ABSTRACT
This chapter illustrates some of the basic concepts and practices of English medieval law, in particular the “criminal” law in the counties.
1 The origins of the English criminal legal system
“The origin of the criminal law [was] the assumption by the state of the responsibility for avenging personal injuries.”1 What, in the case of England, did this mean in practice? The Anglo-Saxon system of criminal justice was mainly concerned to prevent feuds provoked by violent or serious crime. The system was designed to force the victim or, if he was dead or incapacitated, his family to accept compensation rather than turn to violence. The levels of compensation were established by the kings in consultation with their secular and ecclesiastical counsellors. This initiated some of England’s earliest criminal legislation, as illustrated by these early seventh-century laws of Aethelbert.
