The text of Gúbretha Caratniad begins with the ornamented G at the foot of this page (Rawlinson B 502, fol. 62d).[1]: 227 

Gúbretha Caratniad[a] (Old Irish for "False judgements of Caratnia"[2]: 105 ) is a collection of exceptions to the rules of 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 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 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

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  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 

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 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 [de] compared §39 of 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

  1. ^ Old Irish pronunciation: [gu:v'r'eθa karadn'i-að].[1]: xxiv 
  2. ^ 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 
  3. ^ The two manuscript of Gúbretha differ slightly from each other in the ordering of the cases.[2]: 109 
  4. ^ 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

  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ McCone, Kim (1991). Pagan Past and Christian Present in Early Irish Literature. Maynooth Monographs. Vol. 3. Kildare: An Sagart.
  7. ^ Eska, Charlene M. (2019). A Raven's Battle-Cry: The Limits of Judgment in the Medieval Irish Legal Tract Anfuigell. Leiden: Brill.
  8. ^ Wagner, Heinrich (1966). "Zu Gúbretha Caratniad § 39". Ériu. 20: 66. JSTOR 30008049.
  9. ^ Translation adapted from Thurneysen, Rudolf (1925). "Aus dem irischen Recht III: 4. Die falschen Urteilssprüche Caratnia's". Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie. 15: 366. doi:10.1515/zcph.1925.15.1.238.

Further reading

  • Binchy, D. A. (1978). Corpus Iuris Hibernici (6 vols.). Dublin: Institute for Advanced Studies. 2192.1-2199.26; 1582.1-25. (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. (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)
Allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%BAbretha_Caratniad
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