III. FRAGMENTS OF MERCIAN AND THE NORTH PEOPLE’S LAW.
Fragments preserved of ancient custom.
We now have to consider a group of fragments of uncertain date which seem to belong to the period of the Northmen’s settlement in Northumbria and invasions in Mercia.
The settlement of the Viking invaders made it necessary to fix the relation of their wergelds to those of the conquered English, and also to gather up fragments of Mercian custom. As the Dooms of Mercian kings have not come down to us, these fragments have a special value.
The importance of Mercia in King Offa’s time gives a special interest to any information on Mercian custom. And in other respects, scanty though it be, the retrospect of early Anglo-Saxon custom from the invaders’ point of view could ill be spared.
Under Mercian law the oath of twelve-hyndeman = that of six ceorls.
There are two valuable fragments on Mercian law.
The first is as follows:—
Be Merciscan Aðe
Of the Mercian Oath
Twelf-hyndes mannes að forstent vi ceorla að forþam gif man þone twelf-hyndan man wrecan sceolde he bið full-wrecan on syx ceorlan ⁊ his wer-gyld bið six ceorla wer-gyld.
A twelve-hyndeman’s oath stands for six ceorls’ oaths; because if a man should avenge a twelve-hyndeman he will be fully avenged on six ceorls and his wergild will be six ceorls’ wergilds.
This fragment of Mercian law is preceded in the group of fragments ‘on oaths’ in Thorpe’s edition of the Laws by the following, which may or may not be of Mercian origin:—
Mass-priest’s oath = that of the thane.
Mæsse-preostes að ⁊ woruld-þegenes is on Engla-laga geteald efen-dyre ⁊ for þam seofon ciric-hadan þe se mæsse-preost þurh Godes gif geþeah ꝥ he hæfde he bið þegen-rihtes wyrðe.
A mass-priest’s oath and a secular thane’s are in English-law reckoned of equal value; and by reason of the seven church-degrees that the mass-priest through the grace of God has acquired he is worthy of thane-right.
The other fragment of Mercian law is as follows:—
Mercian wergelds.
Ceorles wer-gild is on Myrcna lage cc scill. Ðegnes wer-gild is syx swa micel ꝥ bið xii hund scill. Ðonne bið cynges anfeald wer-gild vi þegna wer be Myrcna lage ꝥ is xxx þusend sceatta ⁊ ꝥ bið ealles cxx punda. Swa micel is þæs wer-gildes on folces folc-rihtes be Myrcna lage. And for þam cyne-dome geborað oðer swilc to bote on cyne-gilde. Se wer gebirað magum ⁊ seo cyne-bot þam leodum.
A ceorl’s wergeld is by Mercian law cc scillings. A thane’s wergeld is six times as much, i.e. xii hundred scillings. Then is a king’s simple wergeld vi thanes’ wer by Mercian law, i.e. xxx thousand sceatts, and that is altogether cxx pounds. So much is the wergeld in the people’s folkright by Mercian law. And for the ‘Cynedom’ there is due another such sum as bot for cyne-gild. The wer belongs to the kindred and the cynebot to the people.
The Mercian wergeld of both twy-hynde and twelve-hynde men is thus stated in scillings, as usual, and the king’s wergeld—six times the thane’s—would equal 7200 scillings. The Mercian scilling was 4d., and thus, as stated in the text, the king’s wergeld would equal exactly 120l. or 28,800 pence or sceatts (in round numbers 30,000 sceatts).
This is useful as evidence that the sceatt of this Mercian wergeld was the silver penny of the Anglo-Saxon currency of 28·8 wheat-grains—i.e. of the Sceatt series—before Offa and Alfred, following the example of Charlemagne, superseded the ‘sceatt’ by the ‘penny’ of 32 wheat-grains.
Fragment of North People’s Law.
The fragments printed by Thorpe under the heading ‘North People’s Law’ and by Schmid in his ‘Anhang VII.’ seem to belong to Northumbria or more generally to the Danelaga. Schmid suggests that the ‘North people’ were the North folk of East Anglia. This, however, is perhaps more than doubtful, especially when it is considered that the Viking ‘armies’ had established themselves, not only in East Anglia and Mercia, but still more completely in Northumbria, many years before the struggle with Wessex had ended in the compact between Alfred and Guthrum.
The fragment of ‘North People’s Law’[236] opens with the statement that the king’s gild is 30,000 thrymsas—15,000 for the wergeld and 15,000 for the people (leodum).
