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Anglo-Saxon law (Old English: ǣ, later lagu ' law '; dōm ' decree ', ' judgment ') was the legal system of Anglo-Saxon England from the 6th century until the Norman Conquest of 1066. It was a form of Germanic law based on unwritten custom known as folk-right and on written laws enacted by kings with the advice of their witan or council.
Anglo-Saxon societies were based on Germanic law and custom. Germanic tribes such as the Ostrogoths, Visigoths, Franks, and Lombards became Romanized to varying degrees by the 5th century. Nevertheless, this was not true of the Anglo-Saxons, who originated from northern Germany and Denmark and had no direct contact with the Roman Empire.
Anglo-Saxon migrationism is the school of thought that holds that the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain was driven by a large scale migration of Germanic speakers from present day north Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands into Roman Britain with the consequent extermination, expulsion and enslavement of the Romano-Britons.
Although the Britons could be rich freemen in Anglo-Saxon society, generally it seems that they had a lower status than that of the Anglo-Saxons. [ 33 ] [ 34 ] Discussions and analysis still continue on the size of the migration, and whether it was a small elite band of Anglo-Saxons who came in and took over the running of the country, or mass ...
Confirmation of the use of Anglo-Saxons as foederati or federate troops has been seen as coming from burials of Anglo-Saxons wearing military equipment of a type issued to late Roman forces, which have been found both in late Roman contexts, such as the Roman cemeteries of Winchester and Colchester, and in purely 'Anglo-Saxon' rural cemeteries ...
The opposing school of Anglo-Saxon migrationism contends that the Anglo-Saxon settlement was driven by a large scale migration of Germanic speakers from present day north Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands into Roman Britain with the consequent extermination, expulsion and enslavement of the Romano-Britons.
The Anglo-Saxon kings had issued formal law codes, but Anglo-Norman legislation took the form of royal edicts. [26] The king had authority over the coinage and the "king's highway" (major roads). He could not be sued and had exclusive jurisdiction over certain crimes. [27] As a feudal lord, the king had certain rights and powers over his ...
In modern times, the term "Anglo-Saxons" is used by scholars to refer collectively to the Old English speaking groups in Britain. As a compound term, it has the advantage of covering the various English-speaking groups on the one hand, and to avoid possible misunderstandings from using the terms "Saxons" or "Angles" (English), both of which terms could be used either as collectives referring ...