The Laws of the Anglo-Saxon Kings

published in Withowinde issue 151 Autumn 2009 pp.23-24 (2000 words)

During the ASJ period in England a remarkable series of documents was produced setting out
the laws which individual kings had ordered to be written down. Remarkable for several
reasons, not least that their very existence shows a degree of sophistication and centralized
authority which is not always associated with Anglo-Saxon governance. The laws were in
writing, as were many such sets of laws of other Germanic nations on the continent of Europe,
but the laws of the Anglo-Saxon kings were written in the vernacular (i.e, Old English)
instead of Latin. They were issued consistently throughout a period of 450 years, by at least
11 different kings and with only occasional breaks in the record (and those probably due to
the loss of the manuscripts containing laws issued by kings such as Offa of Mercia). They
covered all aspects of social and religious life - not only “criminal” offences, but matters
appertaining to commerce, marriage, children, inheritance and the administration of justice in
general. As a series of laws they manifest a growing sophistication in law-making; not only
in the language used and the concepts covered, but also in the sheer bulk of provisions (the
later kings issued several sets of laws each). Yet the tendency has been for commentators to
speak of “Anglo-Saxon laws” as if they were a monolithic whole, and to select random
examples from different periods (the favourites are probably Alfred’s from the 880s and
Cnut’s from the 1020s). This makes as much sense as to talk of “English laws” and give
examples from the reigns of both Elizabeths, as if they somehow illustrated the same England,
the same social and political circumstances. During the period in which the Anglo-Saxon
kings issued written laws there were vast changes which all had an impact on what laws were
necessary and the way in which they were drafted. The first set of laws was apparently issued
by Æðelberht in about 600 and coincided with the arrival and establishment of the
Augustinian mission bent on converting the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity. Thereafter the
growing authority of the Christian church (and perhaps the persistence of paganism) is
reflected in the laws issued by succeeding kings. At the same time, the individual kingdoms
had their different imperatives (Wessex and Mercia had to acknowledge the Welsh presence,
for example) and were subject to extremes of political change as their relative importance
waxed and waned. Eventually, after 300 years or so, the kings of Wessex could be said to be
making laws for the whole of England. In the meantime however, the Viking raiders had
gained control of areas of the country, and so the laws from that period had to cope with a
different political reality. Finally, throughout all this period of great social, political and
religious change, it must not be overlooked that England was on the way towards becoming a
unified nation, and developing forms of centralized governance and provincial infrastructures
in order to manage that great undertaking. This involved not only practical measures of
administration and organization, but also philosophical concepts such as the proper role of a
king and his relationship to the people who he ruled over. The laws show how many of these
new structures were put together, but also reflect the new ideas which underpinned the
practical measures. For example, key threads in the process were the need to control the
traditional Germanic blood-feud and the gradual development of “criminal” laws which took
responsibility for the control of “crime” away from individuals and their kin and put it firmly
in royal hands.
Accordingly these sets of laws tell a fascinating story of the growth of the English nation
throughout the twists and turns of over 400 years. More than that, however, they should be
acknowledged as a remarkable achievement in their own right. They start with the laws of
king Æðelberht of Kent, which not only compare in antiquity with the oldest continental
Germanic laws (such as the Salic Laws purportedly issued by Clovis in about 500) but are the
oldest such laws in the vernacular, and represent the oldest known document in Old English.
The series continues with two other sets of laws by Kentish kings, and a third, Eorcenberht, is
mentioned by Bede in the “Ecclesiastical History of the English People” (book III, chapter 8)
as “enforcing his decrees by suitable penalties for disobedience”. No text of those laws has
survived, however. The last of the Kentish laws (those issued by Wihtræd) overlap with those
of Ine, king of Wessex. There is then a lengthy gap until the laws of Ælfred of Wessex,
although Ælfred himself refers explicitly, but in general terms only, to the laws of king Offa
of Mercia. Thereafter the English kings are regarded (at least by themselves) as kings of the
whole of England, excepting only those areas occupied by the Danes. Mention should also be
made, however, of the laws of the Welsh king Hywel Dda. These seem to have been issued
by him during his reign and were probably modelled on the laws of Ælfred, but there is no
original text and so no precise record of exactly what his laws covered (see Jenkins 1986).
Finally, the series concludes with the laws of Cnut (there are laws purporting to have been
those of Eadweard the Confessor, but these were a twelfth century invention), an extensive
body of laws which repeated and consolidated many of the laws of his predecessors and give
no sign of his Scandinavian origins. Thirty years or so later came the Normans but, although
they took over the control and administration of the country and generally treated the
population with disdain, they largely left untouched the Anglo-Saxon laws. As Stenton (1971
pp.685-686) remarks “there is little in the remains of William’s legislation which might not
have been prescribed by an Anglo-Saxon king....[i]n most of its details the law observed by
Englishmen in 1087 was the law of King Edward, and, for that matter, the law of Cnut and
Aethelred II”. Having survived both the Scandinavian and Norman take-overs, the laws of
the Anglo-Saxon kings are therefore the basis for the development of English law in an
unbroken chain up to the present day.

