Aldred’s Glosses to the notae iuris in Durham A.iv.19: Personal, Textual and Cultural Contexts

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper discusses Aldred’s glosses to the expanded forms of a series of abbreviations (or notae) of (Roman) legal terms included on fols 85r–86r of Durham, Cathedral Library, MS A.iv.19. By taking a novel approach to Aldred’s work and focusing on what his glossing practices can tell us about his scholarly interests rather than his taste for morphological and semantic structures, this paper shows that, unlike other glossators working south of the Humber, Aldred did not have an interest in the study of (Roman) legal matters and therefore his work should not be aligned with that of Southumbrian scholars, as has been the case in the past. Nonetheless, his work is still very important for our understanding of legal studies in pre-Conquest England: while the Southumbrian materials are dominated by Isidore’s Etymologies, Aldred’s list provides an insight into other sources available to pursue this field of study in early medieval England.