Global InformationFonthill Letter information
The Fonthill Letter is a letter sent by Ordlaf, ealdorman of Wiltshire, to King Edward the Elder (r. 899-924) detailing a property dispute between Ordlaf and Æthelhelm Higa, a rival claimant. While Ordlaf is never explicitly identified as the author, it is apparent due to tenses and position of the speaker throughout the letter. The property in question was five hides of the Fonthill Estate in Ordlaf's county, which Ordlaf had given to the Bishop of Winchester.[1]
It traces the intricate history of the estate's ownership, telling of its former owner Helmstan, Ordlaf's godson, and how the land subsequently passed into Ordlaf's sole ownership after Helmstan's second conviction for stealing a neighbour's oxen.[2]
The letter was intended to be used as evidence in the ongoing lawsuit between Ordlaf and Higa over ownership of the land. Eventually, the letter served its purpose when Higa withdrew from the suit.
While the letter is not dated, it is suggested that the dispute took place from approximately 897-899/901. This indicates that it started during the closing years of King Alfred's rule and the early years of King Edward the Elder. Suggestions that the manuscript that now survives is a later copy has been criticised by Keynes, on the grounds that the text contains two separate scribal hands.[3]
Despite Whitelock's protestations,[4] the text is complex to understand for most modern readers. In an attempt to improve comprehension, Simon Keynes divides the document in 16 separate sections.
- ^ Gretsch, Metchthild (1994). "The Language of the Fonthill Letter". Anglo-Saxon England. 23. Anglo-Saxon England 23 (1994): 57–102. doi:10.1017/S026367510000449X. S2CID 162665560. Retrieved 3 October 2011.
- ^ Hough, Carole (2000). "Cattle Tracking in the Fonthill Letter". The English Historical Review. 115 (463). The English Historical Review 115 (2000): 864–892. doi:10.1093/enghis/115.463.864. JSTOR 580682.
- ^ Korhammer, M.; et al. (1992). Words, Texts and Manuscripts. Cambridge. pp. 61–2.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ Whitelock, Dorothy. English Historical Documents I. p. 501.