1 charter forms
1.1 diplomas
1.2 writs
1.3 wills
charter forms
ismere diploma, 736 charter of king Æthelbald of mercia
the 3 common forms of anglo-saxon charter diplomas, writs , wills.
diplomas
the largest number of surviving charters diplomas, or royal charters, granted privileges , rights, on land. typical diploma had 3 sections: protocol, corpus, , eschatocol. protocol opened charter invoking god , enumerating pious considerations king s act (proem). corpus in latin , named beneficiary, recorded grant or transfer (dispositive clause), reserved common burdens (reservation clause) , invoked wrath of god on failed observe (anathema or sanction). corpus final section, in old english, described boundaries of land (boundary clause). eschatocol composed of dating clause , witness-list, included powerful lay , ecclesiastical members of king s court.
much of language of diploma explicitly religious - grant made benefit of grantor s soul or breaking charter excommunicated. charters typically opened situating firmly within christian order, pictorial (cross, chrismon or alpha-omega) , verbal invocation god. many charters granted in anticipation of founding of monastery. document served largely secular purpose — document legal possession of land , free land duties otherwise attached it.
writs
writ of king edward confessor granting land @ perton in staffordshire westminster abbey, 1062–1066
the second common form of anglo-saxon charter, although far fewer in number diploma, royal writ. these differed diploma in both form , function. writ instruction king named official or group of recipients. started greeting , authenticated royal seal. writ did not require witnesses , written in old english. under normans, use of writs extended cover many other aspects of royal business , written in latin. florence harmer provided text (and translation when written in old english) of 120 pre-conquest royal writs.
wills
opening page of alfred great s drawn circa 885 (11th-century copy)
anglo-saxon wills intended make gifts of property (including land) after writer s death, not wills in modern sense.
wills rarer writs. first dedicated study, anglo-saxon wills dorothy whitelock able identify 39 documents. number grew 55 publication of 16 among anglo-saxon charters agnes jane robertson in 1939. since 1939, contributions list few , far between; in 2011 wills , will-making in anglo-saxon england linda tollerton published up-to-date corpus, 68 examples in total. surviving documents unevenly distributed both in time , space: 9th century, example, 9 wills known, , 6 of them in canterbury. not single period known further north burton upon trent in staffordshire. furthermore, 22 wills can found in manuscripts written before 1066; originals rarer, some, of alfred great or wulfric spot, known pre-conquest copies, while still other may in fact mere extracts or ancient forgeries.
only 2 wills of kings have been preserved, of alfred , eadred, both in later copies. anglo-saxon women wills survive include wynflæd (mother of Ælfgifu of shaftesbury , grandmother of kings eadwig , edgar), king edmund s second wife Æthelflæd , sister Ælfflæd.
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