Anglo Saxons Flashcards
What are shire reeves?
A sheriff in England before the Norman conquest
What is capital punishment?
Death
What is corporal punishment?
Naming but not death e.g. cutting tongue off.
What is the order of the pyramid at the start of your book?
King, nobility, freemen, serfs
What are the king’s responsibilities?
He rules the country and decides new laws as well as keeping the king’s peace.
What is nobility’s responsibility?
They are given land by the king and are wealthy and powerful.
Some could persuade the king to make new laws.
They also appointed shire reeves to make sure people follow the king’s laws.
What are Freemen responsible for?
They can rent or own a small piece of land but had no say in law making.
What are serfs responsibility?
They owned no land and only responsible for policing others (snitching).
What is a hundred?
A small area of a hundred peasant farms.
What is wergild?
it was a system of payment as compensation for murder.
Who was Harold Godwinson?
He was the king that William defeated in 1066.
What were Tithings?
A group of 10 men (aged 14+) were responsible for each other’s behaviour. If one of them broke a law, the other members of the tithing had to bring them to court or pay a fine.
What is Hue and Cry?
This is when the entire village is expected to join a hunt to catch the criminal. if a person didn’t join then the whole village would pay a heavy fine.
What is Trial by ordeal?
The accused and accuser take part in dangerous and painful tests. This was a very superstitious trial.
What is the trial by local jury?
This was a trial where there’s an accuser and accused who would give their version of the event and it was up to the jury to decide who was telling the truth.