In another MS. the wording follows the statement of Mercian law very closely, and agrees with the above in describing the amount in thrymsas.
Wergelds paid in thrymsas of threepence.
Ðæs cyninges wer-gyld sie mid Engla cynne on folc-riht þryttig þusend þrimsa ⁊ þæra xv .M. sien þæs wæres ⁊ oðra xv .M. þæs cynedomes. Se wære belympað to þam mægðe þæs cyne-cynnes ⁊ ꝥ cynebot to þam land-leod.
Let the king’s wergeld be with the English race by folkright, 30,000 thrymsas, and of these let 15,000 be for the wer and the other 15,000 for the cynedom. The wer belongs to the kindred of the king and the cynebot to the people.
Now, in the first place, what was the thrymsa, which occurs in these clauses for the first time?
A statement a little further on in one of the two texts of the same fragment fixes the value of the thrymsa at three pence.[237]
The statement of ‘North People’s Law’ proceeds as follows:[238]—
Arces ⁊ æðelinges wer-gyld is xv þusend þrymsa.
(2) An archbishop’s and an ætheling’s wergeld is xv thousand thrymsas.
Biscopes ⁊ ealdormannes viii þusend þrymsa.
(3) A bishop’s and an ealdorman’s viii thousand thrymsas.
Holdes ⁊ cyninges heah-gerefan iiii þusend þrymsa.
(4) A hold’s and a king’s high-reeve’s iv thousand thrymsas.
Mæsse-þegnes ⁊ woruld-þegnes ii þusend þrymsa.
(5) A mass thane’s and a secular thane’s ii thousand thrymsas.
Ceorles wer-gild is cc. ⁊ lxvi þrim. ꝥ bið ii hund scill be Myrcna lage.
(6) A ceorl’s wergeld is cc and lxvi thrymsas, that is cc scillings by Mercian law.
Put into tabular form these wergelds would be as follows in thrymsas and Wessex and Mercian scillings:—
| Thrymsas | Wessex shillings of 5d. | Mercian shillings of 4d. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| King’s wergeld 15,000, cynebot 15,000 | 30000 | = | 18000 | 22500 |
| Archbishop’s and Ætheling’s | 15000 | = | 9000 | 11250 |
| Bishop’s and Ealdorman’s | 8000 | = | 4800 | 6000 |
| Holdr’s and King’s high-reeve’s | 4000 | = | 2400 | 3000 |
| Mass thane’s and secular thane’s | 2000 | = | 1200 | 1500 |
| Ceorl’s | 266⅔ | = | 160 | 200 |
The ceorl has a twyhynde wergeld in Mercian shillings and the thane a twelve-hynde wergeld in Wessex shillings. There seems to be so far some confusion. But on the whole this reckoning seems to justify the opinion generally held that the Northmen coming as conquerors into Northumbria or the Danelaga had, at the date of these fragments, doubled the wergeld of the hold or hauld as compared with that of the English thane.
Wergeld of hauld double that of the thane, but after Alfred’s victory both equally dear.
If, as seems reasonable, these fragments may be referred to the period following upon the Viking conquest and settlement in Northumbria and the foundation of Halfdan’s kingdom of York (A.D. 876), then the doubled wergeld of the hauld may be perhaps the high-water mark as it were of the invasion—the point of vantage at which it was natural for the conquerors to treat the conquered as a tributary race. And if it may rightly be so regarded, then it gives an added interest to the compact between King Alfred and Guthrum in 886. For then, the tide of battle having turned, the two kings at length met on equal terms and, undoing the earlier unequal settlement, now agreed to make Dane and Englishman equally dear.
A still more interesting point than the doubling of the conquering Hold’s wergeld as compared with the conquered thane’s is found in the subsequent clauses of this fragment, which seem to refer back to ancient tradition as regards the position of the non-Saxon subjects of Anglo-Saxon kings.[239]
Chance given to the Wiliscman to rise as in the laws of Ine.
And gif Wilisc man geþeo ꝥ he hæbbe hiwisc landes ⁊ mæge cyninges gafol forð-bringan, þonne bið his wergild cxx scill. And gif he ne geþeo buton to healfne hide þonne si his wer lxx scill.
(7) And if a Wiliscman thrive so that he have hiwisc landes and can bring forth the king’s gafol, then his wergeld shall be cxx scillings. And if he only comes up to a half hide then shall his wer be lxxx scillings.
