Leges Henrici Primi
| Leges Henrici Primi | |
|---|---|
| Laws of Henry I Leges Henrici |
|
| Author(s) | unknown |
| Dedicated to | King Henry I of England |
| Language | medieval Latin |
| Date | c. 1115 |
| Manuscript(s) | 6 extant manuscripts plus 3 known lost manuscripts |
| Rylands lat.155 c. 1201 (Rs) | |
| Red Book of the Exchequer c. 1225 (Sc) | |
| Hargrave 313 c. 1255 (Hg) | |
| Cotton Claudius D.II c. 1310 (K) | |
| Corpus Christi College 70 c. 1320 (Co) | |
| Oriel College 46 c. 1330 (Or) | |
| Principal manuscript(s) | K, Rs |
| First printed edition | 1644 |
| Genre | Legal text |
| Subject | English laws and legal procedures |
The Leges Henrici Primi or Laws of Henry I is a legal treatise, written in about 1115, that records the legal customs of medieval England in the reign of King Henry I of England. Although it is not an official document, it was written by someone apparently associated with the royal administration. It lists and explains the laws, and includes explanations of how to conduct legal proceedings. Although its title implies that these laws were issued by King Henry, it lists laws issued by earlier monarchs that were still in force in Henry's reign; the only law of Henry that is included is the coronation charter he issued at the start of his reign. It covers a diverse range of subjects, including ecclesiastical cases, treason, murder, theft, feuds, assessment of danegeld, and the amounts of judicial fines.
The work survives in six manuscripts that range in date from about 1200 to around 1330, belonging to two different manuscript traditions. Besides the six surviving manuscripts, three others were known to scholars in the 17th and 18th centuries, but have not survived to the present day. Two other separate copies may also have existed. The complete work itself was first printed in 1644, but an earlier partial edition appeared in 1628. The Leges is the first legal treatise in English history, and has been credited with having the greatest effect on the views of English law before the reign of King Henry II than any other work of its kind.
The Leges Henrici Primi or Laws of Henry I is not merely a compilation of laws but an integrated legal treatise, the first such in the history of England, written in the Latin language about 1115. It records the legal customs of medieval England. It was part of a small group of similar writings devoted to legal procedures that were written for royal administrators. Besides the Leges, other works of this type produced at this time were the Quadripartitus, parts of the Leges Edwardi Regis, the Instituta Cnuti, and the Consiliatio Cnuti. It is possible the Leges Willhelmi was also written during this time period. It is the longest of the legal tracts from its time, and made some effort to be comprehensive.
The provisions set forth in the Leges can be traced to laws of Cnut and various Anglo-Saxon codes. Some of the Anglo-Saxon codes used may have been subsequently lost. Also, certain legal terms used in the Leges, whether in their original English language or rendered into Latin, cannot be found in any extant legal code, and may be another example of preserving now-lost legal codes or provisions. It also draws upon non-English sources, including Isidore of Seville and Ivo of Chartres, as well as legal codes such as Frankish and canon law. Other sources include the Vulgate edition of the Bible and Roman law codes, although the debt to those sources is small.
...
Wikipedia