The Gúbretha Caratniad[a] (Old Irish for "False judgements of Caratnia"[2]: 105 ) is a collection of exceptions to rules in early Irish law. These exceptions are given in a formulaic manner, as a dialogue between the legendary high king Conn Cétchathach and his judge Caratnia, in which Caratnia delivers his judgement, Conn objects, and Caratnia explains the exception.
Manuscripts
The complete text of Gúbretha Caratniad is contained in the Bodleian Library, MS Rawlinson B 502,[3]: 262 a 12th-century Irish manuscript which is the oldest to preserve any early Irish law text.[4]: 230 The reliability of this manuscript of the Gúbretha is quite high.[5]: 304 In Rawlinson B 502, glosses to Gúbretha Caratniad are provided, which cite other early Irish texts in order illustrate the rule, or exception, in question.[3]: 262, 351 These glosses appear to have been copied by the scribe, rather than originating with him.[5]: 304 The other manuscript of the Gúbretha is an incomplete text in Dublin, Trinity College MS 1363 (or H 4. 22).[3]: 262
The title is from the incipit of the Rawlinson text: Gúbretha Caratniad Tescti in so ("Here are the false verdicts of Caratnia Tescthe[b]").[3]: 262 [5]: 306
Contents
The Gúbretha Caratniad presents a number of exceptions to rules of early Irish law in a formulaic manner. The introductory paragraph (§1) introduces the frame narrative: the legendary high king Conn Cétchathach would pass on the legal cases to his judge Caratnia, and later inquire after them.[3]: 262 In the following paragraphs (§2-52), fifty-one "false judgements" of Caratnia are given; these are "false judgements" only superficially, as Conn discovers in each case when he objects and Caratnia explains the relevant exception.[3]: 262 Such a dialogue form is rare in early Irish legal texts.[2]: 119
Much scholarship has been dedicated to interpreting the short and difficult prologue to this text.[2]: 107 Marilyn Gerriets suggested this prologue reflected a reality of early Ireland, in which the king was the "fount of justice", with his judgement on cases tempered by the advice of legal professionals (like Caratnia).[6]: 126 Alice R. Taylor-Griffiths has objected to this on the grounds that the king/judge frame is a pedagogical prop, "not intended to reflect a real-life interaction between king and judge".[2]: 129
The cases in Gúbretha range over an unusually large number of topics.[4]: 233 They do not appear to be ordered in any systematic manner.[c] Similar cases are rarely grouped together. Rudolf Thurneysen suggests that its scattered manner of organisation probably did not aid its popularity.[5]: 304 Nonetheless, it is this large range of subject matter that makes it valuable for scholars for early Irish law.[5]: 305 The Gúbretha shares its interest in exceptions with Anfuigell ("Wrong judgement") and Recholl Breth ("Shroud of judgements").[7]: 7 A text which was presumably structured similar to Gúbretha, Antéchtae Breth ("Impropriety of judgements"), has been largely lost.[1]: 266 [3]: 167
The Gúbretha Caratniad does not seem to have been a very popular text. Only one citation from it is known in the corpus of early Irish law.[3]: 262 The glosses are often mistaken about the nature of the law they intend to explain, which shows that the Gúbretha was misunderstood at an early stage.[5]: 304 Taylor-Griffiths suggested the text was intended for "advanced students of law",[2]: 107 and was "exemplary, rather than exhaustive".[2]: 129
The language of Gúbretha Caratniad dates it to the 8th century CE.[5]: 304 [2]: 262 Thurneysen suggests that its legal viewpoint was representative of earlier Irish law.[5]: 305 Heinrich Wagner compared §39 of the Gúbretha, dealing with the law of rape, to a passage from the Hittite laws.[8]
Excerpt
In §51, Caratnia gives an exception to the rule that a king could demand his honour-price[d] from a poet who satirised him:[1]: 138
"I decided: The king is in possession of his honour after [i.e., in spite of] the insult." - "You decided wrongly", said Conn. - "I did it properly," said Caratnia, "for he received praise, so that the praise was more glorious [i.e., outweighed the insult]."[9]
See also
- Sechtae, a similarly wide-ranging early Irish legal text.
Notes
- ^ Old Irish pronunciation: [gu:v'r'eθa karadn'i-að].[1]: xxiv
- ^ Caratnia's byname Tescthe, literally "the cut one", is explained in the introduction as deriving from him being abandoned and wounded ("cut") by his people before being adopted into Conn's court.[5]: 306
- ^ The two manuscript of the Gúbretha differ slightly from each other in the ordering of the cases.[2]: 109
- ^ According to Fergus Kelly, a person's honour-price is the amount "to be paid for any major, offence committed against him, e.g. murder, satire, serious, injury, refusal of hospitality, theft, violation of his protection, etc.".[1]: 8
References
- ^ a b c d e Kelly, Fergus (1988). A Guide to Early Irish Law. Early Irish Law Series. Vol. 3. Dublin: Institute for Advanced Studies.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Taylor-Griffiths, Alice R. (2018). "Gúbretha Caratniad. Agreement and disagreement in the classroom". North American journal of Celtic studies. 2 (2): 105–132. doi:10.26818/nortamerceltstud.2.2.0105.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Breatnach, Liam (2005). A Companion to the Corpus Iuris Hibernici. Early Irish Law Series. Vol. 5. Dublin: Institute for Advanced Studies.
- ^ a b Kelly, Fergus (2002). "Texts and transmissions: the law-texts". In Chatháin, Próinséas Ní; Richter, Michael (eds.). Ireland and Europe in the early Middle Ages: texts and transmissions. Dublin: Four Courts Press. pp. 230–242.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Thurneysen, Rudolf (1925). "Aus dem irischen Recht III: 4. Die falschen Urteilssprüche Caratnia's". Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie. 15: 302–370. doi:10.1515/zcph.1925.15.1.302.
- ^ McCone, Kim (1991). Pagan Past and Christian Present in Early Irish Literature. Maynooth Monographs. Vol. 3. Kildare: An Sagart.
- ^ Eska, Charlene M. (2019). A Raven's Battle-Cry: The Limits of Judgment in the Medieval Irish Legal Tract Anfuigell. Leiden: Brill.
- ^ Wagner, Heinrich (1966). "Zu Gúbretha Caratniad § 39". Ériu. 20: 66. JSTOR 30008049.
- ^ Translated adapted from Thurneysen, Rudolf (1925). "Aus dem irischen Recht III: 4. Die falschen Urteilssprüche Caratnia's". Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie. 15: 366.
Further reading
- Binchy, D. A. (1978). Corpus Iuris Hibernici (6 vols.). Dublin: Institute for Advanced Studies. 2192.1-2199.26; 1582.1-25. (the Gúbretha Caratniad in manuscript sources)
- Gerriets, Marilyn (1988). "The king as judge in early Ireland". Celtica. 20: 29–52.
- Stacey, Robin Chapman (2002). "Speaking in riddles". In Chatháin, Próinséas Ní; Richter, Michael (eds.). Ireland and Europe in the early Middle Ages: texts and transmissions. Dublin: Four Courts Press. pp. 243–248.
- Thurneysen, Rudolf (1925). "Aus dem irischen Recht III: 4. Die falschen Urteilssprüche Caratnia's". Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie. 15: 302–370. doi:10.1515/zcph.1925.15.1.302. (the Gúbretha Caratniad with commentary and German translation)
- Thurneysen, Rudolf (1930). "Aus dem irischen Recht V: 7. Zu Gúbretha Caratniad". Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie. 15: 353–356. doi:10.1515/zcph.1930.18.1.353. (additions and corrections to the above edition)
External links
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