The community of the realm in Scotland, 1249–1424
History, law and charters in a recreated kingdom

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Differences in the text of Regiam

It has long been acknowledged that Regiam was unfinished, even in its earliest attested instantiations. This is partly due to the way in which its textual antecedents,—particularly but not exclusively—Glanvill were treated. Lord Cooper, in his work on Regiam mostly conducted in the 1940s, determined that:

Although our work on the earliest known version of Regiam has shown that, pace Duncan, the same compiler appears to have worked on the whole of work—and that his work even in book 1 was not finished—it is still the case that there are parts of the work where textual antecedents have been reworked more completely, and those where such antecedents have been included verbatim.

The sample chosen includes those more-reworked sections as well as those less-reworked and are listed as follows. All chapter numbers are taken from Version 1 (which numbers chapters continuously, despite the break in book), with the block number in square brackets. For more on the block numbers of Regiam, see here.

The prologue [block 1]

• Included for the political ideas it contains

Part 1, chs 1-4, 8-10. [blocks 2-5, 9-11]

• The start of book I is understood as containing some of the most finished parts of Regiam, with sections of Glanvill, including its description of the pleas belonging to which court, being properly reworked to the Scottish context. It is therefore of interest to see how far these sections were changed, revised and edited over the 14th-16th centuries.
• Chs. 8-11 have been included in part because of their historiographical importance. This was the section which A.A.M. Duncan said not only interpolated a section of the 1318 legislation but also expanded and developed it. This therefore also constitutes one of the most-heavily edited sections of Regiam and so has been included here.

Part 2, ch. 93: 'Who are legitimate sons' (qui filii sunt legitimi)

• This is from a section containing some of the least edited/worked upon passages in the earliest version of Regiam, and so has been included here to see how far it was changed, revised and edited over the 14th-16th century.
• In addition, it is also interesting as a question of Scottish law. Given that Scottish law (as attested in Regiam, following Glanvill, but currently being debated by Susan marshall) illegitimised pre-nuptial children (in comparison with canon law), how was this passage treated? The discordance was noted in a gloss first attested in C, but how far did later manuscripts notice, understand and incorporate the change, particularly as later medieval Scotland did eventually adopt the canon law position?
• This sample therefore offers an interesting opportunity to see and visualise auxiliary text.

Part 4, ch. 143: 'On theft' (de furtis)

• Part 4 of the earliest version of Regiam is of particular interest, and therefore some passage from it had to be chosen.
• It is not, however, as Cooper thought, just a mismash of Scottish legal chapters, most attested elsewhere; its first few chapters do actually edit Glanvill relatively heavily.
• It does seem, however, that Part 4 did change quite substantially over its manuscript tradition. It also contains some Scottish legal chapters first attested in the 13th century.
• The chapter on theft, chosen here, is located close to the start of the more-heavily-section of part 4, and has as its textual antecedent chapters from the 13th-century Leges Scocie.
• De furtis therefore is a useful case study of how a chapter grows (and contracts) over its manuscript history, as well as showing how the original compiler used his antecedent material.

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