Frankpledge was a system of joint

surety In finance, a surety , surety bond, or guaranty involves a promise by one party to assume responsibility for the debt obligation of a borrower if that borrower defaults. Usually, a surety bond or surety is a promise by a person or company (a ''sure ...

ship common in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

throughout the

Early Middle Ages The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages (historiography), Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th to the 10th century. They marked the start o ...

and

High Middle Ages The High Middle Ages, or High Medieval Period, was the periodization, period of European history between and ; it was preceded by the Early Middle Ages and followed by the Late Middle Ages, which ended according to historiographical convention ...

. The essential characteristic was the compulsory sharing of responsibility among persons connected in

tithing A tithing or tything was a historic English legal, administrative or territorial unit, originally ten hides (and hence, one tenth of a hundred). Tithings later came to be seen as subdivisions of a manor or civil parish. The tithing's leader or ...

s. This unit, under a leader known as the chief-pledge or

-man, was then responsible for producing any man of that tithing suspected of a crime. If the man did not appear, the entire group could be fined. While women, clergy, and the richer freemen were exempt, otherwise all men over 12 years of age were organised in the system for mutual surety.

Origins

The first mention of frankpledge comes in 1114–1118, with the ''

Leges Henrici Primi The ''Leges Henrici Primi'' or ''Laws of Henry I'' is a legal treatise, written in about 1115, that records the legal customs of medieval England in the reign of King Henry I of England. Although it is not an official document, it was written ...

''; but 12th-century figures like

William of Malmesbury William of Malmesbury (; ) was the foremost English historian of the 12th century. He has been ranked among the most talented English historians since Bede. Modern historian C. Warren Hollister described him as "a gifted historical scholar and a ...

were keen to link it to pre-Norman times, and to the laws of

Canute the Great Cnut ( ; ; – 12 November 1035), also known as Canute and with the epithet the Great, was King of England from 1016, King of Denmark from 1018, and King of Norway from 1028 until his death in 1035. The three kingdoms united under Cnut's rul ...

. Some historians have indeed seen in the Anglo-Saxon frith-borh (literally "peace-pledge") the clear anticipation of frankpledge; others consider the 12th-century commentators were reading back into earlier times the later concept, and that the borh system was much less rigid and comprehensive than frankpledge. On this view,

William the Conqueror William the Conqueror (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), sometimes called William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England (as William I), reigning from 1066 until his death. A descendant of Rollo, he was D ...

, with the revival of

murdrum Murdrum was the crime of murdering someone in a secret manner in medieval English law. Origins It was introduced into Anglo-Saxon law by the Danes. It is distinguished from simple homicide. In the laws of Cnut an unknown man who was killed was ...

with respect to the French invaders, played an important role in systematically and universally making the tithing adopt compulsory frankpledge, so as to increase and consolidate the power of the

Normans The Normans (Norman language, Norman: ''Normaunds''; ; ) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norsemen, Norse Viking settlers and locals of West Francia. The Norse settlements in West Franc ...

and to establish a more stringent policy.

Anglo-Saxon sureties

The borh was a system of surety whereby individuals – a family member, a master for servants, a lord for dependents – became responsible for producing others in court in event of misdemeanors. At the same time, late Anglo-Saxon society increasingly shared responsibility in legal matters in groups of ten. The group was referred to as a ''teothung'' or ''

tything A tithing or tything was a historic English legal, administrative or territorial unit, originally ten hides (and hence, one tenth of a hundred). Tithings later came to be seen as subdivisions of a manor or civil parish. The tithing's leader or s ...

'', i.e. a "

thing Thing or The Thing may refer to: Philosophy * An object * Broadly, an entity * Thing-in-itself (or ''noumenon''), the reality that underlies perceptions, a term coined by Immanuel Kant * Thing theory, a branch of critical theory that focuses ...

(assembly) of ten men". The tything was under the leadership of a tythingman chosen from among them, with the responsibility of producing in the court of justice any man of their number who was summoned. The first tythings were entirely voluntary associations, being groups formed through the mutual consent of their free members. The aspect of the system which initially prevented its being made universally compulsory was that only landed individuals could be forced to pay any fines which might be put upon the group: The tithing eventually became a territorial unit, part of the vill, while the eventual merger of borh and tithing underpinned the Norman frankpledge system. In its ultimate form, if an individual did not appear when summoned to court the remaining members of the tithing could swear an oath to the effect that they had no hand in the escape of the summoned man: they would otherwise be held responsible for the deeds of the fugitive and could be forced to pay any fines his actions had incurred. This examination of the members of the tything before the court is the origin of the phrase "view of frankpledge".

Geography and profits of frankpledge

Frankpledge did not at first take place in Wales or eight Northern and border counties, but elsewhere was common in the area under the

Danelaw The Danelaw (, ; ; ) was the part of History of Anglo-Saxon England, England between the late ninth century and the Norman Conquest under Anglo-Saxon rule in which Danes (tribe), Danish laws applied. The Danelaw originated in the conquest and oc ...

, and in the south and southwest of England. By the time of Edward I, however, the sheriff's

tourn The tourn (tour, turn) was the bi-annual inspection of the hundreds of his shire made by the sheriff in medieval England. During it he would preside over the especially full meetings of the hundred court (more normally three-weekly) which met du ...

also began to appear in shires like Northumberland and Cumberland. The bi-annual view of frankpledge which was carried out by the sheriff involved payment of a tithing penny to the sheriff, as well as other opportunities for profit including fines: for this reason exemption from the tourn, or the private takeover of view of frankpledge by lords or boroughs, were valued privileges; while conversely the 1217

Magna Carta (Medieval Latin for "Great Charter"), sometimes spelled Magna Charta, is a royal charter of rights agreed to by King John of England at Runnymede, near Windsor, on 15 June 1215. First drafted by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Cardin ...

sought explicitly to restrict what the sheriff could legitimately demand of frankpledge.

Later historical development

The frankpledge system began to decline in the 14th century. The extension of centralised royal administration on the one hand, and the increasing appropriation of view of frankpledge by private landlords of the other, both served to undermine the local system; as too did greater agrarian differentiation and mobility – a process exacerbated by the impact of the

Black Death The Black Death was a bubonic plague pandemic that occurred in Europe from 1346 to 1353. It was one of the list of epidemics, most fatal pandemics in human history; as many as people perished, perhaps 50% of Europe's 14th century population. ...

. Nevertheless, the system survived in places into the 15th century,M. Bailey, ''The English Manor'' (2002) p. 184 although increasingly superseded by local constables – the former ''chief pledges'' – operating under the justices of the peace: their oversight represented the remains of ''view of frankpledge''. Ultimately, the principle behind frankpledge still remains in force, in England and Wales, with regard to

riot A riot or mob violence is a form of civil disorder commonly characterized by a group lashing out in a violent public disturbance against authority, property, or people. Riots typically involve destruction of property, public or private. The p ...

s. Until the

Riot (Damages) Act 1886 The Riot (Damages) Act 1886 ( 49 & 50 Vict. c. 38) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that authorised the payment of compensation, from the police fund of the police area in question, to persons whose property had been injured ...

, members of each

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

were, collectively, directly responsible for repaying any damages due to a riot within their area. Under the Act (and its 2016 replacement), the damages are indirectly levied on the local population via the police rate (now a component in council tax) in the relevant local authority area.

Notes

References

* *Olson, Trisha.
Frankpledge
,
The Catholic University of America - Columbus School of Law
' * * * * * * *