| Quadripartitus | |
|---|---|
| Language | medieval Latin |
| Manuscript(s) | Six manuscript classes: |
| 1. BL, Cotton MS Domitian viii, fos. 96r-110v 2. Manchester, John Rylands Library Latin MS 420 3. BL, Royal MS 11.B.ii, fos. 103r-166v 4. BL, Add MS 49366 5. BL, Cotton MS Titus A.xxvii, fos. 89r-174v 6. London Collection: 6a. Manchester, John Rylands Library, Latin MS 155 (+ BL, Add MS 14252) 6b. BL, Cotton MS Claudius D.ii 6c. Cambridge, CCC, MSS 70 and 258 6d. Oxford, Oriel College, MS 46.[1] | |
| Genre | legal compilation |
The title Quadripartitus refers to an extensive legal collection compiled during the reign of Henry I, king of England (1100–1135).[2] The work consists of Anglo-Saxon legal materials in Latin translation as well as a number of Latin texts of legal interest that were produced after the Conquest. It ranks as the largest surviving medieval collection of pre-Conquest law and is the second to have been produced during Henry I's reign, after that contained in Cambridge, Corpus Christi College MS 383.[2] First compiled for the use of Henry I's jurists and administrators, the Quadripartitus enjoyed immense interest for a considerable time afterwards and was consulted by legal scholars, including Henry de Bracton in the thirteenth century and John Fortescue in the fifteenth.