscribed.

+ I, Beorhtred the king's minister, agreed and subscribed.

+ I, Noðhelm the king's minister, agreed and subscribed. Here are meadows and two fields. And Scite the cook, took care[?]

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.

The authenticity of this charter of King Edmund (or Eadmund) is uncertain. A. Campbell, in his Charters of Rochester, explains its difficulties:

The date clause has been omitted, and the style rex Anglorum necnon et Merciorum [‘king of the English and also/indeed of the Mercians’] can be due only to scribal addition of necnon et Merciorum, because Angli would naturally include Mercii. […] The language and formulae of the charter recall the Rochester charters of the period before 900, and Eadmund’s favourite formulae are not introduced.’ (Campbell, p. xxvi)

Campbell's argument, that the formulation of the charter seems old-fashioned and is lacking in Edmundian characteristics, is well made. If the Textus Roffensis copy does derive from an authentic original, then we would have to agree with Campbell that ‘it is not well preserved’ (Campbell, p. xxvi); it has possibly been corrupted during its transmission, or it may be a copy of a fraudulent charter.

Campbell’s querying of the monarch’s style ‘king of the English and also the Mercians’ needs closer analysis, however, and may be an unnecessary criticism of the charter in view of the history of Edmund’s reign.

Edmund I reigned from 939 to 946. He was ‘king of the English’ on succeeding his half-brother, King Æthelstan, as king of all England.¹ However, by the end of his first year, he lost Northumbria and part of Mercia. He reconquered Mercia in 942 and Northumbria in 944 (Lapidge et al, p. 159). We should, I suggest, interpret necnon, in relation to the Mercians, as the emphatic ‘and indeed’; and thus we might understand that Eadmund, via his scribe, is emphasising the recent reconquering of Mercia: I am in fact the king of the Mercians, we might be hearing him say.

The boundary clause, with its appended list of seven swine pastures, is written in Old English, as is typical of charters of the period. The gifted three ‘ploughs’, or ‘ploughlands’, best understood as not simply a measurement of land but a unit of land used to calculate taxation, relate to an area around the modern-day market town of West Malling, south-west of Rochester. Some of the place-names of the boundary clause can be identified; several of the swine-pastures, however, cannot be pinpointed with accuracy. Unidentified place-names appear in italics in the translation; and some of the more obscure ones have also not been transliterated into modern English.

Transcription

143r (select folio number to open facsimile)

+ IN nomine dei summi, De meallingas.
et saluatoris nostri iesu christi, ipso quoque in perpe-
tuo regnante disponenteque suauiter omnia. Quapropter ego eadmundus rex anglorum necnon
et merciorum, meo amabili episcopo nomine burhric,
concedo aliquantulum mei telluris, ubi dicitur
meallingas, trium uidelicet aratrum pro reme-
dio animę meę in sempiternam hereditatem,
ad augmentum monasterii eius quę est dedica-
ta in honore sancti andreę apostoli germanus petri,
et socius in passione, cum omnibus rebus ad eam per-
tinentibus cum campis, siluis, pratis, pascuis,
necne et aucupiis, et hoc quoque cum consilio
optimatum et principum meorum quorum nomina
infra scripta reperiuntur. Vnde adiuro in no-
mine domini dei nostri iesu christi qui est omnium iustus
iudex, ut terra hęc sit libera ab omni regali ser-
uitio in perpetuum. Si quis uero minuere uel frau-
dare presumpserit hanc donationem, sit separatus
a consortio sanctorum, ita ut uiuens benedictione
dei sit priuatus, et sit damnatus in inferno in-
feriori, nisi satisfactione ante eius obitum
emendauerit quod inique gessit, manente tamen

143v

hac cartula nichilominus in sua firmitate. Qui
uero tunc augere uoluerit dona nostra, augeat
illi dominus cęlestia dona, et ęternam uitam tribuat. Ðis syndon ða landgemæro ðæs bufan cwede-
nan landes. Ærest on suð healfe oð cincges
firhðe, of cincges fyrhðe on offahames ge-
mære, ðanan on here-stræt, andlang stræte
ofer lylleburnan oð east meallinga gemære,
⁊ swa riht suð be eastan ðam cwyllan² oð þa
wyde stræte, suð andlang stræte on geriht
oð cincges fyrhðe. Ðænne syndon þis ða den-
bæro, east lindrhecg,³ ⁊ otanhyrst, >xxx porci<⁴ ⁊ fræcincg-
-hyrst, ⁊ sceorfestede, xxx porci. ⁊ wihtherincg-
faladsto, gafol, ⁊ holanspic, >xxx borda<⁵ ⁊ pætlanhrycg.
+ Ego eadmundus rex anglorum signo crucis con-
firmaui. + Ego eadred frater regis roboraui. + Ego
eadgife mater regis adfui. + Ego oda archiepiscopus
subscripsi. + Ego ælfeh episcopus consensi. + Ego
ðeodred episcopus. + Ego wulfstan archiepiscopus.
+ Cenwald episcopus. + Ego ælfred episcopus. + Ego ælfric
episcopus. + Ego æthelgar episcopus. + Ego ælfgifu con-
cubina regis affui. >+ Wulfgar dux. + Æðelstan dux.<⁶ + Eadmund dux. + scula
dux. + Sigferð minister. + Wulfric minister. + Ealdred
minister. + Ælfstan minister. + Ordeah minister. + Eadwerd

144r

minister. + Wulfric minister. + Odda minister. + Ælla minister. + Ælf-
gar minister. + Osferð dux. + Wihtgar minister. + Wulf-
sige minister. + Birhtwald minister.

Translation

Concerning Malling:

In the name of the supreme God, and of our saviour Jesus Christ, he who also in perpetuity is reigning and ordaining all things sweetly .

Therefore, I, Edmund, king of the English and also the Mercians, to my beloved bishop named Burhric,⁷ grant a portion of my land, which is called Malling, that is to say three ploughs,⁸ for the deliverance of my soul into an everlasting inheritance, for the enlarging of his monastery which is dedicated in honour of Saint Andrew the Apostle, the brother of Peter, and companion in [Christ’s] Passion, with all things pertaining to it, fields, woods, meadows, pastures and also fowling,⁹ and this also with the counsel of my nobles and leaders whose names are found written below. Wherefore I swear in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the just judge of all, that this land may be free from all royal servitude in perpetuity. Moreover, if anyone presumes5 to diminish or defraud this gift, let him be separated from the company of the saints, so that he may be deprived of the blessing of God while alive, and be damned in hell below, unless through penance before his death he has made amends¹⁰ for what he has done unjustly, abiding yet, nonetheless, by this charter in its validity. Whoever, in truth, then wishes¹¹ to increase our gifts, may the Lord increase his heavenly gifts and grant him eternal life.

These are the boundaries of the above-mentioned lands. First, on the south side as far as King’s Wood,¹² from King’s Wood to the Offham boundary, then onto High Street,¹³ along this street over the Leybourne¹⁴ as far as the East Malling boundary; and so due south, with the well/spring to the east,¹⁵ as far as the wide street, south along this street right on as far as King’s Wood. Then, these are the swine-pastures:¹⁶ East Lindridge and Otanhurst,¹⁷ 30 pigs;¹⁸ and Fræcincghyrst¹⁹ and Sceorfestede,²⁰ 30 pigs; and Wihtherincgfaladsto, gavel,²¹ and Holanspic, a herd of 30,²² and Petteridge.²³

I, Edmund, King of the English, with the sign of the cross made confirmation.

