Ælfred, condemned for treason or rebellion against Æðelstán, lost his lands by the judgment of the witan, who bestowed them upon the king[[571]]. In 1002 a lady forfeited her lands for her incontinence; the king became seised of them, obviously by the act of the gemót, for he calls it vulgaris traditio[[572]]. Again, the lands of certain people which had been forfeited for theft, are described as having been granted to the king, “iusto valde iudicio totius populi, seniorum et primatum[[573]].”
The case of intestacy is proved by a charter of Ecgberht in 825. He gave fifteen hides at Aulton to Winchester, and made title in these words. “Now this land, a very faithful reeve of mine called Burghard formerly possessed by my grant: but he afterwards dying childless, left the land without a will, and he had no survivors: and so the land with all its boundaries was restored to me, its former possessor, by judicial decree of my optimates[[574]].”
Other examples may be found in the quotations given in page 52 of this volume; to which I may add a case of forfeiture for suicide[[575]].
12. Lastly, the witan acted as a supreme court of justice, both in civil and criminal causes.
The fact of important trials being decided by the witena gemót is obvious from a very numerous list of charters recording the result of such trials, and printed in the Codex Diplomaticus. It is perfectly unnecessary to give examples; they occur continually in the pages of that work. The documents are in great detail, giving the names of the parties, the heads of the case, sometimes the very steps in the trial, and always recording the place and date of the gemót, and the names of those who presided therein.
The proceedings of the witan as a court of criminal jurisprudence, are well exemplified in the case of earl Godwine and his family daring their patriotic struggle for power with the foreign minions of Eádweard, and the northern earls, the hereditary enemies of their house. Eustace the count of Boulogne, then on a visit to Eádweard, having with a small armed retinue attempted violence against some of the inhabitants of Dover, was set upon by the townsmen, and after a severe loss hardly succeeded in making his escape. He hastened to Gloucester, where Eádweard then held his court, and laid his complaint before the king. Godwine, as earl of Kent, was commanded to set out with his forces, and inflict summary punishment upon the burghers who had dared to maltreat a relative of the king. But the stern old statesman saw matters in a very different light: he probably found no reason to punish the inhabitants of one of his best towns, for an act of self defence, especially one which had read a severe lesson to the foreign adventurers, who abused the weakness of an incapable prince, and domineered over the land. He therefore flatly refused, and withdrew from Gloucester to join his sons Harald and Swegen who lay at Beverston and Langtree with a considerable power. The king being reinforced by a well-appointed contingent from the northern earldoms, affairs threatened to be brought to a bloody termination. The conduct of Godwine and his family had been represented to Eádweard in the most unfavourable colours, and the demand they made that the obnoxious strangers should be given up to them, only aggravated his deep resentment. However for a time peace was maintained, hostages were given on either side, and a witena gemót was proclaimed, to meet in London, at the end of a fortnight, September 21st, 1048. On the arrival of the earls in Southwark, they found that a greatly superior force from the commands of Leofríc, Sigeward and Raulf awaited them: desertion thinned their numbers, and when the king demanded back his hostages, they were compelled to comply. Godwine and Harald were now summoned to appear before the gemót and make answer to what should be brought against them. They demanded, though probably with little expectation of obtaining, a safe conduct to and from the gemót, which was refused; and as they very properly declined under such circumstances to appear, five days were allowed them to leave England altogether.
It is probable that the strictly legal forms were followed on this occasion, although the composition of the gemót was such that justice could not have been done. The same observation will apply to another witena gemót holden in London, after Godwine’s triumphant return to England, though with a very different result. Before this assembly the earl appeared, easily cleared himself of all offences laid to his charge, and obtained the outlawry and banishment from England of all the Frenchmen whose pernicious councils had put dissension between the king and his people. Other examples might be given of outlawry, and even heavier sentences, as blinding, if not death, pronounced by the high court of the witan. But as these are all the result of internal dissensions, they resemble rather the violence of impeachments by an irresistible majority, than the calm, impassive judgments of a judicial assembly[[576]].
Such were the powers of the witena gemót, and it must be confessed that they were extensive. Of the manner of the deliberations or the forms of business we know little, but it is not likely that they were very complicated. We may conclude that the general outline of the proceedings was something of the following order. On common occasions the king summoned his witan to attend him at some royal vill, at Christmas, or at Easter, for festive and ceremonial as well as business purposes. On extraordinary occasions he issued summonses according to the nature of the exigency, appointing the time and place of meeting. When assembled, the witan commenced their session by attending divine service[[577]], and formally professing their adherence to the catholic faith[[578]]. The king then brought his propositions before them, in the Frankish manner[[579]], and after due deliberation they were accepted, modified, or rejected. The reeves, and perhaps on occasion officers specially designated for that service[[580]], carried the chapters down into the several counties, and there took a wed or pledge from the freemen that they would abide by what had been enacted. This last fact, important to us in more respects than one, is substantiated by the following evidence. Toward the close of the Judicia Civitatis Londoniae (cap. 10), passed in the reign of Æðelstán, and subsidiary to the acts of various gemóts held by him, we find:—“All the witan gave their pledges together to the archbishop at Thundersfield, when Ælfheáh Stybb and Brihtnóð, Odda’s son, came to meet the gemót by the king’s command, that each reeve should take the pledge in his own shire, that they would all hold the frið, as king Æðelstán and the witan had counselled it, first at Greátanleá, and again at Exeter, and afterwards at Feversham, and the fourth time at Thundersfield,” etc.
We have also a very remarkable document addressed to the same king, apparently upon receipt of the acts of the council at Feversham, by the men of Kent, denoting their acceptance of the same. They commence by saying:—“Dearest! Thy bishops of Kent, and all the thanes of Kentshire, earls and churls[[581]], return thanks to thee their dearest lord, for what thou hast been pleased to ordain respecting our peace, and to enquire and consult concerning our advantage, since great was the need thereof for us all, both rich and poor. And this we have taken in hand, with all the diligence we could, by the aid of those witan [sapientes] whom thou didst send unto us,” etc[[582]].
It is plain from the preceding passage that the witan gave their wed to observe, and cause to be observed, the laws they had enacted[[583]]. Eádgár says, “I command my geréfan, upon my friendship, and by all they possess, to punish every one that will not perform this, and who by any neglect shall break the wed of my witan.” This seems to imply that the people were generally bound by the acts of the witan, and their pledge or wed; and if it were so, it would naturally involve the theory of representation. But this deduction will not stand.