The title ''Leges Edwardi Confessoris'', or ''Laws of Edward the Confessor'', refers to a collection of laws, purporting to represent English law in the time of

Edward the Confessor Edward the Confessor ( 1003 – 5 January 1066) was King of England from 1042 until his death in 1066. He was the last reigning monarch of the House of Wessex. Edward was the son of Æthelred the Unready and Emma of Normandy. He succeede ...

(reigned 1042–1066), as recited to the

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 9th and 10th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norma ...

invader king William I in 1070, but which was not composed until probably the early years of the reign of King Stephen (r. 1135–1154).

Background

The issue of continuity and change in post conquest England is a topic of significant debate in scholarship. By 1086, there were very few Englishmen among the 200 or so major landowners recorded in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

. Normans,

Flemings Flemish people or Flemings ( ) are a Germanic ethnic group native to Flanders, Belgium, who speak Flemish Dutch. Flemish people make up the majority of Belgians, at about 60%. ''Flemish'' was historically a geographical term, as all inhabita ...

Bretons The Bretons (; or , ) are an ethnic group native to Brittany, north-western France. Originally, the demonym designated groups of Common Brittonic, Brittonic speakers who emigrated from Dumnonia, southwestern Great Britain, particularly Cornwal ...

and others had settled on the estates of dead, dispossessed or outlawed English nobility. Contemporary

chronicle A chronicle (, from Greek ''chroniká'', from , ''chrónos'' – "time") is a historical account of events arranged in chronological order, as in a timeline. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and local events ...

rs were divided, with

Henry of Huntingdon Henry of Huntingdon (; 1088 – 1157), the son of a canon in the diocese of Lincoln, was a 12th-century English historian and the author of ''Historia Anglorum'' (Medieval Latin for "History of the English"), as "the most important Anglo- ...

writing that the English people had been "delivered pfor destruction by the violent and cunning Norman people", while

William of Poitiers William of Poitiers (, ; 10201090) was a Norman priest who served as the chaplain of Duke William II of Normandy (William the Conqueror), for whom he chronicled the Norman conquest of England in his ''Gesta Willelmi ducis Normannorum et regis ...

lauded the Norman victory at the

Battle of Hastings The Battle of Hastings was fought on 14 October 1066 between the Norman-French army of William, Duke of Normandy, and an English army under the Anglo-Saxon King Harold Godwinson, beginning the Norman Conquest of England. It took place appr ...

and said the slaughter of the English had been just punishment for

Harold Godwinson Harold Godwinson ( – 14 October 1066), also called Harold II, was the last crowned Anglo-Saxon King of England. Harold reigned from 6 January 1066 until his death at the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066, the decisive battle of the Norman ...

"perjury". The ''Leges Edwardi'' served the purpose of legitimizing the legacy of

William the Conqueror William the Conqueror (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), sometimes called William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England (as William I), reigning from 1066 until his death. A descendant of Rollo, he was D ...

s rule and distancing the 12th-century ruling class of England from their violent origins as conquerors. The treatise is believed to have been written sometime between 1130 and 1135, towards the end of

Henry I Henry I or Henri I may refer to: :''In chronological order'' * Henry I the Fowler, King of Germany (876–936) * Henry I, Duke of Bavaria (died 955) * Henry I of Austria, Margrave of Austria (died 1018) * Henry I of France (1008–1060) * Henry ...

reign. Historians believe the treatise intended to recast Norman institutions as having

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...

origins. The work's authority lay in its claim that the author had recorded the laws and customs that were spoken to

in 1070, four years after the

by "English nobles who were wise men and learned in their law". The

apocrypha Apocrypha () are biblical or related writings not forming part of the accepted canon of scripture, some of which might be of doubtful authorship or authenticity. In Christianity, the word ''apocryphal'' (ἀπόκρυφος) was first applied to ...

l account claims that William yielded to English demands to live under the English laws of

or the ''laga Edwardi''. The value of the treatise stems more from its influence on postconquest perceptions of Norman rule than the

historicity Historicity is the historical actuality of persons and events, meaning the quality of being part of history instead of being a historical myth, legend, or fiction. The historicity of a claim about the past is its factual status. Historicity deno ...

