View source for Textus Roffensis

{{Short description|Mediaeval manuscript}}
{{hatnote|The 'Annals of Rochester' redirects here. For other works known by that name, see [[Annals of Rochester (disambiguation)]].}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
[[Image:Law of Æthelberht.jpg|thumb|275px|right|First page of the {{Lang|la|Textus Roffensis}}. From Rochester Cathedral Library, MS A.3.5; formerly in the Medway Studies Centre, now in the crypt of [[Rochester Cathedral]].]]
{{Italic title}}
The '''{{Lang|la|Textus Roffensis}}''' ([[Latin]] for "The Tome of [[Rochester Cathedral|Rochester]]"), fully titled the '''''Textus de Ecclesia Roffensi per Ernulphum episcopum''''' ("The Tome of the [[Rochester Cathedral|Church of Rochester]] up to [[Ernulf|Bishop Ernulf]]") and sometimes also known as the '''Annals of Rochester''', is a mediaeval [[manuscript]] that consists of two separate works written between 1122 and 1124. It is catalogued as "Rochester Cathedral Library, MS A.3.5" and {{as of|2023|lc=y}}<ref>{{cite web|author=Olley Design|title=Textus Roffensis|url=https://www.rochestercathedral.org/textus|access-date=28 June 2023|website=Rochester Cathedral}}</ref> is currently on display in a new exhibition at [[Rochester Cathedral]] in [[Rochester, Kent]].<ref>It was deposited in the [[Centre for Kentish Studies|Kent Archives Office]] in [[Maidstone]] in 1969, and was transferred to the Medway office in 1992 following its creation.</ref> It is thought that the main text of both manuscripts was written by a single [[scribe]], although the English glosses to the two [[Latin]] entries (items 23 and 24 in table below) were made by a second hand.<ref>Treharne, ''Textus Roffensis''.</ref>  The annotations might indicate that the manuscript was consulted in some post-Conquest trials.<ref>Nicholas Kar, 'Information and Its Retrieval' in Julia Crick and [[Elisabeth van Houts]] (eds.), ''A Social History of England, 900-–1200'', 375</ref>  However, the glosses are very sparse and just clarify a few uncertain terms. For example, the entry on f. 67r merely explains that the {{lang|la|triplex iudiciu(m)}} is called in English, ''ofraceth ordel'' (insult ordeal = triple ordeal).

There is a clear, digitised version in the [[Rylands Library|Rylands]] Medieval Collection.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://enriqueta.man.ac.uk/luna/servlet/detail/Man4MedievalVC~4~4~990378~142729?qvq=q:=Textus+Roffensis+&mi=0&trs=2|title=Manchester Digital|website=enriqueta.man.ac.uk|access-date=28 July 2018}}</ref>

