Anglo-Saxon Laws

History, Major Laws, Punishments, and Trial Process

History • Anglo-Saxon Laws and Judicial Structures• 1. History•      A. Anglo-Saxon laws are broken down into three categories•           a. Statement of customs•           b. laws passed by a public authority    •           c. collection of rules that were used in private•      B. Charters•           a. derived from Old English•           b. both public and private laws•           c. kings were responsible for drafting charters•      C. Influences•           a. Elements of Roman Laws•           b. Canon Laws•           c. Laws of Frisians•           d. Franks- played a major role in the legal development•           e. Scandinavian- due to the many Viking raids•

History of modern law

The American law deprived from many different areas. It has been shown that was indigenous in England and traceable back to Alfred the Great and to Anglo-Saxon times. The supposed Anglo-Saxon origin of the jury system has been completely disproved by Messrs. That were we get the jury and jurymen. They put that idea in our system. Basically our laws have be formed by all the earlier laws. And Anglo-Saxon has been one of those influences.

Major laws

• The Laws of Æthelberht,•      1. Stealing•           -If a freeman steals from the king he has to pay nine times what he stole.•           -If a freeman steals from a freeman, he has to pay back three times what he

stole.• The Laws of King Edmund I•      -If one doesn't tithe, he will be excommunicated•      -If one sheds a Christian mans blood, he can't come in the king's presence again.•      -If one commits fornication with a nun, he won't be buried in a worthy place.• The Laws of Alfred, Guthrum, and Edward the Elder•      -If one violates Christianity, he will pay accordingly•      -If a priest refuses a baptism, he pays 16 pennies English•      -If a priest misdirects anyone about a festival, or a fast, then he pays 30 shillings.

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Major Laws• As for laws and

which ones are big, many of them are. You have different laws for different things. We have federal laws and state laws. It just varies from state to state, but as for federal laws they are all the same for all states.

Punishments • I) MINOR CRIMES•  • 1) FAMILIES COMPENSATED FOR CRIMES WITH MONEY• A. Lost tooth= 1 shilling B. Broken nose= 6 shillings C. Lost finger= 10 shillings• D. Lost thumb= 20 shillings E. Lost foot= 50 shillings• 2) THEFT WAS SEEN AS DISLOYALTY• A. Violation of "The Oath"• B. Breaking the Oath could result in punishment of a persons kin•  • II) MAJOR CRIMES•  • 3) MURDER COMPENSATION• A. Wergild- "Blood Price"• B. Every man had a different Wergild (depends on role in society; slaves were the

cheapest)• 4) TREASON, HOUSE-BREAKING, ARSON, ETC.• A. Treason was taken very seriously in Anglo-Saxon society• B. Forfeiture of property to one's king• C. Often punishable by death•  

Cont’d • III) EXECUTION/PUBLIC

PUNISHMENT•  • 5) EXECUTION• A. Normally done by hanging (very

public)• B. People often died in the trials by

ordeal• 6) STOCKS/PILLORY• A. Usually in a busy area or a road

junction• B. Leaders wanted to set an

example to their citizens as well as people passing through

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IV) TRIALS BY ORDEAL 7)ORIGINA. Ordǣl was the Old English

word meaning "judgement, verdict"

B. Came from the Germanic word "uzdailjam" which meant "that which is dealt out."

8) TYPES OF ORDEALSA. Ordeal of Fire B. Ordeal of Water (hot and

cold) C. Ordeal of the CrossD. Ordeal of Ingestion E. Ordeal of Boiling Oil

Punishments

• The modern and Anglo-Saxon punishments are about the same. Our major crimes are almost the same murder, treason, etc. which those are called capital punishments. The methods of execution and the crimes subject to the penalty vary by jurisdiction. But for the major ones its either lethal injection or electrical chair. One difference is that we do not open the deaths to the public only the people that are approved for it. So it varies on how bad the crime was and where you live.

Anglo-Saxon trials were brutal and strange when looked upon by the modern world. They had courts, similar to the present, buy they served vastly different purposes.

There were two levels of courts, and each county having its own set. These courts were presided over by an official, appointees of the king. This was so they would echo the king's wishes and adhere to his laws. There were at least two courts, which had members specially chosen from the county to represent the masses. There was the Hundred Court, which met every two weeks and the Shire Court, which met every four weeks. They would judge people and honor others.

During lawsuits, the accused could choose "oath-helpers" to help prove him innocent. These were similar to modern day witnesses, but oddly enough, they did not have to ever provide any information. "The defendant swore: "By the Lord, I am guiltless both of deed and instigation of the crime with which N charges me", and the oath-helpers simply swore in support of this: "By the Lord, the oath is pure and not false that M swore"." This was usually enough to get the defendant cleared. There was never any need to testify since crimes were common knowledge. If a defendant was known as guilty, he would have a difficult time getting enough oath-keepers to clear him.

Ordeals• If the defendant failed to get enough oath-keepers, the trial could proceed to trial by

ordeal. This was not the barbaric trials though of by many, but instead rather civilized. Trials rarely went to the ordeal, most cases were settled within minutes. Ordeals only happened if the accuses insisted he was innocent after an extended period of time. There were three major types of ordeal, and the defendant could choose which to go through.

• The Cold Water Ordeal: The accused was given holy water to drink and then thrown into a freezing lake. Someone guilty floated, while an innocent sank and was hopefully fished out in time.

• The Hot Water Ordeal: The accused had to reach into boiling water to take out a stone. In this and the iron ordeal, the hand was bandaged. If the wound healed without becoming infected, the defendant was innocent.

• The Iron Ordeal: The accused carried a glowing iron bar ten feet.

• The general punishments were death, exile, or a fine. The church preferred exile and fines, but nobles tended to favor death. They had reason; the land of the accused was seized and given to them when a man was put to death. On the other hand, if the defendant could not pay the fines, they were often put into slavery.