A.D. 979. King Æthelred to Christ Church, Canterbury; note of grant of land at Sandwich and Eastry, Kent. Latin and English versions

Archive:

Canterbury, Christ Church

MSS:

1. Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, 189, ff. 195-201v, f. 200v (s. xii; Latin)
2. Canterbury, D.C., Reg. C, f. 35r (s. xv; Latin)
3. Canterbury, D.C., Reg. P, f. 23r (s. xiii in.; Latin)
4. London, Lambeth Palace Library, 1212, p. 326 (s. xiii; Latin)
5. Oxford, Bodleian Library, Tanner 223, f. 17r-v (s. xvi 1; Latin)
6. Oxford, Bodleian Library, Ballard 67 (S.C. 10853), f. 47r (s. xviii; Latin)
7. Oxford, St John's College, 194, f. 2r (s. xiii; Latin)
8. Oxford, Bodleian Library, Ballard 67 (S.C. 10853), f. 47v (s. xviii; English)
9. Oxford, St John's College, 194, f. 2v (s. xiii; English)

Printed:

Hickes, Inst. Gramm., p. 157, ex MS 9; Twysden, X Scriptores, col. 2221, ex MS 1; Mon. Angl., i. 111 (no. 38), ex MSS 7, 9

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    • (i) Latin version [A]nno dominice incarnationis .dcccclxxix. Ego Ægelredus gratia Dei rex et totius Britannie monarcha, pro salute anime mee concedo ecclesie Christi in Dorobernia terras iuris mei, scilicet Sanduuic et Eastreia, ad opus monachorum in eadem ecclesia Deo seruiencium, liberas ab omni seculari seruitio et fiscali tributo, exceptis expeditione, pontis et arcis constructione. Quisquis hanc meam largifluam munificentiam uiolare presumpserit, cum reprobis in die iudicii a sinistris Christi collocatus, accipiat sententiam dampnationis cum diabolo et angelis eius. (ii) English version Ic Ægelred ðurh \Godes/ geue gealra Einglalandes ane king . 7 ealra ðera ylande þe ðerto beliggat . for mire saule alisendnesse gean Cristes chirichan inne Chantwareberi landas on mine gerihte . þæt is to wittene Sandwich 7 Æstree to þere monekene bigleue in ðe silue minstre Gode seruiende . fram all wordliche þeudome 7 kinges giue wiðute brigge 7 castelwurke . 7 gif ænig is þæt gewillnat oððe to brekenne oððe to gelitliende mid to ðundene modignesse þas ure gefestnunge . wite he hine silfne amansumod fram Gode . 7 fram eallen his halgan mid ða forworppenen inne domusdeie a Cristes winstre hand geloged . underfange þone dom of fordemdnesse mid þam deofle 7 his ænglen butan he toforan þam deaðe mid wurðe bereusunge gebete þæt he unrihtwisliche forgilte . Ðeos landboc wes gewriten on þan neogan undred geare 7 neogan 7 seofentig fram ures lauordes helendes Cristes akennednesse;
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    • (ii) English version I Æthelred, by God’s grace the one king of all England and of all the islands that belong thereto, do grant for the redemption of my soul to Christ’s Church in Canterbury [the following] estates of my right: that is to say Sandwich and Eastry, for the support of the monks serving God in the same monastery; [free] from all worldly service and king’s favours, except bridge- and castlework. And if there is anyone, too swollen with pride, who desires either to break or to diminish these our confirmations, let him know that he will himself be banished from God and from all his saints with the outcasts on the Day of Judgment, set on Christ’s left hand; let him receive the judgment of condemnation with the devil and his angels, unless he atones before his death with due amends for what he iniquitously committed. This charter was written in the nine hundred and seventy-ninth year from the incarnation of Christ, the Saviour, our Lord.