Colbertine Cnut (Cn Cb)
This later twelfth-century text combines two early twelfth-century Latin versions of preconquest laws, most prominently those of Cnut (I-II Cnut), into a new treatise. The prologue and last clauses come from the Consiliatio Cnuti, while the body of the treatise consists of a complete text of the Instituta Cnuti. The creator of this pastiche has also reshaped some of the Instituta’s language by importing words and expressions from the Consiliatio. In the ecclesiastical section (roughly consisting of a translation of I Cnut), the compiler has revised some statements of law, it appears, to bring them more into line with mid twelfth-century practices.
Contents
Print editions
- J. L. A. Kolderup-Rosenvinge, ed., Legum Regis Canuti Magni (Copenhagen 1826).
- A new edition by Bruce O'Brien will be included in Early English Laws.
Manuscripts
- Cb: Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale, MS lat. 4771, pp. 1-35
description & facsimiles