Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-2xdlg Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-05T14:32:47.025Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

2 - King and Church in the Laws of King Edmund

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 May 2024

Mary Elizabeth Blanchard
Affiliation:
Ave Maria University, Florida
Christopher Riedel
Affiliation:
Albion College, Michigan
Get access

Summary

In 946, King Edmund was reportedly stabbed to death at Pucklechurch, by a thief named Leofa, after a mere seven years on the throne. The king's bloody end suggests a turbulent tenure, punctuated by lawless violence; but in fact, the reign of Edmund (r. 939–46) marked the culmination of a new era of English lawmaking, after a centuries-long hiatus in the production of written legislation. His grandfather Alfred (r. 871–899) issued the first royal lawcode since the seventh century, probably in the 890s, and Alfred's son Edward (r. 899–924) followed up with two much briefer codes of his own. Edmund's predecessor, his half-brother Æthelstan (r. 924–939), took a different approach: seven extant lawcodes are associated with his reign, including one long omnibus code, two codes focused on religious obligations, and sets of shorter decrees which revised or clarified earlier laws.

Edmund's own three lawcodes fit comfortably within this fifty-year tradition of royal legislation. His corpus was considerably briefer than Alfred's and Æthelstan’s, but it followed the same guiding principles: his laws outlined judicial procedures, established punishments for unacceptable conduct, and confirmed ecclesiastical policies, protections, and obligations. There were some important innovations in Edmund's laws, however – notably, new regulations on feud and homicide, and the earliest explicit mandate for a universal loyalty oath. Because these developments are seen as foundational to later legal initiatives, they have attracted considerable scholarly attention. Beyond these efforts, though, Edmund's laws have gotten short shrift among legal historians. This may be because his codes built so obviously upon his predecessors’ laws, or it may be because so much of his legislation focuses on religious matters. Or, perhaps, it is simply that Edmund's decrees on feuding, homicide, and loyalty have assumed an outsized role in scholarship concerned with the consolidation of royal power and the evolution of a pre-Conquest ‘state.’

The present analysis moves beyond the laws typically associated with Edmund's effort to expand royal authority. I will instead examine decrees which are frequently overlooked: those which govern religious matters.

Type
Chapter
Information
The Reigns of Edmund, Eadred and Eadwig, 939-959
New Interpretations
, pp. 39 - 58
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer
Print publication year: 2024

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×