==Contents==
The first part is a collection of laws and other, primarily secular documents, whilst the second is the cartulary of the Cathedral priory.<ref name = le>{{cite web|url= https://www.le.ac.uk/english/em1060to1220/mss/EM.RCL.htm |title=Rochester, Cathedral Library, A. 3. 5. – The Production and Use of English Manuscripts: 1060 to 1220 |website = LE |access-date=28 July 2018}}</ref>  The first part is of fundamental importance to the study of Anglo-Saxon law.  It begins with the earliest surviving royal law-code, from King [[Æthelberht of Kent]], dating to c 600, followed by those of two Kentish successors, the joint kings [[Hlothere]] and [[Eadric]], c 679–85, and [[Wihtred]], 695.  This is the only manuscript source for these three laws, though Wihtred's are heavily reliant on the laws of the contemporary West-Saxon King, [[Ine of Wessex|Ine]] (see item 6 below).  The full contents of the first part are:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Item !! Dates !! Description !! Manuscript Pages<ref name = le />!! Language
|-
| 1 || {{circa|600}} || [[Law of Æthelberht|Æthelberht's Laws]] || 1r–3v || English<ref>The definitive translation of items 1–3 is now {{Citation | first = Lisi | last = Oliver | title = The Beginnings of English Law | place = Toronto | year = 2002 | publisher = Early English laws | url = http://www.earlyenglishlaws.ac.uk/laws/texts/abt/view/#edition/commentary-7}}.</ref>
|-
| 2 || {{circa|679–695}}  || [[Law of Hlothhere and Eadric|Hlothere and Eadric's Laws]] || 3v–5r || English
|-
| 3 || {{circa|695}} || [[Wihtred's laws|Wihtred's Laws]] || 5r–6v || English
|-
| 4 || Early 11th century<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.earlyenglishlaws.ac.uk/laws/texts/had/ |title= Hadbot |website=Early English Laws |access-date= 28 July 2018}}</ref> || ''Hadbot'' (compensation for the ordained) || 7r–v || English
|-
| 5 || ? || Lists of Kings (West-Saxon genealogy), Saints and Bishops || 7v–8v || English
|-
| 6 || Probably after 893;<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.earlyenglishlaws.ac.uk/laws/texts/af/ |title= Alfred's domboc |website= Early English laws |access-date= 28 July 2018}}</ref> Laws of Ine, c. 694 || Laws of [[Alfred the Great|Alfred]], (Alfred's ''Domboc''), containing the Laws of his West-Saxon predecessor, [[Ine of Wessex|Ine]] || 9r–32r || English
|-
| 7 || ? || ''Ordal'' || 32r–v || English
|-
| 8 || 990s || ''Walreaf'' (penalties for grave-robbery) || 32v || English
|-
| 9 || 924–939 || [[Æthelstan]]'s Grately Law Code (II Aethelstan) || 32v–37r || English
|-
| 10 || 924–939 || [[Æthelstan]]'s Exeter Law Code (V Aethelstan) and a fragment from the London Code (VI Æthelstan, 6) || 37r–38r || English
|-
| 11 || 990s || ''Pax'' ('Peace'), for use in [[Æthelred]]'s Danelaw territories || 38r || English
|-
| 12 || Early 11th century || ''Mircna laga'' || 38v–39v || English
|-
| 13 || {{circa|early 11th Century}}<ref>Not from the reign of [[Edward the Elder|Edward]] (899–924) but a fraud, probably written by Archbishop [[Wulfstan (died 1023)|Wulfstan]] (1002–1023): http://www.earlyenglishlaws.ac.uk/laws/texts/egu/</ref> || Fraudulent peace Treaty between [[Edward the Elder]] and [[Guthrum]] || 40r–41v || English
|-
| 14 || 10th century? || ''Wer'' (on bloodfeud) || 41v–42r || English
|-
| 15 || 899–924 || [[Edward the Elder]]'s First Law Code || 42r–43r || English
|-
| 16 || 899–924 || [[Edward the Elder]]'s Second Law Code || 43r–44r || English
|-
| 17 || 942–946 || [[Edmund I|Edmund]]'s First Law Code (ecclesiastical laws) || 44r–45r || English
|-
| 18 || 942–946 || [[Edmund I|Edmund]]'s Second Law Code || 45r–46r || English
|-
| 19 || {{circa|997}} || [[Æthelred the Unraed|Æthelred]]'s First Law Code (Woodstock Code)<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.earlyenglishlaws.ac.uk/laws/texts/i-atr/ |title= Æthelred's Woodstock code (I Atr) |website= Early English Laws |access-date=28 July 2018}}</ref> || 46r–47r || English
|-
| 20 || 1066–1087 || ''Willelmes cyninges asetnysse'' (laws of [[William the Conqueror|William I]] dealing with lawsuits by Englishmen against Frenchmen){{Efn | The only surviving version is in ''Textus Roffensis''{{Refn | {{Citation | title = Textus Roffensis | work = Early English Laws | url = http://www.earlyenglishlaws.ac.uk/laws/texts/wl-lad/}}}}.}} || 47r–v || English
|-
| 21 || 997 || Æthelred's Third Law Code ([[Wantage Code]]) || 48r–49v || English
|-
| 22 || Post-1066 || Judgement of God X (''Iud Dei XV'') || 49v–57r || Latin
|-
| 23 || 1016–1035 || a text of [[Cnut]]'s reign || 57v || Latin
|-
| 24 || 1016–1035 || Institutes of Cnut (collection of laws) || 58r–80r || Latin
|-
| 25 || 1066–1087 || Articles of William I{{Efn | Not entirely William's actual laws: see http://www.earlyenglishlaws.ac.uk/laws/texts/wl-art/}} || 80r–81v || Latin
|-
| 26 || ? || ''Accusatores'' (Papal decrees on accusers/ prosectors) || 81v–87r || Latin
|-
| 27 || c 1008 || Æthelstan's Sixth Law Code (London Code)<ref>''Textus Roffensis'' is the only source: http://www.earlyenglishlaws.ac.uk/laws/texts/vi-as/</ref> || 88r–93r || English
|-
| 28 || ? ||[[Geþyncðo|''Geðyncðo'']] (On status) || 93r–v || English
|-
| 29 || No later than mid-10th Century || ''[[Norðleoda laga]]'' (concerns ''wergeld'' in Northumbrian society)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.earlyenglishlaws.ac.uk/laws/texts/norleod/|title=Early English Laws: Norðleoda laga (Norðleod)|website=www.earlyenglishlaws.ac.uk|access-date=28 July 2018}}</ref> || 93v–94r || English
|-
| 30 || ? || ''Wifmannes beweddung'' (Of a woman's betrothal) || 94v–95r || English
|-
| 31 || ? || Cattle-Theft Charm || 95r || English
|-
| 32 || ? || ''Hit becwæð'' (On bequests: 'he that owned it bequeathed it and died')<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.bosworthtoller.com/039668 |title= 'be-cwelan' |website= Bosworth–Toller Anglo-Saxon Dictionary |access-date= 28 July 2018}}</ref>|| 95r–v || English
|-
| 33 || 1100 || [[Henry II of England|Henry I]]'s [[Charter of Liberties|Coronation Charter]] || 96r–97v || Latin
|-
| 34 || 10th–11th century || ''Excommunicatio VIII'' (laws on excommunication || 98r–99v || Latin
|-
| 35 || ? || ''Excommunicatio IX'' (formula for excommunicating criminals) || 99v–100r || Latin
|-
| 36 || ? || List of Kings || 100r–v || English
|-
| 37 || ? || Lists of Kings, Saints, and Bishops: West-Saxon Genealogy || 102r–104r || English
|-
| 38 || ? || Lists of Kings, Saints, and Bishops: Lists of Popes, Emperors, Patriarchs and English Archbishops and Bishops || 105r–116r || English
|-
| 39 || ? || Lists: of 24 elders, of popes responsible for various liturgical reforms, and of 7 archangels || 116v || Latin
|}

