II Aethelstan; or, the Grately Code

Table of Contents

II Aethelstan; or, the Grately Code
Overview
Context
About the Author
Explanation and Analysis of the Document
Audience
Impact
Document Text

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Abstract

The originally unnamed medieval law code that is now known as II Aethelstan is a tract of tenth-century Anglo-Saxon law that addresses a wide range of social concerns. II Aethelstan outlines prohibitions and punishments for theft, murder, witchcraft, treachery against a person’s lord, and oath breaking as well as regulations of trade, means of ascertaining guilt, and the enforcement of the laws contained within the law code. The law code was promulgated by King Aethelstan at some point during his reign (924/925–939). Exactly when in Aethelstan’s reign the law code was first produced, however, is uncertain. II Aethelstan is sometimes referred to as the “Grately Code” because, according to the epilogue included only in the twelfth-century Latin version of the document, it was originally promulgated at Grately in Hampshire, England.

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