User:Ltwin/Sandbox 26

Anglo-Saxon law

Courts
Bishops were important advisers on legislation, but their involvement in legal affairs extended into other matters: "Bishops were to be present in the principal local courts, as spelt out in a law of Edgar: the burh court was to be held three times a year, the shire twice. The bishop and the ealdorman were to be present, and to expound there the law of God and the law of the world. Involvement in such courts, the supervision of ordeals and oaths, and the giving of judgments along with secular judges, placed the bishop routinely at the heart of the administration of justice." Bishops also played a role in showing mercy criminals.

Shire courts
The suitors of the court declared the law and decided what proof of innocence or guilt to accept (such as ordeal or compurgation).

Sources cited

 * 1st edition available to read online here.
 * 1st edition available to read online here.
 * 1st edition available to read online here.
 * 1st edition available to read online here.
 * 1st edition available to read online here.
 * 1st edition available to read online here.
 * 1st edition available to read online here.
 * 1st edition available to read online here.
 * 1st edition available to read online here.