The second part of ''Textus Roffensis'' is just over 100 pages long.  It consists of the [[cartulary]] for Rochester Cathedral, in Latin.  However, its final entry (222r–v) is in English, listing the number of masses to be recited for those institutions in England and Normandy which were in confraternity with Rochester.<ref name = le />

==Name==
A ''textus'' was a book with a decorated cover suitable to be kept in the church by the high [[altar]].  The term does not mean a text concerning [[Rochester Cathedral]].  A ''liber'' was a less decorated book, suitable only for the [[cloister]].  It is rare that a secular book is a ''textus'', and the name given to the ''Textus Roffensis'' by the cathedral is considered indicative of the book's importance during the [[Middle Ages]].<ref name="Medway">{{Cite web|title=The Textus Roffensis|url=http://cityark.medway.gov.uk/query/results/?Mode=Search&SearchMode=explorer&SearchWords=DRc_R1&DateList=&.submit=Submit+Query&Boolean=AND&Results=25&PathList=&.cgifields=Verbose&.cgifields=Exact|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717130712/http://cityark.medway.gov.uk/query/results/?Mode=Search&SearchMode=explorer&SearchWords=DRc_R1&DateList=&.submit=Submit+Query&Boolean=AND&Results=25&PathList=&.cgifields=Verbose&.cgifields=Exact|archive-date=July 17, 2011|website=[[Medway Council]]}}</ref>

== The ''Textus Roffensis'' Scribe ==
The unknown scribe was remarkable for his knowledge of old forms of English, and was able to transcribe accurately from a range of original manuscripts written in Anglo-Saxon dialects, including the local Kentish used for the laws of the kings of Kent.  Two or more generations after the [[Norman Conquest]], this was distinctly unusual.<ref>Julia Crick, 'English Vernacular Script' in R. Gameson (ed.), ''[[The Cambridge History of the Book in Britain]]'', vol. 1 (2011), 185–6</ref>  Few of his records were contemporary and, to read the Laws of Aethelberht, he was looking back at an obsolete dialect of early Anglo-Saxon English, some 500 years old.

