• Will of Æthelgifu

Author:
  • Aethelgifu
Contributor:
  • St. Albans Abbey
Publisher:
  • St. Albans : [ca. 990]
Extent:
  • 1 leaf : parchment, 56 x 35 cm.
Format:
Abstract:
  • Manuscript will.
Description:
  • Origin: Written in England, probably at the Abbey of St. Albans, ca. 990.
Subject:
Provenance:
  • Provenance: Belonged to the Abbey of St. Albans in the 12th century; belonged to Sir Matthew Hale in the 17th century who probably received it from John Selden; acquired at Sotheby's, London, Dec. 10, 1969.
Former owner:
  • Selden, John, 1584-1654
  • Hale, Matthew, 1609-1676
  • Scheide, William H. (William Hurd), 1914-2014
Edm rights:
  • No Known Copyright
View in catalog:
Curator's notes:

  • Æthilgifu

    Anglo-Saxon
    St Albans, circa 990, parchment

    This parchment scroll (here unrolled into a flat item) is a 10th-century will, written in Anglo-Saxon. It probably comes from the Abbey of St. Albans, to which it still belonged in the 12th century. Of an exceptional size, the will describes the distribution of the property of a wealthy woman: land rights, money, household goods, and enslaved locals. One specific enslaved person was also a priest, and was to inherit a church building.

    Bequest of William H. Scheide ’36, 2015
    Scheide 45.2

    For further reading

    Whitelock, Dorothy, with Neil Ker and Lord Bennell. The will of Æthelgifu. Oxford: The Roxburghe Club, 1968.

Exhibit category: