Gavelkind was a system of land tenure chiefly associated with the Celtic law in Ireland and Wales and with the legal traditions of the English county of Kent.
Monument at Swanscombe commemorating the legend of how Kent successfully managed to protect their rights from subjugation by the Duke of Normandy
Bayeux Tapestry scene 23 Harold sacramentum fecit Willelmo duci
Cyfraith Hywel, also known as Welsh law, was the system of law practised in medieval Wales before its final conquest by England. Subsequently, the Welsh law's criminal codes were superseded by the Sta
Gavelkind
…ancient tradition passed down orally by jurists and bards until the mid-10th century, when the laws were codified during the reign of Hywel Dda. The Cyfraith Hywel would become the most well-known and widely-adopted Welsh legal structure, and many of the laws were concerned with inheritance. The concept of cyfran…
Modern depiction of Hywel Dda proclaiming the laws
Medieval Kingdoms of Wales
A page from a 13th Century Latin version of the laws of Hywel Dda. NLW, Pen.28
An illumination of a Welsh judge (MS. Peniarth 28)