Law and lawlessness in the reign of Æthelred the Unready

Question 1

What is the general argument concerning Æthelred’s law codes and scholars?

Answer 1

• There is divided opinion as to whether Æthelred’s law codes were pragmatic (Keynes, Pratt) or largely ideological (Wormald).
• Also the fact that it’s hard to know how far Wulfstan’s legislation represents the king’s desires

Question 2

Wormald’s summary of Æthelred’s law codes as evidence and implications of this

Answer 2

• Says that the supposed 10 codes of Æthelred are the ‘clearest lesson in the diversity of Anglo-Saxon legislation and of the problems this poses’.

Question 3

What is stenton’s argument concerning the change in tone?

Answer 3

• Stenton commented that this descent into ‘psudeo-legislation’ was another symptom of the degeneration of public affairs as Æthelred’s regime drew to its disastrous close. But really, there was just a change in spokesman.

Question 4

What is it important to bear in mind for Aethelred’s law codes (and indeed law codes in general)

Answer 4

that law codes reflect the diversity of the documentation generated by the circumstances and processes behind the drafting, promulgation, and transmission of royal law

Question 5

Explain a king’s duty in terms of law making

Answer 5

• A king’s duty to maintain the rule of law was enshrined in a promise he made at his coronation. Yet difficulties were already apparent in the reign of Alfred, and these only multiplied thereafter as the size of the kingdom increased ‘and as the internal structures of authority became more complex’.

Question 6

What does keynes say about how we should view æthelred’s ‘codes’

Answer 6

• Argues that to describe the law codes of Alfred’s 10th century successors as ‘law-codes’ is a bit misleading, ‘except in so fat as they were pronouncements on legal matters apparently issued in written form’

Question 7

Summary of Edgar as a law maker – background to Aethelred

Answer 7

• King Edgar has always enjoyed a reputation as a king strong on law and order and contemporaries must have had god reason to applaud his effectiveness in this area. We still have records of crimes in charters, but also known to have introduced comprehensive mutilation; somewhat overbearing.

— This is the necessary background against which to consider crime and punishment in Æthelred’s reign. His successors had issues, and his father controlled them better but may have been seen as somewhat oppressive

Question 8

The forms of evidence for crime and punishment in Aethelred’s reign and what they can tell us

Answer 8

• The ASC and Wulfstan indicate great internal dissention, height of crime and military incompetence during Æthelred’s reign, yet these were both written under the conditions of the end of his reign. Laws and charters offer a more balanced view

Question 9

Discuss I, II and III Aethelred

Answer 9

• In I Æthelred and III Æthelred there is nothing ‘which suggests that the bonds of social order were beginning to break already under the first onslaught of the viking invaders of the 980s and 990s”; gives the impression he’s quite capable

Question 10

Discuss II Aethelred

Answer 10

• III makes particular reference to the Danelaw Five boroughs and its use of Scandinavian vocabulary is quite striking. Could reflect general influence of Norse on English speech, or reflect the usage ‘of the Five Boroughs to which the code was directed’ and has clear Scandinavian influence

Question 11

A summary of aethelred’s first phase of law making?

Answer 11

States that the most striking feature of Æthelred’s pre-Wulfstan laws is ‘that their themes were as resolutely secular as Wulfstan’s were overwhelmingly ecclesiastical’. Æthelred seems to have wanted to stress the integration of lord and neighbourhood.
- There seems to have been quite intense legislative action in Æthelred’s first 25 years or so.

Question 12

What does Wormald say about how Wulfstan viewed law?

Answer 12

States that Wulfstan was essentially blind to the distinction between crimes and sins. Law designed to repress crime was fused with pastoral tradition striving for spiritualism and morality.
- - Wulfstan treated his laws as homilies as he thought this would best achieve the purposes of Anglo-Saxon legislation

Question 13

How is it best to understand aethelred’s legislation?

Answer 13

Should view his earlier and later legislation as two separate groups, as they are so different, splitting between the wantage code and his next dateable legislation

Question 14

what did Æthelred promise in VIII?

Answer 14

• In VIII issued in 1014 Æthelred was forced to promise his people that he would rule them ‘better than he had before’

Question 15

Summarise the later codes

Answer 15

• The later codes give little indication of any practical policy. VII for example was likely issued during a time of great national stress owing to attacks of Danes (although there is no exact date) and yet there is a complete lack of reference to practical measures of defence, but to appoint specific days for prayer and fasting

Question 16

What does Aethelstan V show?

Answer 16

• Æthelstan V shows difficulty with bringing certain men to justice, as they were so rich or members of such powerful families, whilst the Hundred Ordinance has an escalating scale of fines for those who persistently ignored authority

Question 17

How does the tone in change manifest itself?

Answer 17

• But the tone changes in the last decade; goes from a pragmatic approach to the administration of justice to an obsession with the purification of society through adhering to Christian principles

Question 18

Summary of keyne’s argument/ general argument

Answer 18

Overall, evidence for law and lawlessness in Æthelred’s reign must be approached with respect for historical perspective. Previous kings faced similar difficulties, and its just that Æthelred’s charters provide us with a graphic illustration of these difficulties.
But it can’t be doubted that many abuses arose in the closing years of his reign due to the Viking raids.

Question 19

Explain a distinctive feature of Aethelred’s charters and how this has come to create a picture of his reign

Answer 19

• In his charters, a distinctive feature is that they quite often recount how the land came into the king’s possession, which in several cases is due to a crime committed by its previous owner. This doesn’t really happen before or after Æthelred’s reign so can give the impression of a sudden crime wave. But should be cautious. This was probably already happening, it’s just that the draughtsmen of Æthelred’s reign gave details of the crime leading to the forfeiture. About 20 instances of this

Question 20

What are Whitelock and Keynes’ opposing views on why aethelred’s charters include an explanation as to how he came into the land

Answer 20

• Whitelock has argued this is due to Æthelred’s need for self-justification and show his insecurity, but Keynes proffers that it could just be a matter of fashion of a way to strengthen the new owner’s title to the estate.

Question 21

Example of Leofsige

Answer 21

• Also highlights the case of Leofsige, Ealdorman of Essex. He was exiled for killing a reeve in 1002, and other ealdormen were also banished in Æthelred’s reign

Question 22

Example of Wulfbald

Answer 22

The crimes of Wulfbald and his later widow recorded in a charter dated to 996 show that he repeatedly violated the king’s orders and never paid for his crimes, and nor did his wife. Wulfbald’s repeated disregard of royal commands is similar to the difficulties faced by earlier tenth century kings in bringing powerful men to justice, as opposed to inability of a particular king to enforce the law

Question 23

4 examples that reflect badly on Aethelred’s government

Answer 23

Wulfbald and Leofsige

• charter for raisbrough
• charter for Ardley

Question 24

What does V say that reflects badly on the state of law

Answer 24

V Æthelred promulgated in 1008 contains clauses indicating what he might have meant by this; Wulfstan appeals for an end to abuses (unlaga) such as disregarding the testimonies of witnesses properly given and a practice in the north of bringing an accusation of homicide against someone known to be innocent if it was made on the same day as the crime

Question 25

what is the prevailing impression of Æthelred’s rule

Answer 25

• The prevailing impression of Æthelred’s rule ‘is that it was a period of political mismanagement, domestic dissension, widespread lawlessness and military disaster, all proceeding from and exacerbated by the incompetence and weakness of the king himself’.
• Largely due to the ASC and Wulfstan’s sermons

Question 26

what does keynes argument examine/ general issue

Answer 26

s to put the incidence of crime and punishment in his reign into some kind of historical context. Was his reign a particular period of lawlessness? Had his predecessors experienced difficulty with the enforcement of the law?
– Was his reign a period of particular lawlessness?

Question 27

What does some 10th-century material suggest regarding lawlessness

Answer 27

• The 10th century material indicates clearly that these kings were having considerable difficulty maintaining the law; Æthelstan said how peace had not been kept to his, or his councillors, satisfaction and that previous oaths and pledges had been discarded.

Question 28

What does a charter for an estate at Risborough tell us historically?

Answer 28

Ratification by King Ethelred for Æscwig, bishop of Dorchester, of an estate at Risborough, Buckinghamshire, granted to him by Archbishop Sigeric in exchange for money to buy off the Danes (994).
- This illustrates the seriousness of the Danish menace and gives details not mentioned in the chronicles.

Question 29

What does a charter for land at Ardley tell us historically?

Answer 29

• Grant by King Ethelred to his thegn Æthelwig, of land at Ardley, Oxfordshire, forfeited by certain brothers for fighting in defence of a thief (995)
• Like several of Ethelred’s charters sheds light on the workings of Anglo-Saxon law, showing among other things that the right of Christian burial was forfeited by anyone resisting the law, and that an ealdorman could not deal with a breach of law by a king’s reeve, but only appeal to the king.