+ I, Eadred,²⁴ brother of the King, made ratification.

+ I, Eadgifu,²⁵ mother of the king, was present.

+ I, Archbishop Oda,²⁶ signed to confirm.

I, Bishop Ælfheah,²⁷ agreed.

I, Bishop Đeodred.²⁸

+ I, Archbishop Wulfstan.²⁹

+ I, Bishop Cenwald.³⁰

+ I, Bishop Ælfred.³¹

+ I, Bishop Ælfric.³²

+ I, Bishop Æthelgar.³³

+ I, Ælfgifu,³⁴ [queen] consort of the King.

+ Wulfgar, duke.

+ Æthelstan, duke.

+ Eadmund, duke.

+ Scula, duke.

+ Sigferð, minister.

+ Wulfric, minister.

+ Ealdred, minister.

+ Ælfstan, minister.

+ Ordeah, minister.

+ Eadwerd, minister.

+ Wulfric, minister.

+ Odda, minister.

+Ælla, minister.

+ Ælfgar, minister.

+ Osferð, duke.

+ Wihtgar, minister.

+ Wulfsige, minister.

+ Birhtwald, minister.

Cited works

Campbell, A., Charters of Rochester (Oxford University Press, 1973).

Corèdon, Christopher with Ann Williams, A Dictionary of Medieval Terms and Phrases (D. S. Brewer, 2004).

Glover, Judith, The Place Names of Kent (B. T. Batsford Ltd, 1976).

Lapidge, Michael, John Blair, Simon Keynes and Donald Scragg (eds.), The Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England (Blackwell Publishing, 1999).

Sinclair Williams, C. L., 'The cwylla of King Edmund's West Malling Charter', Archaeologia Cantiana 89 (1974), pp. 135–39, available here

Whitehead, Annie, Women of Power in Anglo-Saxon England (Pen & Sword History, 2020).

Footnotes

1 Æthelstan reigned as ‘king of the Anglo-Saxons’ from 924/5 to 927, and as ‘king of the English’ from 927 to his death in 939; see ‘Athelstan’ in Lapidge, p. 16.

2 For a discussion of the boundary and particularly its reference to cwylla, see Sinclair Williams.

3 There is a scribal alteration of the spelling: from ‘lindrhycg’ to ‘lindrhecg’.

4 The scribe, probably the main scribe, has written ‘xxx p’ above ‘⁊ otanhyrst’.

5 The scribe, probably the main scribe, has written ‘xxx borda’ above ‘holanspic’.

6 The scribe provides an insertion mark after ‘affui.’ and a corresponding mark in the bottom margin followed by ‘+ Wulfgar dux. + Æðelstan dux.’.

7 Burhric (or, Burgric), bishop of Rochester, c. 933/934-c.946-964.

8 Or, ‘ploughlands’.

9 Fowling, that is, land for and the right to hunt game birds. Implicit with the mention of the other types of land is the granting of rights associated with the lands, for example, the rights to gather fuel for wood and take timber, and the right to pasture animals.

10 Or ‘will have presumed’, translating ‘presumpserit’ in the next line.

11 Or, ‘will have made amends’.

12 Or, ‘will have wished’.

13 Or ‘the king’s wood’. This is not the Kingswood east of Maidstone, which is too far away from Malling.

14 Or, ‘the highway’; Sinclair Williams prefers ‘Army street’: see Sinclair Williams, p. 136, and n. 7.

15 Leybourne, here, seems to refer to the name of the stream that runs between West Malling and the village of Leybourne; see Sinclair Williams, and Glover, p. 117.

16 Sinclair Williams (p. 138) identifies the cwylla of the charter with a pond just east of the boundary between West Malling and East Malling.

17 On the swine pastures in Rochester’s charters, including those named in this particular charter, see Campbell, pp. xvii-xix.

18 The ‘-hyrst’ element of the name means ‘wood’. The archaic English hurst, deriving from the Old English, means a wooded rise or hillock.

19 ‘30 pigs’, meaning the swine-pasture is sufficient for 30 pigs. The same number of pigs is stipulated for some of the other swine-pastures, below.

20 This may correspond to the modern place-name Frenchhurst; see Glover, pp. 75-6.

21 The ‘-stede’ element of the name has the sense of an occupied place; stede survives in the modern English word ‘farmstead’.

22 Old English gafol (‘gavel’), broadly meaning ‘rent’, may here be short for gafol-land and as such refer to the Kentish form of land tenure known as gavelkind, for which rent was paid rather than service due; see ‘Gavelkind’ in Corèdon. See also Campbell, p. 34, n.1; Campbell implies an amount for the rent may have been inserted at some point in the charter’s transmission history.

23 I’ve tentatively translated ‘xxx borda’ as ’a herd of 30 (pigs)’. The meaning of ‘borda’ is unclear; it is likely an error of transmission; Campbell suggests it is an error for hiorda, a Kentish variant of heord meaning ‘herd’. The intended meaning of sufficient pasture for a herd of 30 pigs seems most likely.

24 Literally, ‘Pætla’s ridge’; see Glover, p. 147. A different hand has written ‘pechelinge recg’ above.

25 The future King Eadred, king of the English from 946 to 955.

26 Eadgifu’s landed power and role in royal politics is notable; her story is opened up in Whitehead, esp. pp. 76-83.

27 Archbishop of Canterbury, 942-58.

28 Bishop of Winchester, 934-51.

29 Bishop of London, c.915-c.960.

30 Archbishop of York, 931-56.

31 Aka as Coenwald, bishop of Worcester, 929-57.

32 Or Alfred; most probably bishop of Selsey, appointed between 940 and 943 and died between 953 and 956.

33 Most probably bishop of Hereford, appointed either 934 or between 937 and 940 and died either between 949 and 958 or in 971.

34 Bishop of Crediton, 934-53.

35 The first wife of Edmund, died 944.

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). Notes on Textus Roffensis, folios 150r-152r by Dr Christopher Monk with a translation from Latin by Jacob Scott (pending review).

Campbell, no. 29. This is a copy of the extant, tenth-century document, British Library, Cotton Charters, viii. 33.

A description of the places to which the charter relates is written in Old English, beginning on 151r, fourth line before the rubric; and the boundaries are also written in Old English following the rubric, ‘Istis terminibus circumgirata est terra suprascripta & multis nota’, starting with the last word on 151r (‘Þis’, with a red Þ) over to 151v, line 9.

This charter, the Edgar charter, is one of several relating to the estate of Bromley, which was granted, according to another Rochester charter (not actually copied into the TR cartulary), by Æthelberht III to his servant Dryhtwald in 862. The monks of Rochester challenged this in a lawsuit. This Edgar charter aims to record the success of the suit, to ‘strengthen the claim of the priory to Bromley and the other estates involved’ (Campbell, p. xxiv).

Campbell (p. xxv) describes the original compiler (not the TR scribe-copyist) of this retrospective record as incompetent. The document is dated 955 even though Edgar did not become king until 959. The list of signatures points to 973. Campbell further suggests that the original Edgar charter dates to 980-987.

