The Development and Decline of Malediction in the Charters of Anglo-Saxon England

265 Pages·2016·1.85 MB·English

The Development and Decline of Malediction in the Charters of
Anglo-Saxon England
by
Kasandra Marie Castle
A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements
for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy
Centre for Medieval Studies
University of Toronto
© Copyright by Kasandra Marie Castle, 2016
“The Development and Decline of Malediction in the Charters of
Anglo-Saxon England”
Kasandra Marie Castle
Doctor of Philosophy
Centre for Medieval Studies
University of Toronto
2016
Thesis Abstract
This thesis focuses on the use of maledictory sanction clauses to protect charters, whether written
grants of land or privileges, in Anglo-Saxon England. Based on a specially designed and created
database of all Anglo-Latin sanction clauses from authentic and substantially authentic single
sheets from the ninth to the eleventh century (approximately 171 documents), it traces the
formulation of the clause through the pre-Conquest period, revealing lexical, structural, and
thematic patterns. Because they were subject to scribal creativity, sanction clauses reflect themes
of importance to their draftsmen and run parallel to punitive and infernal concepts emphasized in
contemporary works.
The thesis begins with a historical overview of medieval cursing and examines each of
the elements potentially included in a sanction clause. It then presents data that was collected in a
century-by-century arrangement in order to reveal potential patterns. Finally, it looks at the
Anglo-Norman Cartulary of Christ Church, Canterbury, extant in three medieval copies. The
cartulary’s compiler recasts his source materials, altering them to fit a common mold. This
recasting included the addition, deletion, and modification of the sources’ sanction clauses. Such
interpretive acts tell us much about the intent of the early English cartularists, the archival
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environment that produced such a compiler, and the perceived function of malediction in the
post-Conquest period.
This dissertation suggests that sanction clauses dropped from contemporary diplomatic
use, not because of a newfound perception of their inefficiency—they were, arguably, fairly
inefficient modes of preservation all along—but because of the gradual secularization of the
previously highly religious genre. The detail with which formulation of the Anglo-Latin sanction
clause is laid out herein sheds further light on its intricacies and provides material for further
study of its significance in the broader Anglo-Saxon social context.

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Acknowledgments

The research for and writing of this dissertation would not have been possible without the
support and guidance of many individuals. I would like to extend my sincerest gratitude to each
of them.
To those who served on my committee: Michael Gervers, Joe Goering, and Alain Stoclet,
your careful reading of Latin transcriptions, translations, and drafts was invaluable. Thanks are
also due to Catherine Cubitt for her incredibly helpful suggestions as external examiner and to
Lawrin Armstrong as internal examiner. Thank you to Sébastien Barret, Jenneka Janzen, and
Amanda Wetmore for reading drafts simply out of the kindness of their hearts and to Isabelle
Cochelin for her tireless administrative support. I would like to extend especial gratitude to my
supervisor, Andy Orchard for imparting his knowledge and expertise over the years. This project
certainly would not have been possible without his ever-present guidance. Having the help of so
many distinguished experts with wide-ranging specialties helped to improve the scope of this
project immensely.
My thanks also go to my family: my mother, Kristen and partner, Drew. Your love and
support sustain me.
If any errors remain, quod absit, they are my own.

