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The title ''Quadripartitus'' refers to an extensive legal collection compiled during the reign of Henry I, king of England (r. 1100-1135).〔Wormald, ''Making of English law'', p. 236〕 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.〔 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 such legal minds as Bracton and Fortescue. ==Manuscripts== No original manuscript is extant, but copies survive in six classes of manuscripts: :1. BL, Cotton MS Domitian viii, fos. 96r-110v. Incomplete. The manuscript has been tentatively dated to the 1120s and stands out as the oldest witness of the ''Quadripartitus''. It is the only manuscript to preserve both prefaces and gives the text for only two law-codes, after which the manuscript breaks off.〔Liebermann arrived at a later date, ''c''. 1140, but on palaeographical grounds, Patrick Wormald considers an earlier date in the 1120s more likely. Wormald, "Quadripartitus", pp. 83-4〕 :2. Manchester, John Rylands Library MS Lat 420. Mid-12th century. According to a 16th-century note on the flyleaf, the first 20 folios are lost.〔Wormald, "Quadripartitus", p. 84〕 :3. BL, Royal MS 11.B.ii, fos. 103r-166v :4. BL, Additional MS 49366 :5. BL, Cotton MS Titus A.xxvii, fos. 89r-174v :6. The London Collection is represented by four copies. It incorporates later material up to Henry's reign, such as the ''Leges Henrici Primi'' and the ''Genealogia ducum Normannorum''.〔Wormald, ''Making of English law'', pp. 238-9〕 ::6a. Manchester, John Rylands Library, Lat MS 155 (+ BL, Additional MS 14252) ::6b. BL, Cotton MS Claudius D.ii ::6c. Cambridge, CCC, MSS 70 and 258 ::6d. Oxford, Oriel College, MS 46.〔Wormald, ''Making of English Law'', pp. 237-8〕 The compilation of the ''Quadripartitus'' was an ambitious project which took many years to complete. The first preface, the ''Dedicatio'', which may have been present only in the first draft of the work (see below), shows no intrinsic sign of having been written later than 1100, and neither does the first volume.〔Sharpe, "The prefaces of ''Quadripartitus''", p. ....〕 This suggests that the work was well underway by the beginning of Henry's reign.〔Wormald, ''Making of English law'', p. 244〕 The second preface, known as the ''Argumentum'', frequently refers to Henry's succession as heralding the return of law and order to English society. The second volume contains material composed during Henry's reign and refers to a royal council held at London in May (Pentecost) 1108, attended among others by Urse d'Abetôt (d. 1108). Liebermann assigned the completion of the work to a date between 1113 and 1118, basing this ''terminus ante quem'' on the mention of Henry's victories over the "rages of the Bretons" in ''Argumentum'' § 16, which he took to refer to the king's claim of sovereignty as recognised by King Louis VI of France in 1113. Richard Sharpe, however, argues that the wording of the text is too general to allow for any such historically specific interpretation. He dates the completion of the first draft to between 1108 and 1118, with a date nearer the early part of this range.〔 According to Patrick Wormald, the anonymous author continually worked on and revised the collection. Since copies were made and sent out during the process, the author's shifting perceptions and intentions are reflected in the numerous amendments to and rearrangements of the texts which are encountered in the various manuscripts.〔Wormald, ''Making of English law'', pp. 238-9, 242-3〕 The author's Latin is at times notoriously opaque, which some scholars have ascribed to lack of training and skill.〔Sharpe, "The prefaces of ''Quadripartitus''", pp. 148-9〕 However, Richard Sharpe has argued that the author was proficient in Latin and well at home with classical literature, but shows a preference for rhetorical flourish which often makes his writing difficult to penetrate.〔Sharpe, "The prefaces of ''Quadripartitus''", p. 149〕 In spite of these difficulties, it is the use of Latin rather than an archaic form of English which has contributed to the pre-eminent position of the work in later ages and in effect to its survival to the present day.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Quadripartitus」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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