Weregild

Weregild
Lit. 'man payment'. AS custom and law valued people in pecuniary terms according to their rank. For example in Mercia a *ceorl's life was worth 200s; a * thegn was worth 1,200s; an *earl, next below the king, was worth 6,000s. In the years immediately following the Conquest of 1066, wergeld was applied to Normans killed by the English. If a Norman was killed but no killer found, then the *hundred had to come up with the appropriate sum. This applied also if the identity of the murder victim was unknown -the assumption by the Normans being the victim might be one of their own, while an extra penalty could not do much harm and it might discourage violence. During William I's reign when wergeld was being paid, the value of a horse if part of the payment was set at 20s. In the charter given to London by Henry I a citizen of the city was worth 100s. The Latin form was weregeldum. -

Dictionary of Medieval Terms and Phrases. .

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  • Weregild — Were gild , n. [AS. wergild; wer a man, value set on a man s life + gild payment of money; akin to G. wehrgeld. [root]285. See {Were} a man, and {Geld}, n.] (O. Eng. Law) The price of a man s head; a compensation paid of a man killed, partly to… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • weregild — weregild, or wergild /wirgild/wsrgild/ This was the price of homicide, or other atrocious personal offense, paid partly to the king for the loss of a subject, partly to the lord for the loss of a vassal, and partly to the next of kin of the… …   Black's law dictionary

  • Weregild — Weregeld (alternative spellings: wergild, wergeld, weregeld, etc.) was a reparational payment usually demanded of a person guilty of homicide or other wrongful death, although it could also be demanded in other cases of serious crime. In early… …   Wikipedia

  • Weregild — Wergild Le wergild, littéralement « prix de l’homme », (également écrit weregild, wergeld, wehrgeld ou weregeld) est une somme d’argent demandée en réparation à une personne coupable d’un meurtre, ou d’un autre crime grave. Cette… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • weregild, or wergild — /wirgild/wsrgild/ This was the price of homicide, or other atrocious personal offense, paid partly to the king for the loss of a subject, partly to the lord for the loss of a vassal, and partly to the next of kin of the injured person. In the… …   Black's law dictionary

  • weregild — were·gild (wûrʹgĭld ) n. Variant of wergeld. * * * …   Universalium

  • weregild — noun In Anglo Saxon and Germanic law, a reparational payment usually demanded of a person guilty of homicide or other wrongful death or other serious crimes …   Wiktionary

  • weregild — were·gild …   English syllables

  • weregild — A fine or price paid, under the ancient law of the Saxons, for killing a man. A part of the sum so paid went to the king and the rest to the near relatives of the deceased. See 4 Bl Comm 188, 313, 413. It is generally accepted that the infliction …   Ballentine's law dictionary

  • weregild — noun see wergild …   Useful english dictionary

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