The Beginnings of English LawUniversity of Toronto Press, 2002 M01 1 - 297 pages The laws of Æthelbert of Kent (ca. 600), Hlohere and Eadric (685x686), and Wihtred (695), are the earliest laws from Anglo-Saxon England, and the first Germanic laws written in the vernacular. They are of unique importance as the only extant early medieval English laws that delineate the progress of law and legal language in the early days of the conversion to Christianity. Æthelbert's laws, the closest existing equivalent to Germanic law as it was transmitted in a pre-literate period, contrast with Hlohere and Eadric's expanded laws, which concentrate on legal procedure and process, and again contrast with the further changed laws of Wihtred which demonstrate how the new religion of Christianity adapted and changed the law to conform to changing social mores. This volume updates previous works with current scholarship in the fields of linguistics and social and legal history to present new editions and translations of these three Kentish pre-Alfredian laws. Each body of law is situated within its historical, literary, and legal context, annotated, and provided with facing-page translation. |
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Results 1-5 of 52
... church and the public assembly 83 The king 85 Fines payable to an eorl 89 Fines payable to a freeman 89 Freedmen 91 Theft 93 Killing 96 Rihthamscyld 97 Personal injury 99 Women and children 105 Maidens 106 Women 109 111 Widows Servants ...
... church 166 Unlawful matrimony 167 Abuses by ecclesiastics 168 Manumission 169 Transgressing the laws of the church 170 Exculpation 174 Theft 177 Conclusion 180 Appendix I : Diplomatic Transcription 181 Appendix II : Comparison of ...
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Contents
Background | 3 |
The Laws of Æthelberht | 52 |
The Laws of Hlophere Eadric | 117 |
The Laws of Wihtred | 147 |
Diplomatic Transcription | 181 |
Comparison of Restitution According to Amount | 195 |
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References to this book
The Conversion of Britain: Religion, Politics and Society in Britain C.600-800 Barbara Yorke No preview available - 2006 |