“And we will that every freeman be brought into a hundred and into a tithing, who desires to be entitled to lád or wer, in case any one should slay him after he have reached the age of xii years: or let him not otherwise be entitled to any free rights, be he householder, be he follower. And let every one be brought into a hundred and a surety, and let the surety hold and lead him to every plea.” Cnut, ii. § 20. Thorpe, i. 386.
The stranger or friendless man, who had no borh, i. e. could not find bail, must be committed, at the first charge; and instead of clearing himself by the oaths of his friends, must run the risk and endure the pain of the ordeal. Cnut, ii. § 35. Thorpe, i. 396.
[464]. “De friðborgis, et quod soli Eboracenses vocant friðborch Tenmannetale, i. e. sermo decem hominum,” etc. Leg. Edw. Conf. xx. Thorpe, i. 450.
[465]. The law of Eádweard the Confessor shows this clearly: “Cum autem viderunt quod aliqui stulti libenter forisfaciebant erga vicinos suos, sapientiores coeperunt consilium inter se, quomodo eos reprimerent, et sic imposuerunt iusticiarios super quosque decem friðborgos, quos decanos possumus dicere, Anglice autem tyenðe-heved vocati sunt, hoc est caput decem. Isti autem inter villas, inter vicinos tractabant causas, et secundum quod forisfacturae erant, emendationes et ordinationes faciebant, videlicet de pascuis, de pratis, de messibus, de certationibus inter vicinos, et de multis huiusmodi quae frequenter insurgunt.” § xxviii. How clearly has the jurisdiction of the Tithing here superseded that of the ancient Mark!
[466]. In what may be called the Act of Constitution of Orcy’s Gyld at Abbotsbury, this feature is very prominent. I have therefore appended the instrument in an [Appendix] to this chapter, although as a voluntary gyld it differs in some respect from those heretofore under consideration. The trade-guilds of the Middle Ages paid also especial attention to the religious communion of their members.
[467]. The word Borseholder renders it probable that the capitalis, tynmanna heáfod, yldesta, etc., bore among the Saxons the name of Borgesealdor, princeps plegii.
[468]. This again we learn from the law attributed to Eádweard the Confessor. “Cum autem maiores causae insurgebant (that is greater than those which concerned the tithing), referebant eas ad alios maiores iusticiarios, quos sapientes supradicti super eos constituerant, scilicet super decem decanos, quos possumus vocare centenarios, quia super centum friðborgos iudicabant.” § xxix.
[469]. I find no instance of a hundredes man having the blut-bann or ius gladii: but in the time of Eádgár, he seems to have had power to administer the single and threefold ordeal; whether only in the case of serfs does not appear. Inst. Hundr. Thorpe, i. 260.
[470]. “Licet apud concilium accusare quoque et discrimen capitis intendere.” Germ. xii.
[471]. Eádweard the Confessor granted the hundred of Hornmere in Berkshire to Ordríc, abbat of Abingdon; “so that no sheriff or mootreeve may hold therein any plea or moot, without the Abbat’s own command and permission.” Cod. Dip. No. 840. He also granted the hundred of Godley in Surrey to Wulfwold, Abbat of Chertsey, and forbade the sheriff to meddle in the same. Cod. Dip. No. 840, 849.