The following Table gives a simplified overview of the period, with “missing” laws in italics :

Approximate dates of reign Monarch

560 616 Æðelberht
640 664 Eorcenberht
673 686 Hloþhære & Eadric
691 725 Wihtræd
688 726 Ine
757 796 Offa
871 899 Ælfred
907 949 Hywel Dda
899 924 Eadweard (the Elder)
924 939 Æþelstan
939 946 Eadmund
959 975 Eadgar
978 1015 Æþelred
1016 1035 Cnut
 The laws are contained in only a few old manuscripts, which mostly date from the eleventh
century. The two most important collections are probably the Parker Manuscript (CCCC MS
173) and the Textus Roffensis (Rochester Cathedral, Kent County Archives). The Parker
Manuscript dates from the tenth century and contains the laws of Ine and Ælfred (as well as
the oldest version of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles). The laws were probably copied from a
lost original in about 930. The Textus Roffensis contains the only record of the Kentish laws,
as well as many other laws, charters and other documents. It dates from the early twelfth
century and was copied from the lost original (itself probably a late ninth century copy) in
about 1123. This means, of course, that the Kentish laws were 400 years old even by the date
of the lost original, but Oliver (2002) has shown fairly conclusively that the language used,
together with other internal and circumstantial evidence, strongly suggest that the text
properly reflects the laws as they were issued in Æðelberht’s time. These manuscripts, and
many others, some now lost to us, have been known and respected for hundreds of years. For
example, around 1100 someone translated much of the body of Anglo-Saxon laws into Latin,
in a work known as “Quadripartitus”. In 1568 Lambarde published the first edited collection
(although he was unaware of the Textus Roffensis and so did not include the Kentish laws).
Throughout the 1700s there were several different editions and translations published and
Blackstone’s “Commentaries” (called by Wormald “the Bible of the Common Law” : 1999
p.4) emphasized the roots of English law in the Anglo-Saxon period. Eventually, in the
nineteenth century there was a resurgence of interest in the “ancient” laws of England,
especially among German scholars who were interested in the idea of the origins of a
specifically Germanic law. This interest culminated in a British Government sponsored
collection and translation by Thorpe (1840) but especially, later in the century, in the
magnificent work of Felix Liebermann, who published every known version of the laws in the
original Old English or Latin and translated them into German. Together with exhaustive
notes, commentaries and a glossary, Liebermann’s project resulted in 3 mighty volumes over
a period of 20 years (1897-1916), and his classification of the laws is still used as the basic
method of citation today. Liebermann’s work is available on-line (Internet Archive Canada :
http://www.archive.org/details/toronto) but for English readers the most accessible editions of
the laws are those produced by Attenborough in 1922 (Æðelberht up to Æþelstan) and
Robertson in 1925 (Eadmund to Cnut). These have been re-printed by Llanerch Publishers
and are easily obtainable through their on-line catalogue. They contain the Old English text,
properly edited, with facing translation into modern (well, early twentieth century) English
plus some additional notes. They are quite reasonably priced at about £14.00 each. There are
other versions available, but no other complete collection. English Historical Documents vol
I contains translations of several extracts covering the whole period, and should be available
in larger libraries. Oliver (2002) has produced a re-edited version of the Kentish laws, with a
new translation and extensive commentary. Griffiths (1995) reviews all the laws and
manuscripts and translates selected laws. This is a good introduction and is excellent value at
only about £5.00. Finally, the late Patrick Wormald produced a small but beautifully
presented booklet (2005) for the Canterbury Commemoration Society, translating and
discussing Æðelberht’s laws. His major work (1999) surveys the whole period, including the
Kentish laws (despite the title) and translating bits and pieces as he goes along, but is more of
a reference book for detailed discussion and commentary. The extensive scholarship of
Wormald and Oliver means that Liebermann’s classification scheme is no longer acceptable
in every detail, but it continues to be used for convenience and clarity.

I hope that this will encourage readers to give some attention to the Anglo-Saxon laws. Many
questions remain however, and I also hope to be able to look at some particular aspects of the
laws in future articles. For example, many commentators refer to the sets of laws as “codes”.
I have deliberately avoided this terminology as it might give the impression that the laws were
similar to modern Acts of Parliament, or intended to be exhaustive. The fact is that we do not
know exactly what these laws were meant to do, or how they were used. This might seem
puzzling or that I am being over-cautious; for the full story, look for a future instalment!

References and reading

Attenborough “The Laws of the Earliest English Kings” (Cambridge University Press 1922)
Bede “Ecclesiastical History of the English People” (translated Sherley-Price) (Penguin 1990)
Griffiths “An Introduction to Early English Law” (Anglo-Saxon Books 1995)
Jenkins “Hywel Dda : the Law” (Gomer Press 1986)
Liebermann “Die Gesetze der Angelsachsen” (Halle 1903, 1906/12, 1916)
Oliver “The Beginnings of English Law” (University of Toronto Press 2002)
Robertson “The Laws of the Kings of England : part one Edmund to Canute” (Cambridge
University Press 1925)
Stenton “Anglo-Saxon England” (Oxford University Press 1971)
Thorpe “Ancient Laws and Institutions of England” (London 1840)
Whitelock “English Historical Documents vol 1 (c.500-1042)” (Methuen 1979)
Wormald “The Making of English Law : King Alfred to the Twelfth Century” (Blackwell
1999)
Wormald “The First Code of English Law” (Canterbury Commemoration Society 2005)