as law & order

• what is blood feud

  common in saxon period but less common in norman time

  legal framework for revenge

  if member of a family was murdered, then the family was entitled to murder a member of the perpetrator's family in revenge -> this could last for generations

  intended to be a form of deterrence, consequences of a murder being potentially long-lasting and devastating
• what is wergild

  form of compensation for assault and murders

  people fined for causing harm and disablement and fines for murdering

  acted as a deterrent
• what are wergild fines

  king: 30,000 gold coins

  thegn: 1,200 shillings

  ceorl: 200 shillings

  welshman: 70 shillings
• what is trial by ordeal

  leaving justice to god

  person accused by crime -> goes through ordeal -> wound binded -> if it heals quickly they innocent, if it doesn't then they are guilty
• give some examples of ordeals

  holding a red hot iron for 5 paces

  grasping a stone from the bottom of a boiling cauldron
• what is hue and cry

  if someone saw a crime, they had a responsibility to raise the hue and cry by shouting and alerted others

  chase them until they were delivered to the shire reeve
• what happened if the hundred failed to raise the hue and cry

  the whole community would be fined as a form of collective punishment
• who enforced the law

  the saxon hierarchy
• what did burhs become

  centres of justice
• how did the law work

  the king decided the law + acted as a judge in important cases -> the earls ensure the law is applied in their earldoms + act as king's representative so also judge -> lords appointer as shire reeves, they prosecuted crimes, collected taxes and fined and dished out punishments -> king's subjects all obey the law
• what were some common punishments

  fines, mutilation and execution