Among ancient English writers, a frithstool, frith stool or fridstool signified a seat, chair, or place of peace, in reference to the
Anglo-Saxon
The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...
concept of
frith.
The most famous surviving examples are in
Beverley Minster
Beverley Minster, otherwise known as the Parish Church of Saint John and Saint Martin, in Beverley, East Riding of Yorkshire, is a parish church in the Church of England. It is one of the largest parish churches in the UK, larger than one-thir ...
and
Hexham Abbey
Hexham Abbey is a Grade I listed church dedicated to Saint Andrew, St Andrew, in the town of Hexham, Northumberland, in the North East England, North East of England. Originally built in AD 674, the Abbey was built up during the 12th century ...
. That in Beverley has the inscription ''Haec sedes lapidea Freedstoll dicitur'', i.e. Pacis Cathedra, ''ad quam reus fugiendo perveniens, omnimodam habet securitatem''. The English translation states that ''This stone seat is called the Freedstoll, i.e. the Chair of Peace, to which a criminal, arriving by flight, has complete security''
Also, fridstoll or frithstow,
Old English
Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...
frithstól, frythstól, freedstool, fridstool, meaning (a). Old English only, ''A place of safety; a refuge''; (b). ''A seat, usually of stone, formerly placed near the altar in some churches, which afforded inviolable protection to those who sought privilege of sanctuary.''
[
]
The term also signified a
palace
A palace is a large residence, often serving as a royal residence or the home for a head of state or another high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome whi ...
, which was usually a privileged place.
See also
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frith
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grith
*
Cities of Refuge
The cities of refuge ( ''‘ārê ha-miqlāṭ'') were six Levitical towns in the Kingdom of Israel and the Kingdom of Judah in which the perpetrators of accidental manslaughter could claim the right of asylum. Maimonides, invoking talmudic ...
*
right of asylum
The right of asylum, sometimes called right of political asylum (''asylum'' ), is a juridical concept, under which people persecuted by their own rulers might be protected by another sovereign authority, such as a second country or another enti ...
*
sanctuary
A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred space, sacred place, such as a shrine, protected by ecclesiastical immunity. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This seconda ...
*
sanctuary city
A sanctuary city is a municipality that limits or denies its cooperation with the national government in enforcing immigration law.
Proponents of sanctuary cities cite motives such as reducing the fear of persons which illegally immigrated fr ...
References
*{{1728
Social institutions