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Anglo-Saxon

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lád

  • noun [ feminine ]
Dictionary links
Grammar
lád, e; f.
Wright's OE grammar
§225; §367; §562;
excuse, defence against a charge
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  • Nú hí nabbaþ náne láde be hyra synne

    nunc excusationem non habent de peccato suo,

    • Jn. Skt. 15, 22
    • .
  • Ðætte hé náne láde ne mǽge findan ac síe súa mid his ágnum wordum gebunden

    et in nulla sui defensione se exerceat, quam sententia proprii oris ligat,

    • Past. 26, 3
    • ;
    • Swt. 185, 16
    • .
  • Ða nǽnige láde gedón ne mágon on dómes dæge ah sceolon mid deóflum in éce wíte gefeallan

    those will not be able to make any defence at the day of judgment, but will have to fall with devils into everlasting punishment,

    • Blickl. Homl. 57, 20
    • .
as a technical term in the laws, purgation, exculpation, the clearing one's self from a charge or accusation. The accused might clear himself by his own oath, supported by the oaths of a certain number of compurgators, or he might undergo some form of ordeal. The lád varied with the character of the deed with the commission of which the accused was charged. In the ánfeald lád, if the purgation were by oath, the oaths of the accused, and two others were necessary, in the þrýfeald lád, the accused was to bring five compurgators; if the ordeal was used, in the former case the iron weighed one pound, in the latter, three. Other passages than those cited below, which may illustrate the terms ánfeald, þrýfeald, are the following
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  • Wé cwǽdon be ðám morþslyhtum ðæt man dýpte ðone áþ be þrýfealdum and myclade ðæt ordálísen ðæt hit gewege þrý pund,

    • L. Ath. iv. 6
    • ;
    • Th. i. 224, 12-14
    • .
  • Gange hé tó ðam þrýfealdan ordále; and ofgá man ðæt þrýfealde ordál ðus: nime fífe and beó hine sylfa syxta,

    • L. C. S. 30
    • ;
    • Th. i. 394, 3-5: 44
    • ;
    • Th. i. 402, 7
    • .
  • The term 'lád,' it will be seen from the following passages, does not, as Schmid observes, occur in the laws before Ethelred's time, canne and andsæc being used previously :

    -- Gyf mon ðone hláford teó ... nime him fíf þegnas tó and beó him sylf syxta and ládie hine ðæs. And gif seó lád forþcume beó hé ðæs weres wyrðe

    if the lord be accused ... let him take to himself five thanes, and be himself the sixth, and clear himself of the charge. And if he be successful in clearing himself, let him be entitled to the 'wer,'

    • L. Eth. i. 1
    • ;
    • Th. i. 282, 7
    • :
    • L. C. S. 30
    • ;
    • Th. i. 394, 22
    • .
  • Gif him seó lád byrste

    if the attempt to clear himself fail,

    • L. Eth. i. 1
    • ;
    • Th. i. 282, 14
    • :
    • L. C. S. 8
    • ;
    • Th. i. 380, 21
    • :
    • 31
    • ;
    • Th. i. 396, 5
    • .
  • Gif lád forberste,

    • 54
    • ;
    • Th. i. 406, 10
    • .
  • Ðeáh lád teorie,

    • L. O. D. 4
    • ;
    • Th. i. 354, 14
    • :
    • 6
    • ;
    • Th. i. 354, 31
    • .
  • Ne stent nán óðer lád æt tihtlan búte ordál betweox Wealan and Englan búte man þafian wille

    no other method of clearing a man upon accusation is valid between Welsh and English but the ordeal, unless it be permitted,

    • 2
    • ;
    • Th. i. 354, 1
    • .
  • Láde wyrðe beón

    to be entitled to clear one's self (by oath or by ordeal),

    • L. C. S. 20
    • ;
    • Th. i. 386, 21
    • .
  • Sý ǽlc getrýwa man ðe tihtbysig nǽre and náðor ne burste ne áþ ne ordál ánfealdre láde wyrðe

    let every true man that has not previously been accused, and in whose case neither oath nor ordeal has failed, be entitled to single purgation,

    • 22
    • ;
    • Th. i. 388, 11
    • .
  • Dúnstan gedémde ðæt se mæssepreóst nǽre, gif hé wíf hæfde, ǽnigre óðre láde wyrðe, bútan eallswá lǽwede sceolde ðe efenboren wǽre, gif man mid tihtlan ðæne beléde,

    • L. Edg. C. 60, note
    • ;
    • Th. ii. 256, 38
    • .
  • Gebyreþ ðæt mon óðrum riht wyrce ge at láde ge æt ǽlcre sprǽce ðe him betweox biþ

    it is proper for men to do right to one another both as regards clearing themselves of charges and as regards any suits that there are between them,

    • L. O. D. 2
    • ;
    • Th. i. 352, 17
    • .
  • Gif æt láde mistíde déme se bisceop

    if the attempt to clear himself miscarry, let the bishop pass sentence,

    • L. C. S. 57
    • ;
    • Th. i. 406, 27
    • .
  • Geládige hine mid fulre láde,

    • 42
    • ;
    • Th. i, 400, 25
    • .
  • Geládige swá mid þrýfealdre swá mid ánfealdre láde be ðam ðe seó dǽd sí,

    • L. C. E. 5
    • ;
    • Th. i. 364, 2
    • :
    • L. Eth. ix. 27
    • ;
    • Th. i. 846, 15
    • .
  • Ládige hine mid þrýfealdre láde,

    • L. C. S. 8
    • ;
    • Th. i. 380, 20
    • :
    • 48
    • ;
    • Th. i. 404, 3
    • .
  • Ofgá man ánfealde láde mid ánfealdan foráþe and þrýfealde láde mid þrýfealdan foráþe

    [the Latin version has the following in explanation :--

    Qui autem conquirere debet simplicem purgationem, simplici sacramento hoc faciat, hoc est, accipiat duos et sit ipse tertius, et sic jurando conquirat. Triplex vero juramentum sic conquiratur; accipiat quinque et ipse sit sextus, et sic jurando acquirat triplex judicium aut triplex juramentum']

    ,
    • 22
    • ;
    • Th. i. 388, 14
    • .
  • Se geréfa namige ða láde

    let the reeve name the compurgators,

    • L. Eth. iii. 13
    • ;
    • Th. i. 298, 1
    • .
  • Se ðe ofer ðæt láde geþafie oððe se ðe hý sylle gilde vi healfmarc

    he that admits, or he that offers, purgation after that, shall pay six half-marks,

    • Th. i. 298, 7.
  • Hér swutelaþ an (ðissum gewrite) ðæt Godwine hæfþ gelǽd fulle láde æt ðan unrihtwífe ðe Leófgár bisceop hine tihte and ðæt wæs lád æt Licitfelda

    in this writing is declared that Godwine has fully cleared himself of the charge in the matter of the woman about whom bishop Leofgar accused him: and he cleared himself at Lichfield,

    • Chart. Th. 373, 31.
Similar entries
See wer-lád, cor-snæd, ordál, ládian; Stubb's Const. Hist. i. 609-; Grmm. R. A. 856, 859-; Du Cange sub voce lada; Richthofen's Altfries. Wört. léde, láde.
Linked entries
v.  ládian.
Full form

Word-wheel

  • lád, n.