II Aethelstan; or, the Grately Code

Document Text

Concerning thieves. First, that no thief is to be spared who is caught with the stolen goods, [if he is] over twelve years and [if the value of the goods is] over eightpence.

1.1 And if anyone does spare one, he is to pay for the thief with his wergild—and the thief is to be no nearer a settlement on that account—or to clear himself of an oath by that amount.

1.2. If, however, he [the thief] wishes to defend himself or to escape, he is not to be spared [whether younger or older than twelve].

1.3. If a thief is put into prison, he is to be in prison 40 days, and he may then be redeemed with 120 shillings; and the kindred are to stand surety for him that he will desist for ever.

1.4. And if he steals after that, they are to pay for him with his wergild, or to bring him back there.

1.5. And if anyone defends him, he is to pay for him with his wergild, whether to the king or to him to whom it rightly belongs; and everyone of those who supported him is to pay 120 shillings to the king as a fine.

2. Concerning lordless men. And we pronounced about those lordless men, from whom no justice can be obtained, that one should order their kindred to fetch back such a person to justice and to find him a lord in public meeting.

2.1. And if they then will not, or cannot, produce him on that appointed day, he is then to be a fugitive afterwards, and he who encounters him is to strike him down as a thief.

2.2. And he who harbours him after that, is to pay for him with his wergild or to clear himself by an oath of that amount.

3. Concerning the refusal of justice. The lord who refuses justice and upholds his guilty man, so that the king is appealed to, is to repay the value of the goods and 120 shillings to the king; and he who appeals to the king before he demands justice as often as he ought, is to pay the same fine as the other would have done, if he had refused him justice.

3.1. And the lord who is an accessory to a theft by his slave, and it becomes known about him, is to forfeit the slave and be liable to his wergild on the first occasion; if he does it more often, he is to be liable to pay all that he owns.

3.2. And likewise any of the king’s treasurers or of our reeves, who has been an accessory of thieves who have committed theft, is to be liable to the same.

4. Concerning treachery to a lord. And we have pronounced concerning treachery to a lord, that he [who is accused] is to forfeit his life if he cannot deny it or is afterwards convicted at the three-fold ordeal.

5. And we have pronounced concerning breaking into a church; if he [who is accused] be convicted at the three-fold ordeal, he is to pay according to what the law-book says.

6. Concerning witchcraft. And we have pronounced concerning witchcrafts and sorceries and secret attempts on life, that, if anyone is killed by such, and he [who practised them] cannot deny it, he is to forfeit his life.

6.1. If, however, he wish to deny it, and is convicted at the three-fold ordeal, he is to be 120 days in prison; and his kinsmen are afterwards to take him out and to pay 120 shillings to the king, and to pay the wergild to the kinsmen [of the dead person], and to stand surety for him that he will desist from such for ever.

6.2. Concerning incendiaries. Incendiaries and those who avenge a thief are to be subject to the same penalty.

6.3. And he who wishes to avenge a thief, and yet does not wound anyone, is to pay 120 shillings to the king for the assault.

7. And we have pronounced concerning the simple ordeal, with regard to those men who have often been accused, and were convicted, and know no one to stand surety for them; they are to be brought to prison, and they are to be released as it is said here above.

8. Concerning landless men. And we have pronounced, that if any landless man took service in another shire, and afterwards returns to his kinsmen, he [any kinsman] is to harbour him [only] on condition that he brings him to justice if he commits any offence there, or he is to pay the compensation on his behalf.

9. Concerning the attaching of livestock. He who attaches livestock is to have nominated for him five men among his neighbours, and from those five get one who will swear with him that he is attaching it according to the common law. And he who wishes to maintain his right to it, is to have 10 men nominated for him, and to get two of them and to give the oath that it was born in his possession, without the oath of the whole number. And this selected oath is to be valid [in cases where] over 20 pence [is involved].

10. Concerning exchange. And no one is to exchange any livestock without the witness of the reeve or the priest or the lord of the estate or the treasurer or other trustworthy man. If anyone does so, he is to pay 30 shillings as a fine, and the lord of the estate is to succeed to the exchanged property.

10.1. Concerning false witness. If it is then discovered that any of them gave false witness, his witness is never again to be valid; and also he is to pay 30 shillings as a fine.

11.  Concerning him who should demand payment for a slain man. We have pronounced that he who should demand payment for a slain thief, is to come forward with three others, two from the paternal kindred and one from the maternal, and they are to give the oath that they knew of no theft committed by their kinsman, for which guilt he deserved to lose his life; and they are afterwards to go with twelve others and prove him liable as it was ordained before. And if the kinsmen of the dead man will not come thither on the appointed day, each who brought forward the suit is to pay 120 shillings.

12. [That one is not to buy outside a town.] And we have pronounced that no goods over 20 pence are to be bought outside a town, but they are to be bought there in the witness of the town-reeve or of another trustworthy man, or, again, in the witness of the reeves in a public meeting.

13.  And we pronounce that every borough is to be repaired by a fortnight after Rogation days.

13.1. Secondly, that all buying is to be within a town.

14. Concerning moneyers. Thirdly, that there is to be one coinage over all the King’s dominion, and no one is to mint money except in a town.