Transcription

150r (select folio number to open facsimile)

De bromleage;

150v

+ In nomine regnantis in perpetuum domini nostri iesu
christi. Ego Eadgar rex anglorum cęterarumque gen-
tium, considerans et recolens quod etiam uas
electionis ueracissimis innotuit uerbis, quod
in nouissimis temporibus instarent tempora peri-
culosa. Iccirco unus quisque de semetipso plenius
poterit agnoscere quod quanto quis in hoc terreno
habitaculo longiorem protraxerit uitam,
tanto ueraciora esse omnia quę olim antiqui
uates diuinitus edocti, implenda esse predixe-
runt. Quod cernens ego necessarium duxi,
ut per intercessionem plurimorum pro uenia delictorum
meorum et requie ęterna adipiscenda animae
meę aliquid ex eis quę michi largitor bonorum christus
dominus donare dignatus est, hoc est decem man-
sas, quod cantigene dicunt x. sulunga, in
illo loco ubi iam dudum solicole illius regionis
nomen imposuerunt, æt bromleage, tibi uenerabili
apostolo christi, sancto andreę, et pro placabili
pecunia ælfstani antistitis ęclesię hrofensi
concedo, cum omnibus utensilibus quę deus cęlorum
in ipso telluris gramine creauit, tam in no-
tis causis et ignotis, in modicis et in ma-
gnis, campis, pascuis, pratis, siluis, siluarumque

151r

densitatibus, donans donabo libertatem, pręter ex-
peditione, et pontis, arcisue instructione,
quia tanti pretii emptum est suprascripta terra,
octuaginta mancusis auri purissimi, et sex
pondus electi argenti. Et insuper dona meo
prefecto uulfstano donando auxit xxx. man-
cusas auri, ut fixa et immobilis permaneat
sempiternaliter nostra donatio. Ita adiuro in no-
mine domini dei nostri iesu christi qui est omnium iu-
dex iustus ut nec michi nec alicui successorum
meorum regum seu cuiuslibet dignitatis, aliquid
fraudare uel minuere, sed absque aliqua re-
tractione inlesa iugiter permaneat sine fine.
Si quis autem propria temeritate uiolenter inuade-
re presumpserit, sciat se proculdubio ante tri-
bunal districti iudicis titubantem treme-
bundumque rationem redditurum, nisi prius
digna satisfactione emendare maluerit.
Hęc utilitas siluarum ad eandem terram pertinet
in andredre, billanoran, belindhyrste, ⁊ on
glæppanfelda, scearndæn, ⁊ þar rihte wið
þornden, ⁊ broccesham be eastan ea, ⁊ tannera
hole, ⁊ trindhyrst. Istis terminibus circum-
girata est terra suprascripta et multis nota. Þis

151v

synt þara tyn sulunga land gemæro to bromleage.
Ærest on eastan cysel hyrstes gemæro,
þonne on croptunes gemæro, þonne þanon
on ruge beorges gemæro, þonne on suð healfe,
cysse stanes gemæro forð be weard setlan, þonne
be westan wichammes gemæru, ⁊ beohha hammes
gemæru, þonne be norðan beringa hammes
gemæru, ⁊ modingahammes gemæro, ⁊ þonon
eft east on cinges gemæro, þæt on cysel hyrst.
Acta est hęc prefata donatio, anno ab incarnati-
one domini nostri iesu christi dcccc.mo l.mo v.to indictione
uero nouem. + Ego eadgar rex anglorum sub si-
gillo sanctę >+< crucis corroboraui. + Ego dunstan
dorobernensis ęcclesię archiepiscopus >+< crucis christi
conclusi. + Ego ælfþryþ mater regis predictum
donum confirmaui. + Ego oswald archiepiscopus e-
borace ciuitatis >+< crucis christi impressi. + Ego
aþelwold wintaniensis ęcclesię episcopus subscripsi
et confirmaui. + Ego ælfstan lundoniensis
ęcclesię episcopus corroboraui. + Ego ælfstan episcopus con-
signaui.+ Ego eadelm episcopus consensi et subscri-
psi. + Ego sydemann episcopus conclusi. + Ego alfold
episcopus corroboraui. + Ego bryhtelm episcopus roboraui.
+ Ego byrhtferð minister. + Ego æþelweard

152r

minister. + Ego ælfwerd minister. + Ego æþel-
mær minister. + Ego ælfsige the minister. + Ego
wulfstan minister. + Ego ælfric minister.
+ Ego ælfheah minister. + Ego ealdred mini-
ster. + Ego leofstan minister. + Ego ælfhere
dux. + Ego æþelstan dux. + Ego æþelwine dux.
+ Ego byrhtnoð dux. + Ego ordgar dux. + Ego
ælfric minister. + Ego alfwold minister. + Ego
wulfsige minister. + Ego sigred minister. + Ego
eadelm minister.

Translation

Concerning Bromley:

+ In the forever-reigning name of our Lord Jesus Christ. I, Eadgar, king of the English and other nations, considering and recalling that even in the most sincere words of his choice, he informed us, that in the most recent times perilous times would arise. In this way each one of himself will be able to recognize more fully that the longer he has lived in this earthly abode, the more true will be the fulfilment of all that was once taught by the ancient sages of the gods. Seeing that I thought it necessary, that through the intercession of many, for the atonement of my offenses and the eternal rest of my soul, I might obtain some of those things which Christ the Lord, the benefactor of good things, has deigned to bestow on me, this is ten mansas, which cantigenes say 10 sulungs, in that place where they have long ago imposed the name of that region, at Bromley, I grant to you the venerable apostle of Christ, Saint Andrew, and for the pacifying money of Ælfstan the antistite of the church of Rochester, with all the utilities which the god of the heavens created in the very grass of the earth, as well as in the known for causes and unknown, in small and great, fields, pastures, meadows, forests, and thickets of thickets, I will give freedom, besides the expedition, and the bridge, and the instruction of the castle, because the above-mentioned land was bought for such a price, eighty mancuses of the purest gold, and six weight chosen silver And besides, by giving gifts to my prefect, Uulfstan, he increased by 30 gold bars, so that our gift may continue forever fixed and immovable. Thus I adjure in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the just judge of all, that neither I nor any of my successors, kings, or of any rank, shall cheat or diminish anything, but without any retraction it shall continue unharmed forever and without end.

But if any one, through his own rashness, presumes to encroach violently, let him know that he will doubtless give a trembling account before the tribunal of the district judge, unless he first prefers to make amends with a worthy satisfaction. This utility of forests belongs to the same land in andredre, billanoran, belindhyrste glæppanfelda, scearndæn, ⁊ þar rihte wið þornden, ⁊ broccesham be eastan ea, ⁊ tannera hole, ⁊ trindhyrst.

The above-mentioned land is surrounded by these borders and is known to many:

This synt þara tyn sulunga land gemæro to bromleage. Ærest on eastan cysel hyrstes gemæro, þonne on croptunes gemæro, þonne þanon on ruge beorges gemæro, þonne on suð healfe, cysse stanes gemæro forð be weard setlan, þonne be westan wichammes gemæru, ⁊ beohha hammes gemæru, þonne be norðan beringa hammes gemæru, ⁊ modingahammes gemæro, ⁊ þonon eft east on cinges gemæro, þæt on cysel hyrst. This aforesaid donation took place, in the year from the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ 900, in the first, fifth indiction in the new[?].

+ I, Eadgar, king of the English, strengthened under the seal of the holy >+< cross.

+ I, Dunstan, Archbishop of the Church of Canterbury >+< confirmed with the cross of Christ.

+ I, Ælfþryþ, mother of the king, confirmed the aforesaid gift.

