Forging a Precedent: the Purpose and Legacy of The “Laws of Edward and Guthrum”

Abstract

To properly understand the intricate workings of Wulfstan’s intimidating legislative corpus, one should look more keenly into its genesis. The law code titled “The Laws of Edward and Guthrum” has largely been ignored and our understanding of the archbishop’s purpose and methodology is perhaps the poorer for it: in its current form, the code represents Wulfstan’s earliest attempt at legislation. It survives in two manuscripts: Cambridge Corpus Christi College 383 (B) and Strood, Medway Archive and Local Studies Centre, MS DRc/R1 (H), also known as Textus Roffensis. The present paper aims at elucidating how the provisions first mentioned here helped shape many of Wulfstan’s later laws, and that the text itself should not be interpreted as merely one’s first attempt at legislation. Quite the opposite, “The Laws of Edward and Guthrum” should be perceived as an invaluable key through which much of the later Anglo-Saxon legislation can be understood.