New Translations

'Concerning a woman's bretrothal' & a charter of Edmund I

'Be wifmannes beweddung' ('Concerning a woman's betrothal'), Textus Roffensis, folio 94v. By permission of the Dean and Chapter, Rochester Cathedral.

Blessed ones,

The other Monk of this website has been busying away with translating Textus Roffensis ('the book of Rochester'). Here are the latest texts:

Woman's Betrothal

This is a particularly fascinating text. It will let you know what had to happen when a man wanted to marry a woman in England in the decades leading up to the Norman Conquest. Lots of pledging, I can tell you. And when it came to the officiating priest at the wedding, he had to make sure the couple were not too closely related. Oh, just the thought of such scandal!

Charter of Edmund I

This is a somewhat spurious charter, as Dr Monk's introduction makes clear, but nonetheless of great interest because of its Old English boundary clause which directs one around the piece of land being gifted by Edmund to the bishop of Rochester. As you read it, you can imagine someone perambulating from landmark to landmark. Also, the charter's witness list is noteworthy for its inclusion of both the queen mother and the queen consort of Eadmund.

Edmund I grants 3 plough-lands at Malling to the bishop of Rochester. Textus Roffensis, folio 143v. This page shows the witness list, which includes the Queen mother, Eadgifu, and the Queen Consort, Ælfgifu. By permission of the Dean & Chapter of Rochester Cathedral.