Æthelstan,Wulfstan and a revised history of tithes in England |
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Authors: | Ingrid Ivarsen |
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Institution: | Emmanuel College, University of Cambridge |
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Abstract: | The law-text known as I Æthelstan is commonly accepted as the earliest evidence of a legal obligation to pay tithes in England. As it turns out, it might not be. The extant Old English version of I Æthelstan does indeed legislate for tithe payments. However, this version is an eleventh-century revision of the original text, probably penned by Archbishop Wulfstan of York (d. 1023). As I will argue in this article, the original version, which survives only as contained in a twelfth-century translation into Latin, appears to be a call for a one-off charitable alms payment. |
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