Æthelstan’s Grately Code, c.926-c.930
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
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
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.
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
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.
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.
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
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
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
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.