Molmutine Laws


The Molmutine Laws were the laws said to have been instituted over the Britons by Dyfnwal Moelmud. Very little remains known of these laws, with surviving Welsh codes simply noting that Dyfnwal's laws were largely superseded by the new codes instituted by Hywel Dda. Hywel was said, however, to have retained Dyfnwal's units of measurement.

Legendary accounts

History of the Kings of Britain

's pseudohistorical History of the Kings of Britain describes Dyfnwal as its "Dunvallo Molmutius". In his account, one of the Molmutine Laws declared that the temples of the gods and cities should act as sanctuaries from death. Furthermore, anyone who fled to a temple for being accused of a crime must be pardoned by the accuser upon departure from the temple. This law soon included all roads leading to temples and all farmers were declared safe from such crimes. Geoffrey credited the British Trojans as the original source of many of Dyfnwal's laws, including one allowing the reign of queens.

Welsh triads

The Molmutine Laws are among the texts said to have been "discovered" by the forger Iolo Morganwg around the year 1800. They are given in the form of triads and include: