Doctoral Dissertations

Date of Award

8-1984

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Major

English

Major Professor

John H. Fisher

Committee Members

Joseph B. Trahern, Henry Kratz, Mary P. Richards

Abstract

To date, the argument over the possible existence of an Anglo-Saxon chancery has concentrated on the degree of standardization evidenced in royal writs and charters. However there is another body of evidence that has not been considered: the six Anglo-Saxon legal collections extant for the period ranging from mid-tenth to early twelfth century. The most frequently occurring code, Alfred-Ine, is contained in five and is the subject of analysis in this dissertation. The dissertation is in three sections. Chapter 1 consists of a survey of the scholarship dealing with the chancery question, followed by the general conclusions of the study. Chapter 2 is an analysis of the physical format of Alfred-Ine in four of the legal collections: Cambridge, MS. Corpus Christi College (CCCC) 173; London, MS. British Library Cotton Nero A. I; Cambridge, MS. Corpus Christi College (CCCC) 201; Cambridge, Corpus Christi College (CCCC) 383; Rochester, Cathedral Library MS. A.3.5, The fragmentary and badly burned MS. British Library Cotton Otho B. XI has been omitted.

The analysis is followed by tables and specific conclusions regarding the individual manuscripts and their relationship to each other. Chapter 3 is a linguistic analysis of Chapter XXXVI of AlfredIne as contained in five legal collections, again followed by a summary and specific conclusions.

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