+ I, Oswald the archbishop of the city of York >+< impressed with the cross of Christ.

+ I, Aþelwold, Bishop of the Church of Wintani, subscribed and confirmed it.

+ I, Ælfstan, Bishop of the Church of London, confirmed.

+ I, Bishop Ælfstan, subscribed.

+ I, Bishop Eadelm, agreed and subscribed.

+ I, Bishop Sydemann, confirmed.

+ I, Bishop Alfold, confirmed.

+ I, Bishop Bryhtelm, confirmed.

+ I, Byrhtferð the minister

+ I, Æþelweard the minister.

+ I, Ælfwerd the minister.

+ I, Æþelmær minister

+ I, Ælfsige the minister.

+ I, Wulfstan the minister.

+ I, Ælfric the minister.

I, Ælfheah the minister.

+ I, Ealdred the minister.

+ I, Leofstan minister.

+ I, Duke Ælfhere.

+ I, Duke Æþelstan.

+ I, Duke Eþelwine,

+ I, Duke Byrhtnoð.

+ I, Duke Ordgar.

+ I, Ælfric the minister.

+ I, Alfwold the minister

+ I, Wulfsige the minister

+ I, Sigred the minister

+ I, Eadelm the minister.

Three sulungs and a fourth at Bromhey with a fishery and swine-pastures, 801

Coenwulf of Mercia and Cuthred of Kent grant to Swithun, minister, for his good service and his money, three sulungs and a fourth one nearby at Bromhey, with the use of a fishery and four swine-pastures (801). A note of Swithun’s bequest of the land to St Andrew’s follows. Translation from Latin of Textus Roffensis, folios 135v-136v by Jacob Scott (pending review).

Campbell, no. 16. On 135v several words have been underlined in a fainter, brown ink. At 136r there is the annotation ‘bocland’ (‘bookland’) in the right margin, written in a later hand.

Transcription

135v (select folio number to open facsimile)

+ Regnante et adiuuante nos deo et domino nostro
iesu christo, ego coenuulfus gratia dei rex
merciorum, anno v.o imperii nostri, una cum
fratre meo cuðredo rege scilicet cantua-
riorum, dabo in perpetuam possessionem suiðhune
nostro in commune ministro modicam telluris por-
tionem trium scilicet aratrorum ubi nominatur
aet bromgehaege in prouincia cantię, et unius
aratri adiacentem altera terra quod uocatur aeðiluul-
fing lond adiecto uno piscatorio on tæmise
flumine ubi dicitur fiscnæs, adiectis iiii. denbe-
ris in commune saltu id est on cæster sæta walda,
his locis aet otan sihtre, ⁊ aet crangabyrum,
⁊ aet frecinghyrte, ⁊ aet haeseldenne predicto
uiro uel eius posteris sub perpetua libertate
concedimus cum omnibus ad se pertinentibus rebus

136r

pro eius beneplacabile pecunia simul et deuoti fa-
mulatus sui parientia, ut habeat et posside-
at quam diu uiuat, et post se cui uoluerit re-
linquat in sempiternam possessionem eo uideli-
cet iure si ipse nobis et optimatibus nostris fide-
lis manserit minister, et inconuulsus amicus.
+ Ego coenuulfus rex donationem meam signo
crucis confirmo. + Signum manus cuðredi re-
gis cantuariorum. + Signum manus ceolberhti du-
cis. + Signum manus berhthuni et byrnwaldi
comitum. Hoc item secunda die pascę adfirmant
coram rege cuðredo in urbe cantuariorum archiepiscopus
aeðilheard, ⁊ merciorum abbas daeghelm cum
optimatibus quorum hic scripta sunt nomina.
+ Aeðilheard archiepiscopus. + Daeghelm presbiter
abbas. + Heaberht. + Osuulf. + Egnulf. + Alh-
mund. + Beornheard. + Esne. + Ealdberht. + Haehfrið.
+ Ealdberht. + Osmod. + Wiohthert. + Bealðheth.
Quomodo suiðun hanc terram sibi datam a re-
gibus, concessit sancto andreae post obitum suum.
+ Ego swiðun post obitum meum trado terram
huius libelli pro remedio animę meae
omnibusque sibi pertinentibus sancte andreę in perpetuum.
Et si quis augerit, ęternam uitam tribuat ei deus,

136v

si quis tunc minuere uoluerit, mortem supplicium
cum diabolo in ęternum sit passus.

Translation

+ By our reigning and sustaining God, and our Lord Jesus Christ, I will bestow on you by the grace of God King of the Mercians, in the 5th year of our empire, along with my brother Cuthred, King of the Kentishmen, I will give to Swithun our common minister a small portion of the earth, namely, the three plows where he is named Bromhey in the province of Kent, and the land adjoining another one plow, which is called Aeðwulf Land, with the addition of one fishery on the River Thames, where it is called Furs, an addition of 4 in commune saltu id est on cæster sæta walda, in these places at Otan Sihtre, and at Crangabyrum, and at Frecinghyrte, and at Haeselden to the aforesaid man or his posterity, we grant under perpetual freedom with all matters pertaining to him for his good money at the same time also bearing his devout service, that he may possess, and possess as long as he lives, and leave behind him to whomever he wishes to be in perpetual possession by the right, if he himself remain a faithful servant to us and our nobles, and a good friend.

+ I, King Coenwulf, confirm my gift with the sign of the cross.

+ Signed by the hand of Cudred, King of Kent.

+ Signed by the hand of Duke Ceolberht.

+ Sign of the hand of Berthhun and Byrnwald of the community. They also assert this on the second day of Easter before King Cuðred, in the city of Canterbury, Archbishop Aeðilheard, bbot of the Mercians, together with the nobles whose names are here written.

+ Archbishop Aeðilheard.

+ Abbot Daeghelm the presbiter.

+ Heaberht.

+ Osuulf.

+ Egnulf.

+ Alhmund.

+ Beornheard.

+ Esne.

+ Ealdberht.

+ Haehfrið.

+ Ealdberht.

+ Osmod.

+ Wiohthert.

+ Bealðheth.

How Swithun bequethed this land, granted to him by the king, to Saint Andrew’s after his death:

+ I, Swithun, after my death, hand over the land of this book for the relief of my soul and all that belongs to Saint Andrew forever. And if any man should increase, may God grant him eternal life; if any one then wish to diminish, he would suffer death and punishment with the devil forever.

Eighty acres and half a village, and also a marsh, 860 (altered to 790)

King Æthelberht II of Wessex grants to Bishop Wærmund (of Rochester), in return for his money, 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).

Campbell, no. 24. This is probably a copy of the extant tenth-century document, British Library, Cotton Charters, viii. 29.

Fraudulent charter. Campbell: ‘This is a crude forgery. The date was originally 860, and this suits the king and witnesses. But someone has learned (?from 14) the approximate date of Bishop Wærmund, and has altered the date to 790. Whoever altered the date no doubt knew that Æthelberht II of Kent was an eighth-century benefactor of Rochester, but he has still not made his date early enough for that king to be assumed to be the one involved.’