And gif he ænig land næbbe ⁊ þeah freoh sy forgilde hine man mid lxx scill.
(8) And if he have not any land and yet be free, let him be paid for with lxx scillings.
The other version is practically the same:—
And Wealisc-monnes weregild gif he beo to tham gewelegod ꝥ he hyred ⁊ eht age ⁊ þam cyng gafol gyldan mæg hit bið þon ccxx scill. Ac he ne bið butan to healf hyda gerysen þonne sie his were lxxx scill.
(7) And a Wealisc-man’s wergeld if he be so enriched that he has family and goods (hyred and eht) and can pay the King’s gafol shall be ccxx scillings [? cxx]. And if he be risen but to half a hide, then shall his own wer be lxxx scillings.
Gif he land næbbe ac bið freoh gyld mon lxx scill.
(8) If he have no land but is free let him be paid for with lxx scillings.
Now ‘hiwisc’ and ‘hyred’ both seem to mean family. In a roundabout indirect way ‘familia’ and hide meant apparently very much the same thing, but as the word hide is used in the same clause the more direct meaning may surely in this case be the important one.
It is probable that these clauses are variations or fuller expressions of the tradition described in c. 32 of King Ine’s Laws, which is as follows:—
Gif Wylisc mon hæbbe hide londes his wer bið c. xx scill., gif he þonne hæbbe healfe lxxx scill., gif he nænig hæbbe lx scillinga.
If a Wylisc man have a hide of land his ‘wer’ shall be cxx s., but if he have half a hide lxxx s., if he have none lx s.
And the additional information amounts practically to this—that the possession of a hide seems to have been held generally equivalent to the possession of a family homestead—family and goods—enabling a man to pay the king’s gafol.
It is when we pass on from these clauses to the next that fresh and welcome light seems to be gained upon the connection of the growth of a family and kindred with rise in status and social rank from a ceorlisc or twy-hynde position to that of the Gesithcund or twelve-hynde position. We are now no longer dealing with the Wylisc man but with the ordinary twy-hynde ceorl. And the mention of the payments in thrymsas reminds us that we are still looking at things from the North people’s point of view.
The clauses in the two versions are as follows:—
How under early custom a ceorl could rise into the twelve-hynde class.
ix. And gif ceorlisc man geþeo ꝥ he hæbbe v hida landes to cynges ut-ware ⁊ hine man ofslea forgilde man hine mid twam þusend þrimsa.
ix. Gif ceorl sie gewelegod to þam þ [he] age v hyda landes ⁊ mon hine ofslea gyld hine mon mid ii .M. þrimsa.
x. And þeah he geþeo ꝥ he hæbbe helm ⁊ byrnan ⁊ golde fæted sweord, gif he ꝥ land nafað he bið ceorl swa þeah.
x. And gif he begytað ꝥ he hæbbe byrne ⁊ helm ⁊ ofergyldenene sweord, þeah þe he land næbbe he bið siðcund.
xi. And gif his sunu ⁊ his sunu-sunu ꝥ geþeoð ꝥ hi swa micel landes habban siþþan bið se ofsprinc gesiðcundes cynnes be twam þusendum.
xi. And gif his sunu ⁊ þæs sun-sunu ꝥ begyten ꝥ he swa micel landes habbað sien hiora after-gengas þæs siðcunda[n] cynnes ⁊ gyld þam mon mid ii .M. þrimsa.
xii. And gif hi ꝥ nabbað ne to þam geþeon ne magan gilde man cirlisce.
And they may be translated thus:—
9. And if a ceorlish man thrive so that he have v hides of land to the king’s utware and any one slay him, let him be paid for with 2000 thrymsas.[240]
9. If a ceorl be enriched to that degree that he have 5 hides of land to the king’s utware and any one slay him, let him be paid for with 2000 thrymsas.
10. And though he thrive so that he have a helm and coat of mail, and a sword ornamented with gold, if he have not that land he is nevertheless a ceorl.
10. And if he acquire so that he have a coat of mail and a helmet and an overgilded sword, if he have not that land he is [? not] sithcund.
11. And if his son and his son’s son so thrive that they have so much land, afterwards the offspring shall be of gesithcund race at 2000 (thrymsas).
11. And if his son and the son’s son acquire that they have so much land, let their successors be of the sithcund kin and let them be paid for with 2000 thrymsas.
