Scandinavian Influence on English Law, c. 870-1215

Abstract

Recent interdisciplinary scholarship has highlighted the profound effects that conquering viking armies and Scandinavian settlement had in England. The Anglo-Scandinavian regions were distinguished by their legal practices and termed the Danelaw, with legal differences visible in English texts such as the c. 997 ‘Wantage Code’. Past historiography has primarily searched for English legal origins within Anglo-Saxon traditions or Norman innovations, while inadequate attention has been paid to the Scandinavian role within the milieux of influences which formed common law. This thesis highlights means by which English criminal law shifted in this period closer towards Scandinavian practices and evaluates the overall Scandinavian influence. The first four chapters each focus upon a thematic strand of legal procedure, charting its development from the earliest Anglo-Saxon records, to distinctions in the Danelaw, to the changes brought by the conquering Danish and Norman regimes, as well as in the Angevin period up until 1215. Each chapter demonstrates emerging patterns of ‘Scandinavianisation’ along lines which can be observed in the Danelaw and Scandinavian sources. Chapter 1 focusses on accusations becoming more severe and damning in themselves, including through group presentment. Chapter 2 discusses the reduction of the clearing oath as a measure of proof and rise of less defendant-friendly methods of determining truth, particularly the ordeal. Within Chapter 3, legal liability for others is shown to shift greatly, with an emphasis on cash guarantees and communal punishments coming to the fore. Chapter 4 explores the increased ability for legal access to be conceptually lost (i.e. outlawry) and gained in a developing understanding of rights. Synthesising these arguments, Chapter 5 demonstrates how within changes to English dispute resolution, a new Scandinavian ‘love or law’ dynamic can be seen. This work’s conclusions encourage recognition of the Scandinavian role in English legal development and within core features of the common law tradition which continue today, reaffirming the fundamental impact of Scandinavian invaders, settlers, and rulers in British history.