Leges Edwardi Confessoris facts for kids
The Leges Edwardi Confessoris, which means Laws of Edward the Confessor, is a collection of rules and customs. People believed these rules showed what English law was like during the time of Edward the Confessor (who ruled from 1042 to 1066). The story goes that these laws were told to the Norman invader William the Conqueror in 1070. However, historians now believe these laws were actually written much later. They were probably put together in the early years of King Stephen's rule (around 1135–1154).
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Why Were These Laws Important?
After the Norman Conquest in 1066, England changed a lot. By 1086, most of the big landowners were Normans, Flemings, or Bretons. Very few English people still owned large estates. This was a big change from before the conquest.
Some writers at the time had different views. Henry of Huntingdon felt the English people were "delivered for destruction" by the Normans. But William of Poitiers praised the Norman victory. He said the English got what they deserved at the Battle of Hastings.
Making Norman Rule Seem Fair
The Leges Edwardi helped make William the Conqueror's rule seem more fair and right. It also helped the rulers in the 1100s distance themselves from the violent way they took over England.
Historians think this collection of laws was written between 1130 and 1135. This was towards the end of King Henry I's time. The goal was to make Norman rules seem like they had old English roots. The text claimed that its author had written down the laws and customs told to William the Conqueror in 1070. These were supposedly shared by "English nobles who were wise men."
The story says that William agreed to let the English live under the laws of Edward the Confessor. These were also called the laga Edwardi. The real value of this text is not whether the story is true. Instead, it shows how people thought about Norman rule after the conquest.
What Was the Laga Edwardi?
The laga Edwardi was not a single law book. It was a general term for the laws and customs of England before the Norman Conquest. English bishops like Dunstan and Wulfstan wrote down laws for kings like Edgar, Æthelred the Unready, and Cnut.
Many of these old law codes survived in church collections made after the conquest. The earliest one is the Textus Roffensis, from around 1123. William's supposed acceptance of the laga Edwardi showed a link between Edward the Confessor's rule and his own. This might have been to make the changes from the 1066 conquest seem less harsh.
What Did the Leges Edwardi Cover?
Before the 1600s, the Leges Edwardi Confessoris had different names. It is one of four main texts about the laga Edwardi. The others are the Willelmi articuli decem, Leis Willelme, and Leges Henrici Primi.
The Leges Edwardi did not copy directly from any known old English laws. Sometimes, it even borrowed ideas from a Frankish (French) text. Scholars have discussed how much the earlier Danelaw (areas in England settled by Vikings) might have influenced it.
The Murder Fine
The text itself claimed that the "murder fine" started with Cnut. This fine was paid by a whole village or hundred if a Norman was found killed there. The Leges Edwardi said Cnut first used this rule to protect Danes from the English. A legal writer named Bracton accepted this idea in the 1200s.
Some scholars, like Felix Liebermann, thought the idea of Danish origins was made up. They believed it was to blame earlier Danish rulers for the fine. However, other scholars disagree with this idea.
Peace and Roads
The main concerns of the text were the "king's peace" and the "peace of the Holy Church." This was especially true in the North Midlands and Yorkshire, near the Danelaw. Even though it focused on common law, the text also showed that laws could be different in different regions.
For example, it described different types of the king's peace:
- Peace given by the king's own hand (called kinges hand salde grid).
- Peace for eight days after the king's coronation.
- Peace for eight days at Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost.
- Peace given by the king's written order (writ).
- Peace along four main roads: Watling Street, Fosse Way, Iknield Way, and Ermine Street. Two of these roads ran the length of the kingdom, and two ran across its width.
Other interesting points in the text include mentions of the wapentake (a type of local division), the reeve (a local official), Peter's Pence (a church tax), and the legal position of Jews in England. It also showed an awareness of England's Saxon heritage.
Bruce O'Brien, a recent editor of the text, thinks the Leges Edwardi was popular because it showed "a Norman king interested in preserving and maintaining" the native laws of the English nobles. He believes the work offers "original observations" about English law at the time it was written.
How Did It Influence Others?
Because Edward the Confessor had a strong reputation as a lawgiver, this collection of laws was very popular in medieval England. Many copies of the text exist. There are four main versions, two of which have extra material added to the original text.
A version of the Leges Edwardi Confessoris was known to Henry de Bracton, a famous legal writer. It was also known to the barons and lawyers who created the Magna Carta.
In the 1600s, during arguments about England's old constitution, the Leges Edwardi Confessoris was often used. People used it to support the idea that the House of Commons (part of Parliament) had very old roots.