Transcription

134r (select folio number to open facsimile)

+ IN nomine domini nostri iesu christi saluatoris. Si ea
quę secundum decreta canonum ac statuta syno-
dalia salubriter definiuntur, quamuis sermo
solus ad testimonium sufficere possit, at tamen
ob incertam futurorum temporum conditionem fir-
missimis scripturarum indiciis et cautionum

134v

cyrographis sunt roboranda. Quoniam quidem sepe
ex ignorantia, sepe quod est execrabilius ex impro-
bitate contingit ut denegatio rerum uere
et recte gestarum nascatur. Qua propter ego aeðel-
bearht rex occidentalium saxonum seu cantuua-
riorum uuaermundo episcopo trado terram iuris
mei id est xx. æcra, et unum uiculum dimidium
ciuitatis hrobi, et unum mariscum quę ad illum
pertinet, pro eius pecunia quam ab eo accepi, hoc est
xv. pund’, et xxx. mancuso, ut habeat et pos-
sideat, et cuicumque uoluerit illo uiuente seu
moriente ęternaliter tradendam concedo cum
omnibus ad eas rite pertinentibus in minimis
et in maximis notis et ignotis sine fine in
euum permaneat liuera. Si quis uero quod absit he-
redum successorumque meorum hanc nostram piam dona-
tionem immutare aliter uel minuere studue-
rit, sciat se in primis omnipotentis dei iram in-
currere, et uiuentem in hac uita benedictione
carere, et in nouissimo maledictione subia-
cere. Qui uero hęc augenda custodierit,
nichilque inrogarit aduersi, sit benedictus
a domino. Scripta est hęc cartula, anno dominicę
incarnationis dccxc. his testibus qui haec

135r

consentientes subscripserunt, quorum hic nomi-
na infra tenentur asscripta.
+ Ego aeðelbearht rex hanc meam donationem
signo sanctę crucis christi roboraui et subscripsi.
+ Ego ciolnoð archiepiscopus consensi et subscripsi. + Ego
ealhstan episcopus consensi et subscripsi. + Ego Swiðhun
episcopus consensi et subscripsi. + Ego guðheard episcopus
consensi et subscripsi. + Ego dioruulf episcopus consensi
et subscripsi. + Ego æðelred filius regis. + Ego
ælfred filius regis. + Ego uullaf abbas. + Ego uuer-
ferð abbas. + Ego uulfhelm presbiter. + Ego uuer-
enberth minister. + Ego ceolmund minister.
+ Ego eannulf dux consensi et subscripsi. + Ego
oric dux consensi et subscripsi. + Ego uulfhere
dux consensi et subscripsi. + Ego aetheluulf dux
consensi et subscripsi. + Ego humbearht dux consensi
et subscripsi. + Ego uullaf dux consensi et subscri-
psi. + Ego aldred dux consensi et subscripsi. + Ego
æðelred dux consensi et subscripsi. + Ego dryhtwald
dux consensi et subscripsi. + Ego biorhtuulf dux
consensi et subscripsi. Diuisiones supradictę terrę.
Ðanne is >ðer< se leah ðe man ðæt lond mid friðe
haldan scæl. An east healfe sio ealde stræte,
an suð halfe horsum stide, an west halfe

135v

biddanstiorf, an norð halfe pume lond.
Ðanne sind Diuisiones supradicti marisci.
ðæs londes gemæra an west healfe scipfli-
ot, an norð healfe meodowæge, an east hal-
fe liofwinne mearc, ðanne fram cioldry-
ðe londe west be ðare aldan stræte swæ sio
twoentig ęcra.

Translation

+ In the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. If those things which according to the decrees of the canons and the statutes of the synods are defined, although speech alone may be sufficient for testimony, because of the uncertain condition of future times, they must be strengthened by the most reliable indications of scriptures and surety bonds. For indeed a fence from ignorance, a fence which is more execrable from impiety, occurs so that the denial of things truly and rightly done is born. For this reason I, Aeðelbearht, king of the Western Saxons, and of the Kentish, give to Bishop Waermund, the land of my right, that is, 20 acres, and one lane, half of the city of Hrobi, and one marsh which belongs to it, for his money which I received from him, this is 15 pounds, and 30 mancuso, that he may have and possess it, and to whomsoever he wills, living or dying, I grant that it may be given eternally, with all that properly pertains to them, in the least and in the greatest, known and unknown, to continue in his possession without end. If any one, who is absent from my heirs and successors, endeavors otherwise to alter or diminish this pious gift of ours, let him know that he will be the first to incur the wrath of Almighty God, and that the living will be deprived of the blessing of this life, and subject to the latest curse. He who shall keep this thing to be increased, and shall ask no question of what is brought against him, may he be blessed by the Lord. This letter was written in the year of the Lord’s incarnation 790. to these witnesses who have subscribed their consent to these things, whose names are here written below.

+ I, King Aedelbearht, confirmed and signed this donation of mine with the sign of the holy cross of Christ.

+ I, Archbishop Ciolnoð, agreed and subscribed.

+ I, Bishop Ealhstan, agreed and subscribed.

I, Bishop Swiðhun, agreed and subscribed.

+ I, Bishop Godheard, agreed and subscribed.

+ I, Bishop Dioruulf, agreed and subscribed.

+ I, Aedelred son of the king.

+ I Alfred the king's son.

+ I, Abbot Olaf.

+ I, Abbot Werferð.

+ I, Uulfhelm the presbyter.

+ I, Enberth the minister.

+ I, Ceolmund the minister.

+ I, Duke Eannulf, agreed and subscribed.

+ I, Duke Oric, agreed and signed.

+ I, Duke Uulfhere agreed and subscribed.

+ I, Duke Aetheluulf, agreed and subscribed.

+ I, Duke Humbearht, agreed and signed.

+ I, Duke Olaf, agreed and subscribed.

+ I, Duke Aldred agreed and subscribed.

+ I, Duke Aedelred, agreed and subscribed.

+ I, Duke Dryhtwald, agreed and subscribed.

+ I, Duke Biorhwulf, agreed and subscribed.

Divisions of the above-mentioned land:

Ðanne is >ðer< se leah ðe man ðæt lond mid friðe haldan scæl. An east healfe sio ealde stræte, an suð halfe horsum stide, an west halfe biddanstiorf, an norð halfe pume lond.

Divisions of the above-mentioned marsh:

Ðanne sind ðæs londes gemæra an west healfe scipfliot, an norð healfe meodowæge, an east halfe liofwinne mearc, ðanne fram cioldryðe londe west be ðare aldan stræte swæ sio twoentig ęcra.

One and a half yokes of land at Rochester for enlarging the monastery, 789

King Offa of Mercia grants to Bishop Wærmund (of Rochester) one and half yokes of land at Rochester for enlarging the monastery (789). Translation from Latin of Textus Roffensis, folios 133r-134r by Jacob Scott (pending review).

Campbell, no. 13. No rubric. The text begins with a red display initial ‘i’ and is marked by a large, black cross in the left margin.