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Table of Contents
Thesis Abstract................................................................................................................................ ii
Acknowledgments.......................................................................................................................... iv
Table of Contents .............................................................................................................................v
List of Tables ............................................................................................................................... viii
List of Appendices ......................................................................................................................... ix
Chapter 1 Introduction .....................................................................................................................1
Methodology ..............................................................................................................................2
Terminology ...............................................................................................................................8
Corpus ........................................................................................................................................9
Database ...................................................................................................................................10
Structure of Thesis ...................................................................................................................11
Chapter 2 Medieval Malediction ...................................................................................................14
Classical Roots .........................................................................................................................14
Ecclesiastical Cursing ..............................................................................................................16
The Benedictine Reform and the Codification of Excommunication ......................................22
Mental Context.........................................................................................................................24
Anglo-Saxon Sanction Clauses ................................................................................................29
Constituent Parts ................................................................................................................30
Protasis .........................................................................................................................32
Spiritual Penalties ........................................................................................................32
Secular Penalties ..........................................................................................................37
Manentem Clause.........................................................................................................40
Penance Clause ............................................................................................................41
Blessings ......................................................................................................................43
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Witness Lists .................................................................................................................... 43
Efficacy of Medieval Cursing ............................................................................................44
Chapter 3 Summary of the Anglo-Saxon Single-Sheet Corpus .....................................................51
The Seventh Century................................................................................................................52
Supplementary Clauses ......................................................................................................54
Protasis ...............................................................................................................................56
Punishment Clause .............................................................................................................57
Spiritual Punishments ..................................................................................................57
The Eighth Century ..................................................................................................................61
Supplementary Clauses ......................................................................................................63
Protasis ...............................................................................................................................65
Punishment Clause .............................................................................................................67
Spiritual Punishments ..................................................................................................67
Secular Punishments ....................................................................................................67
The Ninth Century ...................................................................................................................70
Supplementary Clauses ......................................................................................................73
Protasis ...............................................................................................................................76
Punishment Clause .............................................................................................................79
Spiritual Punishments ..................................................................................................79
Secular Punishments ....................................................................................................82
The Tenth Century ...................................................................................................................83
The Royal Writing Office ..................................................................................................86
Supplementary Clauses ......................................................................................................89
Protasis ...............................................................................................................................93
Punishment Clause .............................................................................................................97
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Spiritual Punishments ................................................................................................ 97
Secular Punishments ..................................................................................................106
The Eleventh Century, (1000-1066) ......................................................................................107
Supplementary Clauses ....................................................................................................109
Protasis .............................................................................................................................110
Punishment Clause ...........................................................................................................113
Spiritual Punishments ................................................................................................113
Secular Punishments ..................................................................................................118
Forgeries ................................................................................................................................119
Post-Conquest Diplomatic .....................................................................................................122
Chapter 4 Scribal Treatment of Maledictory Sanction Clauses at Christ Church, Canterbury ..125
Medieval English Cartularies .................................................................................................126
Christ Church Canterbury’s Archival Environment ..............................................................137
Christ Church Anglo-Norman Cartulary ...............................................................................142
Canterbury, D. & C., Register P ......................................................................................148
London, Lambeth Palace, MS 1212 .................................................................................149
Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, MS 189 ..................................................................151
Compilation and Production ............................................................................................154
The Sanction Clauses .............................................................................................................155
Chapter 5 Conclusions .................................................................................................................176
Bibliography ................................................................................................................................185
Appendix One: Mark-Up Schema ...............................................................................................216
Appendix Two: Additional Metadata ..........................................................................................219
Appendix Three: Christ Church, Canterbury Anglo-Norman Cartulary ....................................224
Appendix Four: Anglo-Norman Cartulary Sanction Clauses ......................................................232
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List of Tables

Table 1: Summary of the Seventh-Century Corpus.......................................................................53
Table 2: Occurrence of Supplementary Clauses in the Seventh-Century Corpus.........................56
Table 3: Summary of the Eighth-Century Corpus.........................................................................62
Table 4: Occurrence of Supplementary Clauses in the Eighth-Century Corpus...........................64
Table 5: Summary of the Ninth-Century Corpus...........................................................................71
Table 6: Occurrence of Supplementary Clauses in the Ninth-Century Corpus.............................74
Table 7: Summary of the Tenth-Century Corpus..........................................................................84
Table 8: Occurrence of Supplementary Clauses in the Tenth-Century Corpus............................92
Table 9: Summary of the Eleventh-Century Corpus....................................................................107
Table 10: Occurrence of Supplementary Clauses in the Eleventh-Century Corpus....................109

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List of Appendices

1. Mark-Up Schema...................................................................................................................225
2. Additional Metadata..............................................................................................................228
3. Christ Church, Canterbury Anglo-Norman Cartulary...........................................................233
4. Anglo-Norman Cartulary Sanction Clauses..........................................................................241
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Chapter 1
Introduction
Early medieval written agreements, such as those for property exchange, were secured by a
number of internal devices, rooted firmly in the heavily ritualistic core of social interaction.
Within Continental medieval history, scholars such as Adam Kosto and Lester Little have
examined the methods by which agreements were kept in medieval Catalonia and Romanesque
France, respectively.1 Within Anglo-Saxon studies Brenda Danet and Bryna Bogoch have
discussed the presence of curses within Anglo-Saxon legal documents as a means of solidifying
agreement.2 However, none of the literature has attended to the ways in which modes of
assurance, specifically malediction, changed over the course of the Anglo-Saxon period and
ultimately fell out of use. Without an understanding of the influence of cursing and the mentality
from which the practice grew, we are left with an inadequate cognizance of medieval diplomatics
and of the Anglo-Saxon religious mind.
This dissertation examines the formulation of Anglo-Latin legal malediction, determining
when, where, and by whom it was used, and what its perceived function was. It will trace the
curse’s diminishing use and ultimate replacement by alternative methods of guaranteeing

1 Adam J. Kosto, Making Agreements in Medieval Catalonia: Power, Order, and the Written Word
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001); Lester K. Little, Benedictine Maledictions: Liturgical
Cursing in Romanesque France (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1993). See also, Richard H. Helmholz,
“Excommunication in Twelfth Century England,” 11 Journal of Law and Religion 235 (1994), 235-253.
2 Brenda Danet and Bryna Bogoch, “‘Whosoever Alters This, May God Turn his Face from Him at the
Day of Judgment’: Curses in Anglo-Saxon Legal Documents,” The Journal of American Folklore 105,
no. 416 (1992), 132-165.
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