2 - Sunday Observance in Anglo-Saxon England

Summary

The regulation of Sunday observance in Anglo-Saxon England offers a good example of how the legislative body of a particular people gradually developed a definition of what should be considered ‘illicit work’ on that day. The Anglo-Saxons initially drew on the so-called ‘Germanic’ law codes and later on Carolingian precedent, but there are also significant differences, which indicate that they were reluctant to adopt the detailed proscriptions sometimes seen in continental legislation. Even so, a trend of increasing prohibitions is evident throughout the period.

The Early Law Codes

The ordinances concerning Sunday activities in Anglo-Saxon England go back at least as far as the late seventh century. The West Saxon King Ine (d. 726) and Kentish King Wihtræd (d. 725) both included edicts forbidding Sunday work in their codes. They are very similar to each other and are most closely related to the Germanic law codes on the Continent, particularly to the Pactus legis Salicae (in this case identical to the Lex Salica) and the Lex Frisionum, which also list the penalties to be exacted for Sunday work according to the status of the offender. In the Anglo-Saxon laws there are only two categories, slave and freeman, whereas the continental codes differentiate by ethnic or regional grouping. The following is the relevant section in Ine's code:

Gif ðeowmon wyrce on Sunnandæg be his hlafordes hæse, sie he frioh, and se hlaford geselle XXX scill. to wite. Gif þonne se ðeowa butan his gewitnesse wyrce, þolie his hyde. Gif ðonne se frigea ðy dæge wyrce butan his hlafordes hæse, ðolie his freotes.

Of interest is the acknowledgment, also in Wihtræd's code, that a lord must be held responsible when he has ordered his slave to work on Sunday. Both texts impose a severe penalty for the freeman, either the loss of freedom or healsfang, a fine equivalent to a man's wergeld. Wihtræd's code also offers some interesting differences. The penalties are not the same: whereas Ine's penalty for forcing a slave to work is the slave's freedom and a 30-shilling fine, Wihtræd only stipulates an 80-shilling fine, and a slave who works without his lord's knowledge may pay a fine of 6 shillings instead of receiving a flogging.