Translation

133r (select folio number to open facsimile)

+ In nomine domini nostri iesu christi. Omnem hominem
qui secundum deum uiuit et remunerari a deo
sperat et optat, oportet ut piis precibus assen-
sum hilariter ex animo prebeat. Quoniam certum est
tanto facilius ea quę quisque a deo poposcerit consequi
posse, quanto et ipse libentius hominibus recte

133v

postulata concesserit. Quo circa ego offa
rex merciorum tibi uenerabili uuaermundo
antistiti ut diligenter postulasti aliquam par-
ticulam terrę iuris mei id est quasi unius
et semis iugeri in ciuitate hrofi ad augmen-
tum monasterii tui ęternaliter possidendam
concedo ac describo cum omnibus scilicet ad eam
pertinentibus rebus. Hęc autem terrula ab aquilo-
nali et ab oriente ciuitatis iacet, et pertingit
usque ad septentrionalem murum prefatę ciuita-
tis intra terras uidelicet quas antea ab
oriente et occidente possedisti, et ideo haec tibi
satis accommoda quia in medio iacebat. Si quis
autem contra hanc donationem meam aliquando
uenire inuido maliuoloque animo temptaue-
rit, sit in presenti separatus a communione sanctę
ęcclesię christi, et in futuro a societate sanctorum om-
nium segregatus. Manentem hanc kartulam
in sua semper firmitate signo dominicę cru-
cis roboraui, et idoneos testes ut et id ipsum
facerent adhibui. Actum anno dominicę in-
carnationis dcclxxxix. indictione xii.
in loco ubi nominatur celchyth.
+ Ego offa rex merciorum hanc donationem

134r

meam signo sanctę crucis roboraui. + Ego ecgfrið
rex consensi et subscripsi. + Ego iaenberhtus
gratia dei archiepiscopus consentiens subscripsi. + Ego
hygeberht archiepiscopus subscripsi. + Ego ceoluulf
episcopus subscripsi. + Ego heard>red< episcopus subscripsi. + Ego
unuuona episcopus subscripsi. + Ego cyneberht
episcopus subscripsi. + Ego algheard episcopus subscripsi.
+ Ego uuaermund episcopus subscripsi. + Ego eadgar
episcopus subscripsi. + Ego uueohthun subscripsi.
+ Signum manus ealhmundi abbatis. + Signum manus
beonnan abbatis. + Signum manus brordan. + Signum
manus berhtuualdi. + Signum manus aeðilhardi.
+ Signum manus uuigcgan. + Signum manus ceol-
mundi. + Signum manus ceolheardi. + Signum
manus eadbaldi. + Signum manus forðredi. + Sig-
num manus uuigcgan. + Signum manus heaberhti.
+ Signum manus ubban.

Translation

+ In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Every man who lives according to God, and hopes and desires to be rewarded by God, must cheerfully offer his assent to pious prayers. Since it is certain that the more easily one can obtain those things which God should demand, the more willingly he himself has conceded the right demands to men. About which I, Offa, King of the Mercians, to you, the venerable Bishop Waermund, you have diligently asked for a small piece of land of my right, that is one and a half acres in the city of Rochester, for the growth of your monastery, I grant you to possess it eternally, and describe it with all the things pertaining to it. This small piece of land lies on the north and east of the city, and extends as far as the northern wall of the aforementioned city within the lands which you previously purchased from the east and west, and therefore these things are well suited to you, because it lay in the middle. But if any one should at any time attempt to come up against this gift of mine with an envious and malevolent mind, let him be in the present separated from the communion of the holy church of Christ, and in the future separated from the fellowship of all the saints. I validated this remaining charter in its steadfastness with the sign of our Lord's Cross, and I summoned competent witnesses to do the same. Act in the year of our Lord's incarnation 789, 12th indiction, in the place where Celchyth is mentioned.

+ I, Offa, king of the Mercians, validated this gift with the sign of the holy cross.

+ I, King Ecgfrid agreed and subscribed.

I, Jaenbert, by the grace of God archbishop, consented and signed.

+ I, Archbishop Hygeberht, subscribed.

I, Bishop Coewulf, subscribed.

+ I, Bishop Heardred, subscribed.

+ I, Bishop Unuuona, subscribed.

+ I, Bishop Cyneberht, subscribed.

+ I, Bishop Algheard, subscribed.

+ I. Bishop Waermund, subscribed.

+ I, Bishop Eadgar, subscribed.

+ I, Weohthun, subscribed.

+ Signed by the hand of Abbot Ealhmundi.

+ Signed by the hand of Abbot Beonnan.

+ Signed by the hand of Brordan.

+ Signed by the hand of Berhtwald.

+ Signed by the hand of Aeðilhard.

+ Signed by the hand of Wigcan.

+ Signed by the hand of Ceolmund.

+ Signed by the hand of Ceolheardi.

+ Signed by the hand of Eadbald.

+ Signed by the hand of Forðredi.

+ Signed by the hand of Wigcgan.

+ Signed by the hand of Heaberht.

+ Signed by the hand of Ubban.

Three sulungs at Rochester with the use of six swine-pastures, 811

Coenwulf of Mercia grants three sulungs at Rochester to Bishop Beornmod (of Rochester), with the use of six swine-pastures (811). Translation from Latin of Textus Roffensis, folios 136v-137v by Jacob Scott (pending review).

Campbell, no. 17. This is probably a copy of the extant ninth-century document, British Library, Cotton Charters, viii. 31.

Transcription

136v (select folio number to open facsimile)

De borcstealle. + IN nomine domini nostri iesu christi.
Regnante in perpetuum eodem deo et domino nostro
iesu christo, ego coenuulf gratia dei rex merciorum,
uiro uenerabili beornmodo episcopo, trado
terram iuris mei id est quasi tria aratra,
ad meridianam plagam ciuitatis quę dicitur hro-
fescester, ut habeat et possideat, et cuicumque
uoluerit illo uiuente seu moriente ęternali-
ter, tradendam concedo. Sunt autem huius tellu-
ris termini notissimi ab oriente uia puplica,
a meridie uuldaham, ab occidente flubius
meduwege, ab aquilone meara teag. Si quis hanc donatio-
nem meam infringere aut minuere temptaue-
rit, sciat se rationem redditurum ante tribu-
nal ęterni iudicis nisi prius deo et hominibus di-
gne emendauerit, et predicta terra sit libera
ab omni regali et seculari seruitio. Adiectis
denberis in commune saltu, otanhyrst, et frae-
cinghyrst, sceorfes stede, crangabyras, wihtherinc
falad sto, et haeseldaen. + Ego coen-
uulf rex merciorum hanc donationem meam

137r

signo sanctę crucis christi confirmaui. + Ego uul-
fred archiepiscopus consensi et subscripsi. + Ego
deneberht episcopus consensi et subscripsi. + Ego
aeðeluulf episcopus consensi et subscripsi. + Ego
sigered rex consensi et subscripsi. + Ego Aelbðrið
regina consensi et subscripsi. + Ego heardberht dux
consensi et subscripsi. + Ego beornmod episcopus con-
sensi et subscripsi. + Ego beornnoð dux consensi
et subscripsi. + Ego cynehelm dux consensi et sub-
scripsi. + Ego eadberht dux consensi et subscri-
psi. + Ego cyneberht propinquo regis consensi et
subscripsi. + Ego coenwald propinquo regis consensi
et subscripsi. + Ego quoenðryð filia
regis consensi et subscripsi. + Ego eanberht
dux consensi ( ) et subscripsi. + Ego aeðelheah
consensi et subscripsi. Scripta est autem hęc kar-
tula anno dominicę incarnationis dccc.a xi.a indi-
ctione iiii.a his testibus consentientibus et sub-
scribentibus.

Translation

Concerning Borstal:

In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Reigning forever, the same God and our Lord Jesus Christ, I, Coenwulf, by the grace of God king of the Mercians, to the venerable man Bishop Beornmod, I hand over the land of my right, that is, three plows, on the south side of the city which is called Rochester, that he may have and possess it while he was living or dying eternally, I allow it to be handed over. The most well known borders of this earth are on the east a public road, on the south Wouldham, on the west the river Medway, and on the north Meara Teag. If any man shall attempt to infringe or diminish this gift, let him know that he will render account before the tribunal of eternal judgement by God and men unless he first amends worthily, and the aforesaid land is free from all royal and secular service. You will be added into the common forest, Otanhyrst, and Fraecinghyrst, Sceorfes Stede, Crangabyras, Wihtherinc Falad Stand[?], and Haeseldaen.

