aid upon them. Then Thurkil the White stood
up in the meeting and asked all the thegns to give his wife the
lands unreservedly which her kinswoman had granted her, and they
did so. Then Thurkil rode to St. AEthelbert's minister, with the
consent and cognizance of the whole assembly, and had it recorded
in a gospel book."

Courts controlled by lords of large private estates had various
kinds of jurisdiction recognized by the King: sac and soke
[possession of legal powers of execution and profits of justice
held by a noble or institution over inhabitants and tenants of the
estate, exercised through a private court], toll [right to collect
a payment on the sale of cattle and property] and team [right to
hold a court to determine the honesty of a man accused of illegal
possession of cattle], infangenetheof [the authority to judge and
to hang and take the chattels of a thief caught on the property],
and utfangenetheof [the authority to judge and to hand and take
the chattels of a thief dwelling out of his liberty, and
committing theft without the same, if he were caught within the
lord's property]. Some lords were even given jurisdiction over
breach of the royal peace, ambush and treacherous manslaughter,
harboring of outlaws, forced entry into a residence, and failure
to answer a military summons. Often this court's jurisdiction
overlapped that of the hundred court and sometimes a whole hundred
had passed under the jurisdiction of an abbot, bishop, or earl.

A lord and his noble lady, or his steward, presided at this court.
The law was administered here on the same principles as at the
hundred court. Judges of the leet of the court of a large private
estate were chosen from the constables and four representatives
selected from each community, village, or town.

Before a dispute went to the hundred court, it might be taken care
of by the head tithing man, e.g. cases between vills, between
neighbors, and some compensations and settlements, namely
concerning pastures, meadows, harvests, and contests between
neighbors.

The vill [similar to village] was the smallest community for
judicial purposes. There were several vills in a hundred.

In London, the Hustings Court met weekly and decided such issues
as wills and bequests and commerce matters. The folkmote of all
citizens met three times a year. Each ward had a leet court [for
minor criminal matters].

The king and his witan decided the complaints and issues of the
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