of the author's claims about the treatise's origin. The ''laga Edwardi'' is not a single law code, but rather is a descriptive term meaning the laws and customs of England that were observed prior to the Norman conquest. English bishops like

Dunstan Dunstan ( – 19 May 988), was an English bishop and Benedictine monk. He was successively Abbot of Glastonbury Abbey, Bishop of Worcester, Bishop of London and Archbishop of Canterbury, later canonised. His work restored monastic life in En ...

and Wulfstan wrote the laws of

Edgar Edgar is a commonly used masculine English given name, from an Anglo-Saxon name ''Edgar'' (composed of ''wikt:en:ead, ead'' "rich, prosperous" and ''Gar (spear), gar'' "spear"). Like most Anglo-Saxon names, it fell out of use by the Late Midd ...

Æthelred the Unready Æthelred II (,Different spellings of this king's name most commonly found in modern texts are "Ethelred" and "Æthelred" (or "Aethelred"), the latter being closer to the original Old English form . Compare the modern dialect word . ; ; 966 � ...

and

Cnut Cnut ( ; ; – 12 November 1035), also known as Canute and with the epithet the Great, was King of England from 1016, King of Denmark from 1018, and King of Norway from 1028 until his death in 1035. The three kingdoms united under Cnut's rul ...

. Most of these preconquest law codes, including

Instituta Cnuti The ''Instituta Cnuti'', in full ''Instituta Cnuti aliorumque regum Anglorum'' (''Institutes of Cnut and other kings of the English''), is a legal compilation that cites, in Latin translation, selected material of Old English law. It was put togeth ...

, have only survived in postconquest Church compilations the earliest of which is the

Textus Roffensis The (Latin for "The Tome of Rochester Cathedral, Rochester"), fully titled the ''Textus de Ecclesia Roffensi per Ernulphum episcopum'' ("The Tome of the Rochester Cathedral, Church of Rochester up to Ernulf, Bishop Ernulf") and sometimes also ...

, dated to around 1123. William's purported acceptance of the ''laga Edwardi'' symbolized the continuity from Edward the Confessor's reign to his own, perhaps seeking to minimize the disruption caused by the conquest in 1066.

Leges Edwardi

Prior to the 17th century the ''Leges Edwardi Confessoris'' had several titles variously attributing the treatise to Edward or William. It is one of the four major treatises on the ''laga Edwardi''. The others are the Willelmi articuli decem,

Leis Willelme William the Conqueror, the first Norman King of England who reigned from 1066 until his death in 1087, created 10 laws for the English people to abide by after the Battle of Hastings. Laws * The first law stated that "First that above all things ...

, and

Leges Henrici Primi The ''Leges Henrici Primi'' or ''Laws of Henry I'' is a legal treatise, written in about 1115, that records the legal customs of medieval England in the reign of King Henry I of England. Although it is not an official document, it was written ...

. The ''Leges Edwardi'' is not directly based upon any known sources of preconquest laws, instead borrowing at times from a

Frankish Frankish may refer to: * Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture ** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages, a group of Low Germanic languages also commonly referred to as "Frankish" varieties * Francia, a post-Roman ...

text. In the absence of evidence, scholars have debated the extent to which the earlier

Danelaw The Danelaw (, ; ; ) was the part of History of Anglo-Saxon England, England between the late ninth century and the Norman Conquest under Anglo-Saxon rule in which Danes (tribe), Danish laws applied. The Danelaw originated in the conquest and oc ...

may have influenced the ''Leges Edwardi''. The treatise itself claimed that the origins of the

murder fine Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse committed with the necessary intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisdiction. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse ...

could be traced back to

. This fine was imposed on the entire

vill Vill is a term used in English, Welsh and Irish history to describe a basic rural land unit, roughly comparable to that of a parish, manor, village or tithing. Medieval developments The vill was the smallest territorial and administrative unit� ...

hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numerals, Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 (number), 99 and preceding 101 (number), 101. In mathematics 100 is the square of 10 (number), 10 (in scientific notation it is written as 102). The standar ...

whenever a Norman was found slain. The ''Leges Edwardi'' says the practice was first introduced by Cnut to protect the Danes from the English. This claim was accepted by the 13th century legal writer

Bracton Henry of Bracton (c. 1210 – c. 1268), also known as Henry de Bracton, Henricus Bracton, Henry Bratton, and Henry Bretton, was an English people, English Catholic priest, cleric and jurist. He is famous now for his writings on law, particular ...

