Sechtae

The highly decorated initial A begins Heptad I (Trinity College, MS 1336).: 236 

The Sechtae (Old Irish for "Heptads": xviii ) is a collection of sixty-five heptads (mnemonic lists of seven) on various subjects in early Irish law. It is among the longest and most wide-ranging sources for early Irish law.

The Sechtae is the ninth text in the Senchas Már.

Manuscripts

The Sechtae is only preserved in a complete form in one manuscript (Bodleian Library MS Rawlinson B 487),: 34  though Rudolf Thurneysen refers to the quality of this manuscript as "very poor".: 58  Portions of the Sechtae or quotes from it are preserved in several other manuscripts.: 291 

In early Irish legal commentaries, the Sechtae is referred to as na sechta ("the sevens").: 291 

Contents

The Sechtae is among the longest surviving texts of early Irish law.: 2  It is the ninth text of the collection of legal texts called the Senchas Már, placed at the beginning of the middle third of that collection.: 243  The compilation of the Senchas Már is generally dated between the late 7th and early 8th century CE.: 33  It is not clear whether law texts like the Sechtae were written by lay or clerical authors. D. A. Binchy argued the permissive divorce law described in Heptad III was suggestive of a lay author.: 233 

The Sechtae comprises sixty-five heptads. These heptads are mnemonic lists of seven corresponding to a legal subject matter (for example, a list of seven places where battles could not be fought), occasionally expanded to eight. The unusual breadth of the subject matter covered in the Sechtae has been commented on.: 34 : 233  Rudolf Thurneysen deemed them "especially valuable [for the study of Irish law] because they touch on much which is not dealt with in other law texts".: 57 

Groups of three (triads) and of seven (heptads) are common in Irish legal texts.: 233  Seventeen additional heptads are known from works other than the Sechtae. These heptads are printed as a sequence in Ancient Laws of Ireland, under the name "Additional Heptads", though they never appear in such a sequence in manuscripts.: 291–292  Kelly proposes a Christian origin for the heptad, given the significance attached to the number by Jewish and Greek traditions.: 33 

Scholars have discussed various heptads individually in order to clarify features of early Irish law.: 292  Eoin MacNeill (1923) translated Heptads XII through XV in a discussion of the law of status;: 292  Rudolf Thurneysen (1925) discussed XXV in the context of the legal text Cóic Conara Fugill: 47  and (1928) discussed XXX and LXV in the context of the law of surety;: 47–54  Binchy (1938) discussed XXV in the context of sick-maintenance law;: 86–87  Liam Breatnach (1989) discussed I and II in the context of legal disqualification;: 31  and Charlene Eska (2022) discussed LXIV in the context of the law of lost property.: 33 

Excerpt

The following is a translation of Heptad XV, dealing with the honour-price of women:

There are seven women in Irish law who are not entitled to payment or honour-price from a person: a woman who steals, a woman who satirizes every class of person, a chantress of tales whose kin pays for her lying stories, a prostitute of the bushes, a woman who wounds, a woman who betrays, a woman who refuses hospitality to every law-abiding person. These are women who are not entitled to honour-price.: 349 

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ 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.".: 8 

References

  1. 1 2 3 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.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Eska, Charlene M. (2022). Lost and Found in Early Irish Law: Aidbred, Heptad 64, and Muirbretha. Medieval Law and its Practice. Vol. 36. Leiden / Boston: Brill.
  3. 1 2 Thurneysen, Rudolf (1973) [1935]. "Celtic Law". In Jenkins, Dafydd (ed.). Celtic Law Papers: Introductory to Welsh Medieval Law and Government. Bruxelles: Les Editions de la Librairie Encyclopédique. pp. 51–70.
  4. 1 2 3 Breatnach, Liam (2005). A Companion to the Corpus Iuris Hibernici. Early Irish Law Series. Vol. 5. Dublin: Institute for Advanced Studies.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Kelly, Fergus (1988). A Guide to Early Irish Law. Early Irish Law Series. Vol. 3. Dublin: Institute for Advanced Studies.
  6. ↑ Kelly, Fergus (2005). "Thinking in Threes: The Triad in Early Irish Literature" (PDF). In Marshall, P. J. (ed.). Proceedings of the British Academy Volume 125, 2003 Lectures. London. doi:10.5871/bacad/9780197263242.003.0001. ISBN 978-0-19-726324-2.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  7. ↑ MacNeill, Eoin (1923). "Ancient Irish Law. The Law of Status or Franchise". Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. Section C: Archaeology, Celtic Studies, History, Linguistics, Literature. 36: 265–316. JSTOR 25504234.
  8. ↑ Thurneysen, Rudolf (1925). Cóic Conara Fugill: Die fünf Wege zum Urteil. Berlin: Abhandlungen der Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften.
  9. ↑ Thurneysen, Rudolf (1928). Die Bürgschaft im irischen Recht. Berlin: Abhandlungen der Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften.
  10. ↑ Binchy, D. A. (1938). "Sick-Maintenance in Irish Law". Ériu. 12: 78–134. JSTOR 30008072.
  11. ↑ Breatnach, Liam (1989). "The First Third of Bretha Nemed Toísech". Ériu. 40: 1–40. JSTOR 30006333.

Further reading