14.1. And if a moneyer is convicted, the hand with which he committed the crime is to be struck off, and put up on the mint. And if, however, there is an accusation, and he wishes to clear himself, he is then to go to [the ordeal of] hot iron, and redeem the hand with which he is accused of having committed the crime; and if he is convicted at the ordeal, the same is to be done as it said here above.

14.2. In Canterbury [there are to be] seven moneyers; four of the king, two of the bishop, one of the abbot; in Rochester three, two of the king, one of the bishop; in London eight; in Winchester six; in Lewes two; in Hastings one; another at Chichester; at Southampton two; at Wareham two; [at Dorchester one]; at Exeter two; at Shaftesbury two; otherwise in the other boroughs one.

15. Fourthly: that no shieldmaker is to put any sheepskin on a shield, and if he does so, he is to pay 30 shillings.

16. Fifthly: that every man is to have two mounted men for every plough.

17. Sixthly: if anyone accepts a bribe from a thief and ruins the rights of another, he is to be liable to pay his wergild.

18. Seventhly: that no one is to sell a horse across the sea, unless he wishes to give it.

19. And we have pronounced with regard to a slave, that, if he is convicted at the ordeal, the price of the goods is to be paid, and he is to be flogged three times or the price is to be paid a second time. And the fine is to be at a half-rate where slaves are concerned.

20. If anyone fails to attend a [public] meeting three times, he is to pay the fine for disobedience to the king; and the meeting is to be announced seven days before it is to take place.

20.1. If, however, he will not do justice nor pay the fine for disobedience, the leading men are to ride thither, all who belong to the borough, and take all that he owns and put him under surety.

20.2. If, however, anyone will not ride with his fellows, he is to pay the fine for disobedience to the king.

20.3. And it is to be announced in the meeting that everyone is to be at peace with everything with which the king will be at peace, and to refrain from theft on pain of losing his life and all that he owns.

20.4. And he who will not cease for these penalties-the leading men are to ride thither, all who belong to the borough, and take all that he owns. The king is to succeed to half, to half the men who are on that expedition. And they are to put him under surety.

20.5. If he knows no one to stand surety for him, they are to take him prisoner.

20.6. If he will not permit it, he is to be killed, unless he escapes.

20.7. If anyone wishes to avenge him or carry on a feud against any of them, he is to be at emnity with the king and all the king’s friends.

20.8. If he escapes, and anyone harbours him, he is to be liable to pay his wergild, unless he dares to clear himself by the [amount of the] fugitive’s wergild, that he did not know that he was a fugitive.

21. If anyone compounds for the ordeal, he is to compound what he can for the price of the goods, and not for the fine, unless he to whom it belongs will concede it.

22. And no one is to receive the man of another man, without the permission of him whom he served before.

22.1. If anyone does so, he is to give back the man and pay the fine for disobedience to the king.

22.2. And no one is to dismiss his man who has been accused, before he has rendered justice.

23. If anyone pledges [to undergo] the ordeal, he is then to come three days before to the priest whose duty it is to consecrate it, and live off bread and water and salt and vegetables until he shall go to it, and be present at Mass on each of those three days, and make his offering and go to communion on the day on which he shall go to the ordeal, and swear then the oath that he is guiltless of that charge according to the common law, before he goes to the ordeal.

23.1. And if it is [the ordeal of] water, he is to sink one and a half ells on the rope; if it is the ordeal of iron, it is to be three days before the hand is unbound.

23.2. And each man is to obtain [the right to pursue] his charge by a preliminary oath, as we have said before; and each of those of both parties who is present is to be fasting, according to the command of God and of the archbishop; and there are not to be on either side more men than twelve. If the accused man then is one of a larger company than twelve, the ordeal is then invalidated, unless they will leave him.

24. And he who buys livestock with a witness, and has to vouch to warranty afterwards— then he from whom he bought it is to take it back, whether he be slave or free, whichever he is.

24.1. And there is to be no trading on Sundays; if then anyone does it, he is to forfeit the goods and pay 30 shillings fine.

25. If any of my reeves will not carry out this [ordinance] and is less zealous about it than we have pronounced, he is then to pay the fine for disobedience to me, and I shall find another who will.

25.1. And the bishop in whose diocese it lies is to exact the fine for disobedience from the reeve.

25.2. He who deviates from this ordinance is to pay on the first occasion five pounds, on the second occasion his wergild, on the third occasion he is to forfeit all that he owns and the friendship of us all.

26. And he who swears a false oath, and it becomes known against him, is never afterwards to be entitled to an oath, nor is he to be buried in a consecrated cemetery when he dies, unless he has the witness of the bishop in whose diocese he is that he has done penance for it as his confessor has prescribed for him.

26.1. And his confessor is to inform the bishop within 30 days whether he was willing to submit to that penance. If he does not do so, he is to pay in accordance with what the bishop will allow him.

[All this was established at the great assembly at Grately, at which Archbishop Wulfhelm was present and all the nobles and councillors whom King Athaelstan could gather together.]

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Reprinted from Dorothy Whitelock, English Historical Documents, Volume 1 (500–1042), copyright © 1996, Routledge, pp. 381–386. Reprinted by permission of Taylor & Francis Books UK.