Oi! Witches! No!

[bunn]

"The justice of a consecrated king is that he condemn no man [unjustly?]* ; and that he defend and protect widows and orphans and foreigners; and forbid theft; and correct adulteries; and separate those who commit incest; and completely forbid witches; destroy spells; drive kin-murderers and perjurers out of the country; feed the needy with alms; have the old and wise and temperate as his counsellors; and appoint righteous men as officers; because, whatever they do unjustly by means of his might, he must give a reckoning on judgement day for all of it."

(Coronation oath for either Edward the Martyr (r. 975-978) or Æthelred II (r. 978-1016) )
http://www.earlyenglishlaws.ac.uk/laws/texts/sacr-cor/view/#edition,1/translation,1

*one would really hope. 

Comments

[lindahoyland.livejournal.com]

Fascinating.

[anna-wing.livejournal.com]

The issues in that oath in respect of which times have changed are really not all that many.

[ladyofastolat.livejournal.com]

I like the idea of him destroying spells (by scuffing ritual circles with his shoe and severing magical runes with his sword?) but I also like the bit about correcting adulteries, which suggests that he's got to sneak into the bedrooms of couples engaging in adultery and correct any errors in their technique. :-)

[bunn.livejournal.com]

I had a mental image of him 'separating those who commit incest' perhaps with some sort of enormous shoe-horn. :-D