He followed standard practice of distinguishing between written English and written Latin.  The overall aspect is Protogothic<ref>http://www.le.ac.uk/english/em1060to1220/mss/EM.RCL.htm, 'Hand Description'</ref> with, for example, narrow letter-forms and forked tops to ascenders.  However, he used a modified [[Insular Minuscule]] for the English and a modified [[Carolingian minuscule|Caroline Minuscule]] for the Latin.  This was standard practice in the years around 1000, but proficiency in writing Insular Minuscule was in terminal decline by the time of the ''Textus Roffensis''.<ref>Julia Crick, 'English Vernacular Script' in R. Gameson (ed.), ''[[The Cambridge History of the Book in Britain]]'', vol. 1 (2011)</ref>

The double-page opening of f95v and f96r is a good place to examine differences in the two scripts.  The left-hand page contains the end of ''Hit becƿæð. ond becƿæl '' in English and the right-hand page the start of Henry I's Coronation Charter, in Latin.  It is not only the general letter-shapes which show some differences.  In the English, the only abbreviations are the [[tironian]] ''et'' for ''ond'' and the suspensions on dative endings e.g. ''beÞinū/ beminū'' for ''–um'' (concerning yours/ - mine).  The number of abbreviations, suspensions and ligatures in the Latin give a different look, accentuated by different letter-forms, such as ''g'', ''h'' and ''r'' in ''gehyrde'' (f.95v, line 11) and ''erga uos habeo'' (f.96r, line 9); the ''f'' in ''forðam'' (English, line 10) and in ''facio'' (Latin, line 10)<ref>For image, see the digitised manuscript: http://enriqueta.man.ac.uk/luna/servlet/detail/Man4MedievalVC~4~4~990378~142729?qvq=q:%3DTextus%2BRoffensis%2B&mi=0&trs=2</ref>

The ''Roffensis'' scribe made remarkably few errors and only some minor edits which lightly modernise the text.<ref>For details, see Stefan Jurasinski, 'Scribal Malpractice and the Study of Anglo-Saxon Law in the Twelfth Century' in B. R. O'Brien and [[Barbara Bombi|B. Bombi]] (eds.), ''Textus Roffensis Law, Language, and Libraries in Early Medieval England'' (2015), 83–101</ref>  This can be seen in the [[Laws of Ine]].  The original laws were written in the late seventh century.  They were already updated when recorded in Alfred's ''Domboc'' two centuries later.  The earliest preserved version is from c. 925.<ref>Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, MS 173, ff. 47r-52v</ref>  In clause 2, this has ''Cild binnan ðritegum nihta sie gefulwad'' ('a child shall be baptised within thirty days').  The scribe substitutes for the tenth-century term for baptism ({{lang|ang|gefulwad}}) the twelfth-century term {{lang|ang|gefullod}}.  Similarly, the scribe substitutes {{lang|ang|þeow}} (slave) for Alfred's {{lang|ang|fioh}} (wealth).  There is some dispute whether this reflects the changing position of slaves after the Conquest or whether it is just correcting the term, since slaves were chattels.<ref>Jurasinski, 99</ref>

Overall, the ''Roffensis'' scribe treated his sources with respect.  He did not, for example, make erroneous 'corrections' to the Old English law texts, unlike the "incompetent translations of ''Quadripartitus's'' author".<ref>Jurasinski, 99, 94</ref>

==History==
The two manuscripts were bound together in around 1300.<ref name="Medway" /> The first part is a collection of documents which includes the [[Law of Æthelberht]], attributed to [[Æthelberht of Kent]] (c. 560–616), and the 1100 [[coronation]] charter of [[Henry I of England]]. The Law of Æthelberht is the oldest surviving [[English law]] code and the oldest [[Anglo-Saxon]] text in existence. The second part of the ''Textus Roffensis'' is the oldest of the Rochester Cathedral registers. The entire volume consists of 235 [[vellum]] leaves.<ref name=Medway/><ref name=Kent>University of Kent, "England’s 'Hidden Treasure'."</ref>

Over the centuries, the ''Textus Roffensis'' has been loaned, lost and recovered on several occasions and has been in the custody of a variety of different people and places; it was once held at the [[Medway]] Archives Office in [[Strood]] under reference number DRc/R1 and has since been withdrawn. It is currently held in an airtight case in Rochester Cathedral's Crypt.<ref name=RochCath>{{cite web|url=https://www.rochestercathedral.org/articles/2020/7/17/leaf-through-textus-roffensis?rq=textus%20roffensis|title=Leaf Through the Textus Roffensis|date=July 17, 2020|access-date=1 Dec 2020}}</ref> Sometime between 1708 and 1718 the book was immersed for several hours in either the [[River Thames]] or the [[River Medway]] when the ship transporting it overturned; water damage is apparent on a number of pages.<ref name=Medway/>

