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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.
The self-conscious antiquarian study of the law gathered momentum from the 15th century. It supported the theories of the ancient constitution. [4] In his Institutes of the Lawes of England Coke challenged the accepted view of the Norman Conquest by asserting it amounted to trial by battle, with William the Conqueror agreeing to maintain the Anglo-Saxon laws.
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.
The English Constitution Produced and Illustrated is an 1823 book by English Radical John Cartwright, explaining the unwritten constitution of England and Anglo-Saxon law. The book was written in response to Thomas Paine , who, in Rights of Man , expressed scepticism of the existence of an English constitution.
[2] [a] The term 'Anglo-Saxon' came into use in the 8th century (probably by Paul the Deacon) to distinguish English Saxons from continental Saxons (Ealdseaxan, 'old' Saxons). The historian James Campbell suggested that it was not until the late Anglo-Saxon period that England could be described as a nation-state. [ 3 ]
Based on French and Spanish civil law, but federal laws (based on common law) are also in effect in Louisiana because of the federal constitution's Supremacy Clause. However, Louisiana's criminal law, procedural law and administrative law is predominantly based on the common law tradition.
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 the Anglo-Saxon period, the king created private courts in two ways. First, the king could grant the church (either the bishop of a diocese or the abbot of a religious house) the right to administer a hundred. The hundred's reeve would then answer to the bishop or abbot.