Sechtae

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File:Kelly, Texts and transmissions the law-texts, pl 2.jpg, MS 1336).{{rp|236}}|thumb]]

The Sechtae (Old Irish for "Heptads"{{rp|xviii}}) is a collection of sixty-five heptads (mnemonic lists of seven) on various subjects in early Irish law. It is among the longest and most wide-ranging sources for early Irish law.

The Sechtae is the ninth text in the Senchas Már.

Manuscripts

The Sechtae is only preserved in a complete form in one manuscript (Bodleian Library MS Rawlinson B 487),{{rp|34}} though Rudolf Thurneysen refers to the quality of this manuscript as "very poor".{{cite book |last=Thurneysen |first=Rudolf |orig-date=1935 |chapter=Celtic Law |title=Celtic Law Papers: Introductory to Welsh Medieval Law and Government. |editor1-first=Dafydd |editor1-last=Jenkins |location=Bruxelles |publisher=Les Editions de la Librairie Encyclopédique |date=1973 |pages=51–70 }}{{rp|58}} Portions of the Sechtae or quotes from it are preserved in several other manuscripts.{{cite book |last=Breatnach |first=Liam |title=A Companion to the Corpus Iuris Hibernici |series=Early Irish Law Series |volume=5 |location=Dublin |publisher=Institute for Advanced Studies |date=2005 }}{{rp|291}}

In early Irish legal commentaries, the Sechtae is referred to as {{lang|sga|na sechta}} ("the sevens").{{rp|291}}

The Sechtae is among the longest surviving texts of early Irish law.{{rp|2}} It is the ninth text of the collection of legal texts called the Senchas Már, placed at the beginning of the middle third of that collection.{{rp|243}} The compilation of the Senchas Már is generally dated between the late 7th and early 8th century CE.{{rp|33}} It is not clear whether law texts like the Sechtae were written by lay or clerical authors. D. A. Binchy argued the permissive divorce law described in Heptad III was suggestive of a lay author.{{cite book |last=Kelly |first=Fergus |title=A Guide to Early Irish Law |series=Early Irish Law Series |volume=3 |location=Dublin |publisher=Institute for Advanced Studies |date=1988 }}{{rp|233}}

The Sechtae comprises sixty-five heptads. These heptads are mnemonic lists of seven corresponding to a legal subject matter (for example, a list of seven places where battles could not be fought), occasionally expanded to eight. The unusual breadth of the subject matter covered in the Sechtae has been commented on.{{cite book |last=Eska |first=Charlene M. |title=Lost and Found in Early Irish Law: Aidbred, Heptad 64, and Muirbretha |publisher=Brill |location=Leiden / Boston |series=Medieval Law and its Practice |volume=36 |date=2022 }}{{rp|34}}{{rp|233}} Rudolf Thurneysen deemed them "especially valuable [for the study of Irish law] because they touch on much which is not dealt with in other law texts".{{rp|57}}

Groups of three (triads) and of seven (heptads) are common in Irish legal texts.{{cite book |last=Kelly |first=Fergus |chapter=Texts and transmissions: the law-texts |editor1-first=Próinséas Ní |editor1-last=Chatháin |editor2-first=Michael |editor2-last=Richter |title=Ireland and Europe in the early Middle Ages: texts and transmissions |location=Dublin |publisher=Four Courts Press |date=2002 |pages=230–242 }}{{rp|233}} Seventeen additional heptads are known from works other than the Sechtae. These heptads are printed as a sequence in Ancient Laws of Ireland, under the name "Additional Heptads", though they never appear in such a sequence in manuscripts.{{rp|291-292}} Kelly proposes a Christian origin for the heptad, given the signifance attached to the number by Jewish and Greek traditions.{{cite book |last=Kelly |first=Fergus |chapter=Thinking in Threes: The Triad in Early Irish Literature |chapter-url=https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/documents/1994/pba125p001.pdf |date=2005 |doi=10.5871/bacad/9780197263242.003.0001 |editor-first=P. J. |editor-last=Marshall |title=Proceedings of the British Academy Volume 125, 2003 Lectures |location=London |isbn=978-0-19-726324-2 }}{{rp|33}}

Scholars have discussed various heptads individually in order to clarify features of early Irish law.{{rp|292}} Eoin MacNeill (1923) translated Heptads XII through XV in a discussion of the law of status;{{cite journal |last=MacNeill |first=Eoin |title=Ancient Irish Law. The Law of Status or Franchise |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. Section C: Archaeology, Celtic Studies, History, Linguistics, Literature |volume=36 |date=1923 |pages=265–316 |jstor=25504234 }}{{rp|292}} Rudolf Thurneysen (1925) discussed XXV in the context of the legal text Cóic Conara Fugill{{cite book |last=Thurneysen |first=Rudolf |title=Cóic Conara Fugill: Die fünf Wege zum Urteil |date=1925 |location=Berlin |publisher=Abhandlungen der Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften }}{{rp|47}} and (1928) discussed XXX and LXV in the context of the law of surety;{{cite book |last=Thurneysen |first=Rudolf |title=Die Bürgschaft im irischen Recht |date=1928 |location=Berlin |publisher=Abhandlungen der Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften }}{{rp|47-54}} Binchy (1938) discussed XXV in the context of sick-maintenace law;{{cite journal|last=Binchy |first=D. A. |title=Sick-Maintenance in Irish Law |journal=Ériu |volume=12 |date=1938 |pages=78–134 |jstor=30008072 }}{{rp|86-87}} Liam Breatnach (1989) discussed I and II in the context of legal disqualification;{{cite journal |last=Breatnach |first=Liam |title=The First Third of Bretha Nemed Toísech |journal=Ériu |volume=40 |date=1989 |pages=1–40 |jstor=30006333 }}{{rp|31}} and Charlene Eska (2022) discussed LXIV in the context of the law of lost property.{{rp|33}}

Excerpt

The following is a translation of Heptad XV, dealing with the honour-price{{efn|According to Fergus Kelly, a person's honour-price is the amount "to be paid for any major, offence committed against him, e.g. murder, satire, serious, injury, refusal of hospitality, theft, violation of his protection, etc.".{{rp|8}}}} of women:

{{quote|There are seven women in Irish law who are not entitled to payment or honour-price from a person: a woman who steals, a woman who satirizes every class of person, a chantress of tales whose kin pays for her lying stories, a prostitute of the bushes, a woman who wounds, a woman who betrays, a woman who refuses hospitality to every law-abiding person. These are women who are not entitled to honour-price.{{rp|349}}}}

Sechtae

Manuscripts

Contents

Excerpt

See also

Notes

References

Further reading

External links