ABSTRACT
Ethelbert of Kent ruled from 560 to 616, and was the first English king to convert to Christianity. Bede comments on these early seventh-century laws as inspired by Roman example and remaining in force to his own day. King Alfred of Wessex claims to have utilised several earlier legal codes in the compilation of his laws, including those of Offa of Mercia, Ethelbert of Kent, and Ine of Wessex, and a selection of these laws look to be glosses of this previous material. Medieval marriage contracts are primarily a means of documenting the marriage settlement. Oliver agrees with Hough in translating bugan as ‘dwell’ here, rather than ‘depart,’ rejecting the interpretation that this clause has anything to do with divorce.