. Felix Liebermann has argued that the assertion of Danish origins was an invention intended to shift the blame for the fine to the previous Danish rulers, but other scholars have disputed this. The primary concerns of the text lay with the king's peace and the peace of the Holy Church, especially in the North Midlands and Yorkshire region bordering on the

. Although the emphasis is on common law, the same text shows that there were regional differences. : :" 2There are many types of the king's peace; one is given by his hand, which the English call ''kinges hand salde grid''; 2aanother s givenon the day on which he is first crowned — this one lasts for eight days; at Christmas eight days and eight days at Easter and eight days at Pentecost; 2banother is given by his writ; 2canother which the four roads have, that is Watling Street, Fosse Way, Iknield Way, and Ermine Street, of which two extend for the length of the kingdom, the others across the width." Other points of interest include references to the

wapentake A hundred is an administrative division that is geographically part of a larger region. It was formerly used in England, Wales, some parts of the United States, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway, and in Cumberland County in the British Colony of ...

, the reeve of the riding,

Peter's Pence Peter's Pence (or ''Denarii Sancti Petri'' and "Alms of St Peter") are donations or payments made directly to the Holy See of the Catholic Church. The practice began under the Saxons in Kingdom of England, England and spread through Europe. Both ...

, murder fines (''murdrum''), consciousness about England's

Saxon The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...

heritage, and the legal position of Jews in England. The most recent editor, Bruce O'Brien, has speculated that the popularity of the treatise may have been due to its portrayal of "a Norman king interested in preserving and maintaining" the native laws of the English nobility. The ''Leges Edwardi'' argues that what the work offers instead are "apparently original observations of and comments on the English law of the author's day."O'Brien, God's Peace, p. 29.

Influence

Aided by the Confessor's legendary reputation as a lawgiver, the compilation enjoyed considerable interest in medieval England. The text is found in a large number of manuscripts. Four recensions have been distinguished, two of which are revisions with additional material being grafted on to the core of the text. A version of the ''Leges Edwardi Confessoris'' was known to

Henry de Bracton Henry of Bracton (c. 1210 – c. 1268), also known as Henry de Bracton, Henricus Bracton, Henry Bratton, and Henry Bretton, was an English cleric and jurist. He is famous now for his writings on law, particularly ''De legibus et consuetudinib ...

and to the barons and jurists responsible for

Magna Carta (Medieval Latin for "Great Charter"), sometimes spelled Magna Charta, is a royal charter of rights agreed to by King John of England at Runnymede, near Windsor, on 15 June 1215. First drafted by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Cardin ...

. In 17th century, during the controversy about the ancient constitution of England, ''Leges Edwardi Confessoris'' was frequently used as support for the antiquity of the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

Notes

References

*Constable, Marianne. The Law of the Other: The Mixed Jury and Changing Conceptions of Citizenship, Law, and Knowledge. University of Chicago Press, 1994. *Hamil, Frederick Coyne. "Presentment of Englishry and the Murder Fine." Speculum 12, no. 3 (1937): 285-98 *O'Brien, Bruce R. (ed. and tr.) ''God's peace and king's peace: the laws of Edward the Confessor.'' Philadelphia: Univ. of Pennsylvania Press, 1999. *O'Brien, Bruce R. "Forgers of Law and Their Readers: The Crafting of English Political Identities between the Norman Conquest and the Magna Carta." PS: Political Science and Politics 43, no. 3 (2010): 467–73. *Yntema, Hessel E. "The Lex Murdrorum: An Episode in the History of English Criminal Law." Harvard Law Review 36, no. 2 (1922): 146–79.

External links