Anglo Saxon Legal Systems 1.1 PART 2

Question 1

what did the king do through royal writs

Answer 1

give orders to sheriffs

Question 2

who’d judge the shire courts

Answer 2

the reeve

Question 3

hue and cry

Answer 3

groups of a community going together to search for criminals

Question 4

shire courts

Answer 4

-met twice a year with a sheriff and heard cases involving land crime and taxes

Question 5

hundred courts

Answer 5

• shires divided into 100’s (hundred hides each 120 acres)

- dealt with local issues

Question 6

inheritance

Answer 6

-common to divide up land in families when someone died

Question 7

oath system

Answer 7

• anglo saxons often made an oath not to be involved in crime known as the ‘common oath of allegiance’
• punishments included exile for them and families

Question 8

punishments

Answer 8

-ordeal system based on ‘ Judicium dei’ (judgement of God)

Question 9

punishments

ordeal by fire

Answer 9

-arm I cauldron and if healed in 3 days not guilty

Question 10

punishments

ordeal by water

Answer 10

-strapped to chair in river is sunk then innocent if not then guilty ( die either way)

Question 11

language of law

Answer 11

-law had been recorded in English and royal writs

Question 12

ecclesiastical courts (stayed the same)

Answer 12

-presided over by abbots or bishops and dealt with church crimes

Question 13

kings courts (stayed the same)

Answer 13

• king remained the most important person in justice system and decisions were final
• -murder // treason

Question 14

forest laws

Answer 14

-had been able to hunt deer and small mammals to supplement diets