+ I, Coenwulf, King of the Mercians, have confirmed this gift of mine with the sign of the holy cross of Christ.

+ I, Archbishop Wilfred, agreed and signed.

+ I, Bishop Deneberht, have agreed and subscribed.

+ I, Bishop Edeluulf, agreed and subscribed.

+ I, King Sigared, consented and signed.

+ I, Queen Aelbðrið consented and signed.

+ I, Duke Heardberht, consented and signed.

+ I, Bishop Beornmod, consented and signed.

+ I, Duke Beornmod, consented and signed.

+ I, Duke Cynehelm, consented and signed.

+ I, Duke Eadberht, consented and signed.

+ I, Cyneberht, the King’s propinquo[?] consented and signed.

+ I, Coenwald, the King’s propinquo[?] consented and subscribed.

I, Quoenðryð daughter of the king, consented and subscribed.

+ I, Duke Eanberht, consented and subscribed.

I, Aeðelheah consented and signed. This charter was written in the year of our Lord’s incarnation 811, in the 4th interdiction, with the consent and signature of these witnesses.

Ansgot of Rochester grants tithing from Delce and other privileges to St Andrew’s Priory

Ansgot of Rochester grants tithing from Delce and other privileges to St Andrew’s, Rochester. Translation from Latin of Textus Roffensis, folio 197v by Jacob Scott (pending review).

Scribal note: A pointing finger appears in the lower left margin, probably by a later hand.

Transcription

197v (select folio number to open facsimile)

Ansgotus de roucestra accepit societatem
beneficiorum ecclie sancti Andree et monacho-
rum tempore Gundulfi episcopi et dedit eidem
ecclie et monachis. Totam dedimas sua’
de deltsa. Et de molendino similiter
quod postea fecit.

Totam decimas et quandam particulam terrę q’ in clu-
sa est infra murum monachorum uersus australia
et quinque acros terre uxta prestefelde dedit
eis et ipsi iuxta peticionem sua’ dederint
ei pannos monachicos in articulo moras
sue. Et fecerunt serutau’ pro eo ficua pro
monachorum.

Translation

Ansgot of Rochester received the society and favour of the church of Saint Andrew and the monks in the time of Bishop Gundulf, and he gave to that church and monks the whole of his sue[?] of Delce. And of the mill in like manner which he did afterwards. The whole tenth and a small part of the land which is enclosed within the wall of the monks to the east and gave them the acres of land near Priestfields. They will, according to their request, give him the monks’ cloths at the moment of his delay[?]. And they made seutau’ by means of a ficua[?] for the monks.

Land in connection with the Church of St Mary’s at Lambeth

William II grants land to St Andrew’s, Rochester, in connection with the Church of St Mary’s at Lambeth. Translation from Latin of Textus Roffensis, folios 211r-211v by Jacob Scott (pending review).

Transcription

211r (select folio number to open facsimile)

De lamhytha. + QVISQVIS deo seu pro deo aliquid pręstat,
non hoc ipsum a se alienat, sed melius
sibi ipsi in posterum reseruat. Qua
spe ductus ego Willelmus dei gratia rex anglo-
rum trado de iure meo ęcclesię rofensi sancti an-
dreę apostoli ęcclesiam sanctę marię de lamhytha,
de me semper et de successoribus meis cognoscen-
dam et tenendam, cum omnibus quę ad eandem ęcclesiam
pertinent, tam in terris, siluis, aquis, pratis,
quam in omnibus aliis rebus tam intra burgum
quam extra, saca, et socne, toll, et team, cum
aliis consuetudinibus quas comitissa GODA
prius habuit, et ego hactenus in dominio meo
habui. Et hoc concedo pro salute animę meę,
patris mei, et omnium parentum meorum, et pro re-
stauratione damni quod eidem ęcclesię licet
inuitus intuli, pro conquirendis inimicis meis
qui intra iam dictam ciuitatem contra me et
contra regnum meum iniuste congregati erant,
de quibus omnipotens deus sui gratia uictoriam michi
contulit. Hanc ergo donationem propria manu signo
et confirmo, presentibus testibus et assentientibus

211v

de baronibus meis, Thoma archiepiscopo eboracensi,
Rogero comite scropesbyriensi, Henrico comi-
te uuaruuicensi, Henrico de ferrariis,
Rogero bigoto, Iuone taillebosc, Willelmo peurel,
et aliis pluribus.

Translation

Concerning Lambeth:

+ Whoever does anything for God, does not alienate himself from Him, reserves the best for himself for the future. By this hope I, William, by the grace of God king of the English, hand over to my rights to the church at Rochester, the Church of Saint Andrew the Apostle, the church of Saint Mary at Lambeth, always concerning me and my successors to know and hold, with all things that belong to the same church, both on earth, forest, water, meadows and all other things both within the borough and outside, sac, and socne, toll, and team, among other customs which Countess Goda had before, and I have hitherto held it in my dominion. And I grant this for the safety of my soul, of my father, and of all my parents, and for the restoration of the damage which I had, though unwillingly, to that church, for seeking out my enemies who had within the said city unjustly gathered against me and against my kingdom, of whom the grace of Almighty God conferred victory on me. Therefore I confirm this gift with the sign and my own hand, with the present witnesses and assent of my barons, Thomas, archbishop of York, Roger earl of Scropebyry, Henry Earl of Warwick, Henry the blacksmith, Roger Bigot, Iono Tailley, William Peurel, and many others.

Gundulf affirms the grant of land by Odo, Bishop of Bayeux

Gundulf affirms the grant of land by Odo, Bishop of Bayeux, to the Church of St Andrew and its monks. Translation from Latin of Textus Roffensis, folios 211v-212r by Jacob Scott (pending review).

Transcription

211v (select folio number to open facsimile)

_Gundulfus rofensium gratia dei episcopus, haimo-
ni uicecomiti et omnibus baronibus regis
de cænt francigenis et anglis, salutem et
benedictionem dei et suam quantum potest.

212r

Volo uos omnes scire me iam quietum esse aduer-
sus regem de illa cambitione terrę quam ei promi-
si post uuærram rofę, pro illis tribus acris quos
odo baiocensis episcopus dedit ęcclesię sancti andreę
et monachis nostris ad faciendum ibi ortum suum
iuxta murum deforis uersus australem par-
tem ciuitatis forinsecus, qui iam inclusi sunt
muro circumquaque. Et illos tres acros terrę
quos pro illis tribus dedi regi in cambitionem
liberaui iam ministris uicecomitis, Rodberto
scilicet de sancto amando, et Rodberto latimier,
et ælfuuino fratre eius preposito de cetham, et gren-
toni de rouecestra, de nostra dominica terra de
burchestealla, presentibus testibus istis, Ans-
goto de rouecestra, Gosfrido talebot, Gois-
frido de ros, Radulfo pincerna adę, Rodul-
fo clerico, et aliis multis de nostra familia et
de ciuibus eiusdem uillę.

Translation

Gundulf, by the grace of God, bishop of Rochester, to Hamo the sheriff and to all the king's barons, both French and English, greetings and blessings from God and his family. I want you all to know that I am now at peace with the king on that level of land I promised him after Rochester, for those three acres which the bishop of Bayeux has given to the church of St. Andrew and our monks, to make its origin there by a wall outside on the south side of the city. which were now enclosed in a wall on every side. And those three acres of land, which I gave to the king in exchange for those three, I have already delivered to the ministers of the sheriff, namely, to Robert of Saint Amando, and to Robert Latimer, and to his brother Ellwin, the provost of Etham, and Grenton of Rochester, of our lord's land at Borstal, those present witnesses, Ansgot of Rochester, Geoffrey Talebot, Goisfrid of Ros, Ralph the servant of Adam, Rudolf the clerk, and many others of our family and citizens of the same town.

Donation to Rochester Cathedal of four sulungs at Snodland and Holborough, with a mill, village and various rights, 838

Ecgberht of Wessex grants to Bishop Beornmod (of Rochester) four sulungs at Snodland and Holborough, with a mill, rights of gathering wood, and of pasturing swine in four districts, and a village (838). Translation from Latin of Textus Roffensis, folios 131r-132r by Jacob Scott (pending review).

Campbell, no. 19. Campbell: ‘The form of this document is unusual. Some of the usual elements of the old English charter are missing; in particular there is no sanction. The document would seem to be an abbreviation of a charter.’ This is probably a copy of the extant, tenth-century document, British Library, Cotton Charters, viii. 30. Note: At the start of the document, in the left margin, there is an annotation in Latin (much later hand) indicating that the exemplar can be found in the Cotton Library.

Transcription

138v (select folio number to open facsimile)

+ In nomine domini De snodilande.
nostri ih’u iesu christi saluatoris mundi, anno dominicę
incarnationis dccc.xxx.viii. indictione i.a
ego ecgbearhtus rex cum consensu dilectissi-
mi filii nostri æðelwulfi regis dabo debotissi-
mo episcopo meo beornmodo aliquam terrę par-
tem iuris mei quattuor aratrorum, in loco quę
dicitur snoddingland et ęt holanbeorge, ut
habeat et possideat, et cuicumque uoluerit re-
linquat, ita ut predicta terra sit liuera ab omni
serbitia. + Scripta est hęc cartula in bica
regali, quę dicitur fręricburna, is testibus consen-
tientibus et subscribentibus quorum infra nomina
tenentur, et unam molinam in torrente qui dicitur
holanbeorges burna, et in monte regis quinqua-
ginta carrabas lingnorum, adiectis quattuor
denberis, hwoętenstede, heahdęn, hese, helman-
hyrst. + Egcberht rex. + Ęðeluulf rex. + Cial-
noð archiepiscopus. + Beornmod episcopus. + Ealhstan
episcopus. + Eadhun episcopus. + Cynred episcopus. + Ceolberht
episcopus. + Wlfheard dux. + Ęðelwulf dux. + Eanulf
dux. + herebearht dux. + Ęðelwulf dux. + Eðelheard, et in oriente

139r

ciuitatis hroui unum uiculum.

Translation

Concerning Snodland:

In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Savior of the world, in the year of our Lord’s incarnation 838, 1st indiction, I, King Ecgberht, with the consent of our most beloved son, King Æthelwulf, will give to my most deserving bishop some part of the land of my right, four plows, in the place which is called Snodland and at Holborough, so that he may have and possess it, and leave to whomsoever he will, so that the aforesaid land is land free from all servitude.

+ This document was written on the royal plate, which is called Fraericburna, with the consent and signatures of those witnesses whose names are kept below, and one mill in the brook called Holborough Burna, and on the king's mountain fifty carts of firewood, in additional four are to be found, Hwoetenstede, Heahdaen, Hese, Helmanhyrst.

+ Egbert the King.

+ King Aeðelwulf.

+ Archbishop Cialnoð,

+ Bishop Beornmod.

+ Ealhstan

+ Bishop Eadhun.

+ Bishop Cynred.

+ Bishop Ceolberht.

+ Wlfheard the chief.

+ Duke Aeðelwulf.

+ Duke Eanulf.

+ Duke Herebearht.

+ Duke Aeðelwulf.

+ Eðelheard, and in the east of the city, one hamlet.

Two sulungs at Holborough to Rochester Cathedral, 841

Æthelwulf of Wessex grants to Bishop Beornmod of Rochester two sulungs at Holborough (841). Translation from Latin of Textus Roffensis, folios 139r-139v by Jacob Scott (pending review).

Campbell, no. 20. The text begins with a green display initial ‘R’ and is marked by a large, black cross in the left margin.

Transcription

139r (select folio number to open facsimile)

+ REgnante in perpetuum De holanbeorge;
domino nostro iesu christo, qua propter + ego oeðeluulf
rex occidentalium saxonum dabo et conce-
do + beornmodo hrobensis ęcclesię episcopo aliquam
partem terrę iuris mei, in loco quę appellatur
holanbeorges tuun duo aratrum cum consilio et licen-
tia episcoporum et principum meorum ut habeat et prefruet
in hereditatem sempiternam, et cuicumque uoluerit
relinquat, et sit illa terra liuera ab omne rega-
le seruitute in magnis et minimis notis et
ignotis cum pratis et pascuis et paludis cum
omnibus rebus quę ad illam terram pertinet. Scrip-
ta est hęc scedula, anni domini dccc xli. Indicti-
ne iiii. his testibus consentientibus et subscri-
bentibus, quorum hic nomina continentur. + Ego
ęðeluulf rex hanc meam donationem cum uexillam
sanctę crucis rouorabi et confirmo. + Ego eðelstan >rex consensi et subscripsi. + Ego ealhstan<
episcopus consensi et subscripsi. + Ego helmstan episcopus
consensi et subscripsi. + Ego beornmod episcopus consen-
si et subscripsi. + Signum manus ęðeluulf dux.
+ Signum manus ealchere dux. + Signum manus duduc.
+ Signum manus ęðelmod. + Signum manus uchtred.

139v

+ Signum manus tuca. + Signum manus eðelred. + Sig-
num manus sigbeorht. + Signum manus boba.

Translation

Concerning Holborough:

+ Reigning forever our Lord Jesus Christ, for which I, Æthelwulf, King of the West Saxons, will give and concede to Beornmod, bishop of the church of Rochester, some part of the land of my right, in the place which is called Holborough, tuun two plows, with the council and permission of my bishops and princes, that he may have and free himself for an everlasting inheritance, and leave it to whomever he wishes, and let that land be free from all royal service great and small and unknown, with meadows, pastures, and marshes, with all the things which pertain to that land. This document was written in the year of the lord 841, in the fourth interdiction. With the consent and signature of these witnesses, whose names are contained here.

+ I, King Æthelwulf, confirm this my gift with the sign of the holy cross.

+ I, Ethelstan >king, consent and subscribe. + I, Bishop Ealhstan,< agreed and signed.

+ I, Bishop Helmstan, agreed and subscribed.

+ I, Bishop Beornmod, agreed and subscribed.

+ Signed by the hand of Oeðeluulf.

+ Signed by the hand of Duke Ealchere.

+ Signed by the hand of Duduc.

+ Signed by the hand of Oeðelmod.

+ Signed by the hand of Uchtred.

+ Signed by the hand of Tuca.

+ Signed by the hand of Eðelred.

+ Signed by the hand of Sigbeorht.

+ Signed by the hand of Boba.