Kentish Society in the 7thCE

Question 1

Which clauses state Church and clergy property having a higher compensation than the king, and by how much?

Answer 1

Aethelberht's 1-6
God/Church = 12-fold
Bishop = 11-fold
Priest = 9-fold
King = 2-fold

Question 2

What does clause 14 of Aethelberht state?

Answer 2

50 shillings to the king for violation of his protection

Question 3

Which clause suggests the ordinary ‘person-price’ (wergild) was 100 shillings?

Answer 3

24

Question 4

What else does clause 24 of Aethelberht state?

Answer 4

That a person has 40 night to pay it

If the killer “departs from the land” their kinsmen must pay

Question 5

What is significant about Aethelberht’s code?

Answer 5

It is the earliest surviving English law code

Question 6

What was one significant aspect of the lawcodes?

Answer 6

They were part of a ‘Christian package’ (of kingship).
Aethelberht’s was likely a emulation of Frankish lawcodes and the idea of being a Roman emperor.

Might be part of feeling developed and a proper king (eg mechanisms of colonialism for civilisation)

Question 7

Which wounds were the most grievous according to Aethelberht’s code and why might this be?

Answer 7

Gouge eye and lost foot (50s), lamed shoulder (30s), lost thumb (20s)

It may be because existence relied on labour so without these things ^ labour would have been more difficult

Question 8

Describe laws 74-5 of Aethelberhts code and why this maybe significant for social mobility

Answer 8

Describes 4 ranks of noble widows with correspnding fine for violation of the protection of them

75: “If a person takes a widow who does not belong to him the [payment for violation of] protection shall be 2[-fold] as compensation”

Might be to stop social mobility from marrying upwards.
Or to keep widows within their kindred [’s protection} so they may be married again with th ekindreds approval
(Fisher wives remarried several times)

Question 9

In what way were maidens always owned? (Aethelberht 77)

Answer 9

They seem to always have a legal ‘protector’ (Father, paternal kin, husband)

Violation of the maiden is a violation of the protectors protection

Question 10

What is significant about Hlothere and Eadric’s law 6?

Answer 10

In a trial in a public assembly, “the judges of the Kentish people” decide the outcome

These are possibly ealdormen? Kingship is not a dictatorship

Question 11

If you say nasty stuff in someone else’s house…

Answer 11

…pay 6s to the abused and 12s to the king (Hlothere and Eadric 7)

Clear conception of guest/host relationship (beer)
Clear idea of King now being owed a due cos of his role as a protector and upholder of customs

Question 12

When were the laws of Hlothere and Eadric written?

Answer 12

c.679-685

Question 13

What do Hlothere and Eadric’s lawcode mention that wasn’t in Aethelberht’s?

Answer 13

Merchants and provision for them

Question 14

Describe laws 11-11.3 in Hlothere and Eadric

Answer 14

11. • To buy property in London, need 2-3 “unblemished freemen” or the King’s town reeve as a witness
12. -11.3 are concerned with the purchase and change in ownership of property in London

Question 15

How much control did Kentish kings likely have over London?

Answer 15

Likely a Royal Manor (but not actual control over the city)

Question 16

What does Wihtred’s code make a point of?

Answer 16

Being written infront of an assembly

Question 17

What does the Church’s relationship with the crown seem to be in WIhtred’s code?

Answer 17

The Church will not be taxed (1)

Question 18

What fine is 50s in WIhtred’s laws?

Answer 18

violation of the king’s or Church’s protection

Question 19

What is not allowed on sundays?

Answer 19

Work (Wihtred)

Question 20

Under what circumstances must a man forfeit his property to his wife?

Answer 20

If making offerings to the devil without her knowing

Question 21

In whose laws is a bishop or king’s word law without need for oaths?

Answer 21

Wihtred’s (12)

Question 22

Why might writers routinely write about the past? (eg Life of Saint Mildrith?

Answer 22

To support their claims in the present - eg about their monastery’s land-rights

Question 23

Where was the location of the bishopric in relation to the diocese it controlled?

Answer 23

Quite often not in it (or on the wrong side of a river eg)

Question 24

As few inns or taverns existed in EME…

Answer 24

…there was an expectation of being put up for the night

This was not a very commercial world

Question 25

What are the possible explanations for the term shilling?

Answer 25

• The sound of coins not each coins value (or it is bullion)
• Rule of thumb sums with most of it in reality being payed in kind (not set to cuval like Ireland eg cos not everyone would have that)
• Maybe a set sort of value for something (like module credits)
• There could have been 1 or 2 standardised commodities but don’t know - weight was used

These specific prices may be notional average points and real life prices were negotiable (as some men have more wealth, land , status, retinue than others)

Question 26

How was kin group important regarding bloodfeud?

Answer 26

Might wonder how many people will be out to kill you if you don’t pay

Question 27

Law expands…

Answer 27

…as more case studies occur

Probs judged most cases in common law type style - everyone makes up some things as they go along (with judgements)

Question 28

How did the law essentially work in EME?

Answer 28

Oaths means someone with the most oaths wins

Witnesses crucial to prevent fraud/wrongdoing

Question 29

Laws arent being made up but written down - everyone probs using sim systems since the bronze age

Answer 29

Yes

Question 30

What does Yorke think is one thing that distinguishes Kent from the other English kingdoms?

Answer 30

“is in the strength of its Frankish connections”

Question 31

What is significant about the name of Aethelberht’s father?

Answer 31

Eormenric - same name as a legendary Gothic king of the 4thCE

Question 32

Who was Aethelberht married to?

Answer 32

Bertha, daughter of Charibert of Paris

Aethelberht’s son, Eadbald, married a Frankish bride too

Question 33

What is it that makes the promulgation of a written lawcode a mirror of Roman and Frankish practice?

Answer 33

Symbolic over practical

Most people who acted as judges in this early period would have been illiterate and most laws probably reflected a long held customary usage to a great extent

Question 34

What evidence does Oliver draw on to suggest Aethelberht’s laws were following a pre-written oral tradition?

Answer 34

Beyond the first 6 clauses, it follows a poetic style including alliteration which would have made it more memorable in a pre-Christian Old-English tradition

Also follows logical pattern of highest rank –> lowest rank, and head-to-toe

Question 35

What do Hlothere and Eadric state in the prologue of their lawcode?

Answer 35

That they are “adding to the laws that their ancestors made before”

Question 36

What is one possible interpretation of the prologues of Hlothere and Eadric, and Wihtred’s laws?

Answer 36

Could be to emphasis consensus and .’. legitimacy - but perhaps with more written stuff like charters and that, the written form is becoming more sophisticated - a sort of movement from record to rhetoric

Question 37

How does Lambert describe the Kentish laws?

Answer 37

Proactive and reactive legislation:

Aethelberht = proactive (more structured and that)
Others = Reactive (more random in topic - amending and updating laws based on real cases)

Question 38

What is a possible indicator of (certain) laws becoming of more practical importance?

Answer 38

e.g. Hlothere and Eadric (11) - three subclauses addressing three different possible situations

Question 39

What are two possible implications of Wihtred (23) and Ine (20)?

Answer 39

1. They were copying each other as English kings maybe interacted more through the world/medium of royal imagery
2. Both utilise an established stock phrase - entrenched oral tradition (although then why not used in earlier codes if pre-written clause?)

Question 40

What may be important to note for law copying?

Answer 40

Caedwalla had a brother, Mul, who ruled briefly ruled in Kent in the 680’s

Certainly intermixing (although Caedwalla mostly in context of conquest - but how much of an impact would this have had for Kentish folk in reality?)