ABSTRACT
In origin, courts may be said to have had two functions: first, the maintenance of social peace by the settlement of disputes between individuals, and second, the maintenance of the social dominance of the king or noble who held the court. Practically the two are inseparable, but logically the maintenance of social peace must come first, for society can hardly be said to exist without a means of settling disputes peacefully, while kings and princes are products of society. Kings, princes, and also priests, come onto the scene as the chosen arbiters of society and the enforcers of society’s sanctions against disruptive elements. The system of courts which appeared in the tenth century, itself represents the emergence of definably English government and law from the forms of social organization found all over the Germanic world.
