The manuscript known today as Textus Roffensis (‘the Rochester book’) is without question one of the most important of all medieval manuscripts. Compiled in the early 1120s, it is actually two books in one, containing a compilation of early English laws, dating as far back as the year 600, and a collection of charters relating to the Cathedral Priory of St Andrew, Rochester.

It preserves many of the laws of the pre-Conquest kings, including Alfred the Great, Athelstan, Ethelred ‘the Unready’, and Cnut. Its seventh-century Kentish laws are particularly important documents as they are unique to Textus Roffensis. The most well-known of these is Æthelberht’s Code, which has been described as ‘both the first piece of English law and the earliest datable work composed in English’ (Prof. Julia Crick, in Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms: Art, Word, War).

 
 

Explore online

In 2013, the University of Manchester produced a high-quality digital facsimile of Textus during the Hidden Treasures, Fresh Expressions Project redevelopment of the Cathedral Crypt into an exhibition area to exhibit the manuscript, including physical study and handling copies for the newly refurbished Chapter Library.

Open online

 
 

Index of texts

Dr Christopher Monk produced an index of texts within Textus in 2014 and alongside a small group of researchers has been gradually publishing transcriptions and translations online. The charters, early English laws and records are now available in the Records Series at the Kent Archaeological Society website.

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UNESCO
Memory of the World UK

In 2022, the early English laws in Textus Roffensis were inscribed in the the UNESCO Memory of the World UK Register. Textus is a window onto the lives of women, men and children, free and enslaved, rich and poor, during the early centuries of English history.

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Textus 900

From 2023 to 2024 we are celebrating 900 years since the compilation of Textus with a series of events and exhibitions over the period including Beauty and the Beasts (2023), Spiritual Histories (2023-2024) and Draco Roffensis (Summer 2024).

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Archive

Textus Roffensis has featured in a number of events and exhibitions at Rochester Cathedral and around the country.

Featured
Beauty and the Beasts
Beauty and the Beasts

Opening the Textus 900 celebrations at Rochester Cathedral, three remarkable British Library manuscripts are now on display in the Cathedral Crypt exhibition Beauty and the Beasts.

MESS ROOM Creates: An Exhibition of Gargoyles, Grotesques and Medieval Beasts
MESS ROOM Creates: An Exhibition of Gargoyles, Grotesques and Medieval Beasts

Artists from Kent Association for the Blind Art Groups, Peer Arts and Deaf Peer Arts are delighted to share their exhibition inspired by Beauty and the Beasts in partnership with Dr Diane Heath and Martin Crowther from the NLHF Medieval Animals Heritage project at Canterbury Christ Church University.

UNESCO Memory of the World UK Register, 2022
UNESCO Memory of the World UK Register, 2022

In 2022 the collection of early English law codes preserved in Textus Roffensis was added to the UNESCO Memory of the World UK Register, joining documentary heritage of national significance including the Death Warrant of King Charles I, Magna Carta and the Churchill Archives.

Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms: Art, Word, War at the British Library, 2018-2019
Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms: Art, Word, War at the British Library, 2018-2019

Textus Roffensis featured as part of the ‘once-in-a-generation’ 2018-2019 exhibition Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms at the British Library.

Hidden Treasures, Fresh Expressions, 2012-2016
Hidden Treasures, Fresh Expressions, 2012-2016

The Hidden Treasures, Fresh Expressions Project 2012-2016 engaged the University of Manchester in the production of a high-quality digital facsimile of Textus, a bespoke exhibition area in the Cathedral crypt, and study and handling copies for the refurbished Chapter Library.

Magna Carta 800
Magna Carta 800

Textus featured in an exhibition of the Faversham Magna Carta in 2015, highlighting the significance of these foundational documents of English Law.

 

Research

Textus has also featured in numerous studies by researchers and specialists.

 
Rochester Cathedral Research
The Danelaw, 9th-11th century
The Danelaw, 9th-11th century

Dr Alexander Thomas introduces the Danelaw; an 11th-century name for the areas of Northern and Eastern England in which the laws of the Danish Viking empire from the late 9th century until the early 11th century.

Elizabeth Elstob’s excerpts from Textus Roffensis 1712
Elizabeth Elstob’s excerpts from Textus Roffensis 1712

Elizabeth Elstob made a facsimile of Textus Roffensis (c.1123), in two parts. Here, Dr Christopher Monk explores her handwritten copies of the three Old English Kentish law codes, unique to Textus, and her copy of the foundation charter of Rochester Cathedral with its marvellous decorated initial.

Bishop Hamo of Hythe (c.1275-1352)
Bishop Hamo of Hythe (c.1275-1352)

Perhaps second only to Gundulf in shaping the medieval Cathedral and St Andrew’s Priory, there is some evidence to suggest it may be down to Hamo and the turbulent times in which he lived that resulted in the two halves of Textus being bound together in the mid-fourteenth century.

Textus Roffensis origins
Textus Roffensis origins

Dr Christopher Monk explores the origins of Ethelbert’s law-code, foundational document of the Early English Laws portion of the ‘Rochester Book’.

Elizabeth Elstob (1683-1756)
Elizabeth Elstob (1683-1756)

Bishop’s Chaplain Lindsay Llewellyn-MacDuff discusses the centrality of Elizabeth Elstob to our understanding of and access to Anglo-Saxon history.

William Lambarde (1536–1601)
William Lambarde (1536–1601)

In 1573, the scholar William Lambarde came to Rochester Cathedral to examine Textus Roffensis. He was amazed to find that its opening document, Æthelberht’s law-code, was one he thought no longer survived. Moved by the importance of his discovery, he added a comment in the right margin, urging others to take note.