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Dunsæte

  • Old English, Latin
  • prose
  • Anglo-Saxon texts

Dunsæte is an anonymous legal document which calls itself an agreement (gerædnes) between English witan and Welsh people (Wealhðeode).

The text appears to have been the product of an Anglo-Welsh meeting, possibly in c. 930, when the "North Welsh" had to strike a hard bargain with King Æthelstan (r. 924-939) and the River Wye was chosen to represent the natural border between Wales and England. It has been suggested that this particular meeting took place in the town of Archenfield, near Hereford, close to the River Wye.(1)n. 1 Patrick Wormald, The making of English law. King Alfred to the Norman Conquest. Vol 1: Legislation and Its limits (1999): 381–382. The text is chiefly concerned with the collective responsibilities for upholding law and order in the area, covering topics such as cattle-theft and killing. Dunsæte does not come down as an independent text, but as an appendix to II Æthelred, King Æthelred's treaty with Olaf in c. 994. The reference to twelve lawmen may be a later interpolation.(2)n. 2 Patrick Wormald, The making of English law. King Alfred to the Norman Conquest. Vol 1: Legislation and Its limits (1999): 381–382.
Title
Dunsæte
Also known as Ordinance concerning the Dunsæte.
Author
Anonymous.
Manuscripts
Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, MS 383
ff. 62r–63r
Old English text
Quadripartitus MSS, Latin translation:
R:
London, British Library, MS Royal 11 B ii
ff. 160v–162r
T:
London, British Library, MS Cotton Titus A xxvii
ff. 144r–145r
part 2
M:
Manchester, John Rylands University Library, MS Lat. 420
ff. 66v–67v
Hk:
London, British Library, MS Additional 49366
ff. 80v–82r
Language
  • Old English Latin

  • Old English; translated into Latin.

Date

Often dated to the second quarter of the 10th century. George Molyneaux has recently offered a later date, late 10th or 11th century.

Form
prose (primary)

Classification

Anglo-Saxon textsAnglo-Saxon texts
...

Sources

Notes

1.
Patrick Wormald, The making of English law. King Alfred to the Norman Conquest. Vol 1: Legislation and Its limits (1999): 381–382.
2.
Patrick Wormald, The making of English law. King Alfred to the Norman Conquest. Vol 1: Legislation and Its limits (1999): 381–382.

Primary sources Text editions and/or modern translations – in whole or in part – along with publications containing additions and corrections, if known. Diplomatic editions, facsimiles and digital image reproductions of the manuscripts are not always listed here but may be found in entries for the relevant manuscripts. For historical purposes, early editions, transcriptions and translations are not excluded, even if their reliability does not meet modern standards.

[ed.] [tr.] Liebermann, Felix [ed. and tr.], Die Gesetze der Angelsachsen, 3 vols, Halle, 1903–1916.  
comments: Three volumes were published between 1903 and 1916: vol. 1 (1903); vol. 2.1 (1906), 2.2 (1912); and vol. 3 (1916).
Internet Archive – vol. 1: <link> Internet Archive – vol. 2.1 (dictionary): <link> Internet Archive – vol. 2.2 (glossary): <link> Internet Archive – vol. 2: <link> Internet Archive – vol. 2: <link> Internet Archive – vol. 3: <link> Internet Archive – vol. 3: <link>
Vol. 1: 374–378 direct link

Secondary sources (select)

Wormald, Patrick, The making of English law. King Alfred to the Norman Conquest. Vol 1: Legislation and Its limits, Oxford, 1999.
381–382
Charles-Edwards, T. M., “13. The Britons and their neighbours under the Mercian hegemony, 685–825”, in: T. M. Charles-Edwards, Wales and the Britons, 350–1064, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013. 411–436.
422–423
Early English laws, Online: Institute of Historical Research, University of London, King's College London, 2006–present. URL: <http://www.earlyenglishlaws.ac.uk>.
direct link
web page identifiers
Contributors
C. A., Dennis Groenewegen
Page created
December 2010, last updated: January 2024
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