Translations of Early English Laws Now on KAS

19/7/2024

Translations of Early English Laws Now on KAS

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Textus Roffensis, folios 32v-37r. The opening of King Athelstan's Grately Code, recently translated by Dr Monk. Image courtesy of the Chapter of Rochester Cathedral.

Blessed ones,

Dr Monk's translations of the early English laws from the Textus Roffensis manuscript are now available via the Kent Archaeological Society's (KAS) website. Please click on the button below, which has been updated (12 July, 2025) after a reorganisation of the KAS pages. If you find the link to be broken at any time, or if KAS links to individual translations are not functioning, please do contact me and I will endeavour to get things corrected.

Early English Laws

2 Comments

Nausicaa of Wellington (Beef)

10/6/2025 08:44:21 am

Dr. Monk, it greatly surprised me, after having read your blogs for many a long week and revelling in the wittiness and care that goes into each one, that you were in fact a/the? translator of the Textus Roffensis for the Rochester Cathedral themselves. I was greatly excited in being able to read your translated works, however, to my great dismay, they now seem to have been taken down from the site! Is there any other way I may access such now? I await your reply with anticipation, good sir.

Christopher Monk

12/7/2025 11:32:50 am

My sincere apologies for not getting back sooner.

The translations are permanently (as permanent as these things can be) situated on the Kent Archaeological Society's website, though the Cathedral's online Index should still link through to each translation. You may find that the easiest way to proceed. Here's the Index:

https://www.rochestercathedral.org/research/textus/index.

Be aware that the translation work has stopped for now. I've been seriously ill over the last year or so, and also funding for the work is not forthcoming.

So I only finished about one third of the total number of laws and charters, but this is still substantial and, importantly, the focus was on the laws written in Old English.

The Cathedral's former heritage officer, now website manager for KAS, has produced some Google Translator translations of some of the simpler Latin charters but these do need to be verified. They are also available at KAS via the Cathedral's Index. It should be clear which are my translations and which are his via Dr Google.

Thank you for your kind compliments about the blog posts. I must say I miss writing them. The Medieval Monk is on sabbatical for now, but hopefully he can return at some point.

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.

Blogum scribo

Translations of Early English Laws Now on KAS

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