King Ine (688–726) and the Writing of English Law in Latin

Abstract

Abstract It is commonly supposed that all Anglo-Saxon laws were composed in Old English. This article argues that the law-code in the name of King Ine of Wessex (r. 688–726) was written in Latin in his reign and only assumed its surviving Old English form in the ninth century when it was translated from Latin and appended to King Alfred’s law-code. Linguistic evidence indicates that Ine’s language is that of a ninth-century translator, possibly working with Alfred’s law-code, while its legal content is that of seventh-century Wessex. There are also several close parallels to continental legislation in Ine’s laws, both in language and in content. This article suggests that these may be the result of Frankish legislation serving as a model for or inspiration to the makers of Ine’s laws. The translation theory presented here explains many of the notorious linguistic peculiarities and problems of this text and its role within Alfred’s code.