12. And if they have not that nor to that can thrive, let them be paid for as ceorlish.
These passages are very important, as the most direct evidence we possess of the way in which under early Anglo-Saxon custom families became gesithcund by the gradual growth of a kindred whose kinsmen, like the odal-men of the Norse laws, could reckon four generations in succession of sufficient landholding.
The evidence is all the more interesting because it seems to come from the point of view of the Norse or Danish invaders making inquiry respecting English tradition and recording what had once been the custom of the conquered districts.
Another precious fragment, with further information.
The same remark applies equally to another of these valuable fragments—‘Of people’s ranks and law.’ It, too, seems to look back and to record what once had been the custom of the conquered people.
Hit wæs hwilum on Engla lagum ꝥ leod ⁊ lagu for be geþincðum ⁊ þa wæron [þeod-] witan weorðscipes wyrðe ælc be his mæðe, eorl ⁊ ceorl, þegen ⁊ þeoden.
1. It was whilom, in the laws of the English, that people and law went by ranks, and then were the Witan of worship worthy each according to his condition, eorl and ceorl, thegen and theoden.
These are the phrases of a writer looking back with regret upon ancient custom which to him is past or passing away.
After this follow clauses in one of which the word hyrede and the phrase ‘having so many hides to the king’s utware’ again occur, words that seem to suggest that this fragment, while describing ancient English custom, hails from a somewhat similar source as the ‘North People’s Law.’
And gif ceorl geþeah ꝥ he hæfde fullice fif hida agenes landes, cirican ⁊ kycenan, bell-hus ⁊ burh-geat, setl ⁊ sunder-note, on cynges healle þonne wæs he þonon-forð, þegen-rihtes weorðe.
2. And if a ceorl thrived so that he had fully five hides of his own land, church and kitchen, bell-house and burh-geat, seat and special duty in the King’s hall, then was he thenceforth of thane-right worthy.
This seems to be practically identical with clause 9 of the previous fragment. Then follows:—
And gif þegen geþeah ꝥ he þenode cynge ⁊ his rad-stefne rad on his hirede, gif he þonne hæfde þegen þe him filigde þe to cinges ut-ware fif hida hæfde ⁊ on cynges sele his hlaforde þenode & þriwa mid his ærende gefore to cinge se moste syþþan mid his foraðe his hlaford aspelian æt mistlican neodan ⁊ his onspæce geræcan mid rihte swa hwær swa he sceolde.
And if a thane thrived so that he served the King and on his summons (rád-stefne) rode with his household (hirede), if he then had a thane who him followed, who to the King’s utware five hides had, and in the King’s hall served his lord [the thane] and thrice with his errand went to the King, he might thenceforth with his foreoath his lord represent at various needs and his plaint lawfully conduct wherever he ought.
And seþe swa geþogenne forwyrht an næfde swore for sylfne æfter his rihte oþþe his þolode.
4. And he who so prosperous a vicegerent had not, swore for himself according to his right, or it forfeited.
And gif þegen geþeah ꝥ he wearð to eorle þonne wæs he syþþan eorl-rihtes weorðe.
5. And if a thane thrived, so that he became an eorl, then was he thenceforth of eorl-right worthy.
These passages we shall have to consider further when we sum up the evidence upon the Anglo-Saxon division of classes.
The ceorl must rise into direct service to the king and to having a kindred around him.
But there are two peculiarities which may be marked here as pointing to the archaic character of these precious fragments. First, the alliteration and rhythmical character of some of them, which points to an early and traditional origin, and, secondly, the direct relations of the classes mentioned to the king. The Wilisc man has to bring forth the king’s gafol. The ceorl who has five hides has them to the king’s utware and he becomes gesithcund and thane-right worthy with special duty in the king’s hall, while the thane is all the greater when he has a thane under him who has himself five hides to the king’s utware and goes with his errands to the king.
These are marks of direct relationship and service of the gesithcund classes to the king, to which we shall have to recur. They seem to point to the gesithcund class with its completeness of kindred as a privileged class in a semi-official position and from which the king’s officials were chosen. It is not until this relationship by service to the king has become established that a ceorl finds an entrance into the gesithcund class, and he does not become eligible for such service till he is surrounded by an adequate kindred.
In the meantime we may be thankful to the exigences of the Viking invasions for the preservation of these valuable fragments of ancient custom which might otherwise have been lost.
