The informal setup of weregild and Courts of the Hundred were swept away in 1066 with the arrival of the Normal invaders led by King William 1st. One of the first things he did after establishing his capital in London was to attempt to standardise the legal system throughout the country. He did this by sending out envoys to document the different laws used within the various regions, picking out those that were common or popular, and those that simply made good sense. Then he compiled on official list of all the ones he was keeping and issued them across the country. This was named the 'Common Law' (a term still in use today).
Of course the other thing he did was to remove all the old Eorls and replace them with Lords of the Manor – massive land rights granted to his loyal supporters in the invasion. This system was called feudalism, and will be looked at in more detail in a later article.
The Common Law included all the laws that any functioning society really needs. Laws against illegal killing, theft, damage and so on. The King was the creator and ultimate adjudicator of the Common Law, the 'font of all justice'. The legal system established was the foundation of the modern, and was administered as follows:
Everyone, from the highest Lord to the lowest peasant owed allegiance to the king. A criminal was described as a person who had 'disturbed the King's peace'. There was no organised police force, the task of crime fighting fell to the people. It was up to them to raise the alarm (the 'hue and cry'), then everyone in the neighbourhood was obliged to drop what they were doing and pursue and catch the culprit.
Minor crimes were handled by local (manorial) courts, but more serious crimes, such as murder, highway robbery and rape, would be dealt with personally by the King's justice system. This was in the form of travelling courts, called Eyres, and were managed by judges appointed personally by the king.
A medieval trial was not dissimilar to the modern, with advocates arguing both sides in front of the judge, and the decision made by a jury of free, honest and god-fearing men. Those convicted of serious offences would be executed in public (an execution was considered to be an fun and enjoyable outing for all the family), and his property would be seized by the court.
However, despite his attempts to make it so, the King's justice was not the only kind. The local manorial courts had great away over their districts, and whilst serious crimes should be saved for the Royal Eyres, the swift administration of local justice was appealing. After all, the King would never know, right...?
But other courts held sway over specific jusrisdictions. Clergymen and anyone officially affiliated with the church had the right to trial in Chruch Courts. These gave lighter sentences and could not issue the death penalty. Similarly, the devloping Merchant's Guilds also had the right to issue their own justice to their members. Even certain regions still had their own justice. Those living or even just visiting in the Royal Forests were subject to 'Forest Law', which took precedence even over the King's Common Law when dealing with crimes of illicit hunting, poaching or chopping down of trees.
However, a definite second legal system did spring up in the form of Equity, managed by the Lord Chancellor. Equity was based upon the idea of conscionability, the moral right, as dictated by the Christian Church. Equity was heavily used in resolving disputes over property rights and other civil disagreements, as the Common Law did not handle this very well. The result was that when such a dispute occurred, there was now the choice as to whether to take it to the King's Eyres, or the Chancellor's Court of Equity (later known as the court of Chancery). The results could be very different. The Court of Chancery was not formally merged with the Common Law until the Judicature Acts of 1873 and 1875.
So, how can these resources be used in a roleplaying game?
Well, any player character in a medieval, or medieval-esque setting is likely to come across the courts in some form or other, either as a defendant, or witness or simply a bystander. The legal system, both the courts and any subsequent executions were a big part of medieval life, even to the extent of providing entertainment for the whole family. Perhaps they hear the 'hue and cry' of a crime committed. Maybe they are in attendance at a trial or execution, or get caught up in the Forest Law system, or get asked to assist somehow with a Manorial court overstepping its jurisdiction.
Next time: 'Assault, battery and chickens - the consequences of picking a fight'
