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112 Stephen Dunford: The Journey of The IrIsh
by a clause which stated that no one must be oppressed when in difficulty, and the same man could sue the king himself for a debt. Again, a noble or an ecclesiastic who transgressed against the law was punished more severely than was the plain man for such a transgression. The crime of the former was properly regarded as greater, because they knew better, and therefore were expected to set a better example.”
As already mentioned, even the king himself had to bow to the law. He was expressly forbidden to demand his rights by falsehood, by force, or by despotic might and the law also stated that “his fostering care must be perfect to all, both the weak and the strong”. In fact there were four categories of noble who could be reduced to lower rank by law; they were “a false judging judge, an erring bishop, a fraudulent poet, and an unworthy chieftain.” When St. Patrick was engaged in collecting and reforming the laws of Ireland for his Seanchas Mór, his Great Immemorial Custom, the most radical change he made was the substitution of eric law for Lex Taliones-The Law of Talion: in other words, whereas the old laws granted “an eye for an eye”, Patrick substituted an eric, or fine, instead of the physical revenge of the old law, thus introducing a mercy and benevolence not heretofore in place.
So, as we now know, by 800 the unity and stability of Ireland, in language, religion, law and culture had already remained intact for almost four hundred years. Furthermore, the country had been free from invasion for more than one thousand years, and as a result, a palpable form of national unity was visible to all in the person of the High-King and the assemblies held by him.
Unfortunately, as we are about to learn, despite this cultural unity, beneath the radiant veneer of scholarship, a political weakness and disunity, allied to military naivety existed throughout the land, a land which was soon to be put to a very severe test as the long centu- ries of security were about to come to an end.
This idyllic Irish way of life came to an abrupt and bloody conclusion towards the latter part of the eight century, and during the period 795-1014, the country was subjected to the persistent and savage attacks of the invaders sometimes called the Northmen, or Norsemen.
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