2 - King and Church in the Laws of King Edmund

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.