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© 2009 STANLEY JAY LEMANSKI ALL RIGHTS RESERVED THE RECTITUDINES SINGULARUM PERSONARUM: A PRE- AND POST-CONQUEST TEXT A Dissertation Presented to The Graduate Faculty of The University of Akron In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy Stanley Jay Lemanski December, 2009 THE RECTITUDINES SINGULARUM PERSONARUM: A PRE- AND POST-CONQUEST TEXT Stanley Jay Lemanski Dissertation Approved: Accepted: ______________________________ ______________________________ Advisor Department Chair Dr. Constance Bouchard Dr. Michael Sheng ______________________________ ______________________________ Committee Member Dean of the College Dr. Michael Graham Dr. Chand Midha ______________________________ ______________________________ Committee Member Dean of the Graduate School Dr. Michael J. Levin Dr. George R. Newkome ______________________________ ______________________________ Committee Member Date Dr. Isolde Thyret ______________________________ Committee Member Mr. Richard L. Aynes ______________________________ Committee Member Dr. Laura D. Gelfand ii ABSTRACT This dissertation examinations manorial society in the Anglo-Saxon and the Anglo-Norman periods. The central focus of this study is a document scholars have called the Rectitudines singularum personarum (Rect.). This text provides the most detailed account of estate social-structure in the Anglo-Saxon period. Originally composed in Anglo-Saxon in the early eleventh century, in the early twelfth century it was compiled with other Anglo-Saxon legal texts, and in one of these compilations was also translated into Latin. A central thesis of the dissertation is that the Anglo-Saxon and the Latin versions of this treatise are to be regarded as two separate texts, each being produced to meet different needs and written to address different audiences. Few scholars have tried to ascertain the original purpose for which the Rect. was written. This dissertation places the Rect. within the context of changes in estate morphology during the Anglo-Saxon period, most notably the process of nucleation. It is here argued that nucleation caused significant social change, undermining the traditional and customary rights of the residents of estates. The Rect. was a treatise that held up the author’s own estate as an example of how nucleation can be implemented without undermining the customary rights of the residents. iii After the Conquest the residents of English estates came to be re-classified as workers dependent on their lord. This in addition to the practice of estate farming diminished the status of peasants and undermined their customary rights. In an effort to preserve pre-Conquest rights legal thinkers of the early twelfth century integrated the Rect. into the collection of texts that represented the Anglo-Saxon legal tradition, a tradition the Norman kings said they would uphold. This dissertation examines the way the Rect. was contextualized within this legal canon, and how the compilers used it as a means of integrating manorial rights into the legal discourse. The compiler of the Quadripartitus, one of the most important of these compilations, also translated the Rect. into Latin. This study examines how he used translation as a means to render the text immediately relevant to the administration of justice in rural society. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The production of this dissertation is due in no small part to the members of my dissertation committee, particularly Dr. Michael Levin and Dr. Michael Graham. They encouraged and guided me through every step of writing and rewriting, giving me invaluable advise on how to clarify my ideas and to high-light the most important points of my work. I want especially to express my gratitude to my advisor, Dr. Constance Bouchard, who endured my endless visits, when I bounced off new ideas, complained about how slow the writing is going, and expressed fears of not getting done. Through it all she was patient and encouraging, providing guidance, and keeping me on task. I also need to acknowledge the role that my family played in allowing me to complete this time-consuming task. My wife, Judith, and my daughters, Elise and Sara, were often robbed of my time and attention, and yet bore these inconveniences patiently. I missed many events and obligations because of my work; nevertheless they uncomplainingly adjusted to meet my needs. The completion of this dissertation is as much due to their support and understanding as it is to my own efforts. There were others also who, though not playing so consistent a role, were nevertheless of great practical and moral assistance. Here I must fondly mention my debt to Dr. Paul Harvey, professor emeritus at the University of Durham, who took the time to v meet with me in England. He not only lent an attentive ear to my ideas, but make the effort to steer me to important sources. His kind hospitality in Durham will also be remembered with great affection. In like manner I would also like thank the staff-members of the British Library, the Parker Library and the John Rylands Library, whose cheerful assistance make accessing the manuscripts a pleasant experience. In particular I need to remember Gill Cannell of the Parker Library, who graciously agreed to sell me high-quality digital images of the Corpus Christi College, Cambridge 383. Ad extremum, deo pro inspiratione, quam solus mihi donavit, gratias agere debeo. Sine divinito adiumento, ductu et consilio numquam haec dissertatio mea scripta esset. Cuius propter gratiam ego cum Paulo confiteri possum, Ðáíôá éó÷õù åí ôå åíäõíáìïõíôé ìå ×ñéóôå. SOLI DEO GLORIA vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF FIGURES...................................................... x i CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION......................................................1 The Text..........................................................2 The Sources.......................................................5 The Question of “Peasants”...........................................8 The Chapters. ....................................................1 0 II. HISTORIOGRAPHY OF THE RECTITUDINES AND THE QUADRIPARTITUS. ...........................................2 4 The Historiography of the Rect. and the Quadr...........................2 5 The Rect. and Debates Over Anglo-Saxon Rural Society. 5 8 Conclusions......................................................7 1 III. THE ANGLO-SAXON ESTATE........................................7 6 Anglo-Saxon Estates...............................................7 7 Anglo-Saxon Estates: Their Residents.. 9 0 Geneat....................................................9 1 Gebur.....................................................9 6 Cotsetla and Other Workers...................................108 vii Conclusions.....................................................113 IV. THE RECTITUDINES, ITS CONTEXT AND PURPOSE. 115 The Evolution of Anglo-Saxon Estates. 116 The Estate of the Rect..............................................121 The Origin of the Rect. Estate.......................................130 The Purpose of the Rect............................................133 The Effects of Nucleation on Estate Residents. 139 The Purpose of the Rect.: The Internal Evidence.........................142 Conclusions.....................................................152 V. THE CONQUEST, DOMESDAY BOOK, AND THE PROCESS OF RE-CATEGORIZATION.............................................154 Anglo-Saxon Categorical Systems....................................155 Normandy and the Rise of Lordship..................................162 The Conquest and the “Tenurial Revolution”. 167 The Categories of the Domesday Book. ...............................173 The Impact of Farming on Rural Social Status. 195 Conclusions: Categorical Change and Anglo-Saxon Tenurial Structure.. 201 VI. THE RECTITUDINES AND THE QUADRIPARTITUS: PART 1: THE EFFECTS OF CONTEXTUALIZATION.. 204 The Legal History of Anglo-Norman England.. 206 Legal Compilations and the Search for Edward’s Law. 212 The Three Great Compilations.......................................216 Textus Roffensis [H].........................................217 viii Rect. and CCC 383 [B]. .....................................219 Rectitudines and Quadripartitus.....................................225 Quadr.: The Manuscripts and the Recensions. 226 Quadr.: The Purpose of the Collection. 229 Rect. and the Quadr.: The First Strategy: The R Recension. 232 Rect. and the Quadr.: The Second Strategy: The T, M, & Hk Recensions.. 238 Recension T: Rect. and the III Em. Group........................244 Recensions M & Hk: The Addition of the Ew-Em Group.. 249 The I Ew-III Em Group: The Union of III Em and Ew-Em Groups........................................ 258 Conclusions.....................................................260 VII. THE RECTITUDINES AND THE QUADRIPARTITUS: PART 2: THE EFFECTS OF TRANSLATION. 264 The Audience and the Context.......................................265 Strategies One and Two: The Socio-Linguistic Sphere of Norman Lords.. 268 Strategy Three: Teaching Normans Anglo-Saxon. 275 Translation as Changing the Text. ...................................283 Adjustment of Rect. to Twelfth-Century Conditions.. 284 Concern for the Rights of Tenants. 295 Extension of Rect.’s Applicability and Authority. 304 Conclusions.....................................................308 ix VIII. TEXT EDITIONS OF THE RECTITUDINES. ...........................311 The Anglo-Saxon Text Edition......................................313 The Latin Text