The book was named 'Britain's Hidden Treasure' by the [[British Library]], and was the subject of a conference at the [[University of Kent]] in 2010.<ref name=Kent/> It has been digitised and published on line by [[The University of Manchester]]'s Centre for Heritage Imaging and Collection Care.<ref>{{cite web|title=A book 100 years older than the Magna Carta goes digital|url=http://www.manchester.ac.uk/discover/news/article/?id=13156|publisher=[[University of Manchester]]}}</ref> The full digital facsimile is available through [[Rochester Cathedral]]'s website.<ref name=RochCath/>

A short film was also produced about the book by Rochester Cathedral about its history and digitization process.
<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcMdmjkdYOM |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/GcMdmjkdYOM |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|title=The Textus Roffensis A Hidden Treasure|author=Phil Smethurst|date=Nov 5, 2014|website=www.youtube.com|access-date=1 Dec 2020}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==Citations ==
{{reflist|2}}

== Sources ==
*{{cite web|last=Treharne|first=Elaine|title=Textus Roffensis|url=http://www.le.ac.uk/english/em1060to1220/mss/EM.RCL.htm#EM.RCL-objectDesc|work=The Production and Use of English Manuscripts 1060 to 1220|publisher=University of Leicester|access-date=17 November 2012}} 
*{{cite web|url=http://www.kent.ac.uk/news/stories/textus-roffensis-conference/2010|publisher=University of Kent|title=England's 'Hidden Treasure' is the focus of Kent conference and exhibition|year=2010|access-date=7 August 2012}}
*{{cite web|url=http://luna.manchester.ac.uk/luna/servlet/detail/Man4MedievalVC~4~4~990378~142729|publisher=John Rylands Library|access-date=12 May 2019|title=Textus Roffensis}} (online facsimile)

==Further reading==
*{{cite journal|last=Arnold|first=A. A.|title=Preliminary Account of 'Notes on the Textus Roffensis', by Dr. F. Liebermann|journal=Archaeologia Cantiana|year=1898|volume=xxiii|pages=94–112|url=https://archive.org/stream/archaeologiacan08socigoog#page/n188/mode/2up|access-date=17 November 2012}} 
*{{cite book|last1=Oliver|first1=Lisi|title=The Beginnings of English Law|date=2002|publisher=Toronto University Press|location=Toronto|url=http://www.earlyenglishlaws.ac.uk/laws/texts/abt/view/#edition/commentary-7}}
*{{cite book|title=Textus Roffensis : law, language, and libraries in early medieval England|year=2015|editor1-first= 	Bruce R|editor1-last= O'Brien|editor2-first= Barbara|editor2-last= Bombi|publisher=Brepols|location=Turnhout, Belgium }}
*{{cite book|last=Parkes|first=Malcolm B.|title=Their Hands Before Our Eyes: A Closer Look at Scribes|year=2008|publisher=Ashgate|location=Aldershot|isbn=978-0-7546-6337-9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NCQrYGWCAEUC&q=Their+Hands+Before+Our+Eyes:+A+Closer+Look+at+Scribes}} 
*{{cite book|last=Richards|first=Mary P.|title=Texts and Their Traditions in the Medieval Library Rochester Cathedral Priory|year=1988|publisher=American Philosophical Society|location=Philadelphia|isbn=0-87169-783-1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sSELAAAAIAAJ&dq=texts+and+their+traditions+in+the+medieval+library+of+rochester+cathedral+priory&pg=PA1}} 
*{{cite journal|last=Sawyer|first=Peter|title=Textus Roffensis, Parts I and II|journal=Early English Manuscripts in Facsimile|orig-year=1957|year=1962|volume=VII and XI|publisher=Rosenkilde and Bagger|location=Copenhagen}}

== External links ==
*[http://luna.manchester.ac.uk/luna/servlet/detail/Man4MedievalVC~4~4~990378~142729 John Rylands Library ''"The Textus Roffensis"''] - scanned images of each of the pages of the ''Textus Roffensis''.

[[Category:Medieval documents of England]]
[[Category:1120s books]]
[[Category:English-language manuscripts]]
[[Category:12th-century manuscripts]]
[[Category:Legal manuscripts]]
[[Category:Medieval English law]]
[[Category:Anglo-Saxon law]]
[[Category:12th-century books in Latin]]
[[Category:Manuscripts about England in Latin]]