The early English states were administered under the king by aldermen, or military chiefs, to each of whom was entrusted the government of one of the various regions of the kingdom, and by _reeves_, who were responsible for the royal property and dues, each in his own district. The larger kingdoms, such as Wessex, were soon cut up into _shires_, each with its alderman and shire-reeve (sheriff), and many of these shires exist down to our own day. [Sidenote: =The king and the witan.=] The supreme council of the realm was formed by the king, the aldermen, and a certain number of the greater _gesiths_ who served about the king's person. The king and great men discussed subjects of national moment, while the people sat round and shouted assent or dissent to their speeches. The king did not take any measure of importance without the advice of his councillors, who were known as the _Witan_, or Wise-men. When a king died, or ruled tyrannically, or became incompetent, it was the Witan who chose a new monarch from among the members of the royal family, for there was as yet no definite rule of hereditary succession, and the kingship was elective, though the Witan never went outside the limits of the royal house in their nominations. [Sidenote: =The shire-moot and tun-moot.=] The smaller matters of import in an old English kingdom were settled at the _shire-moot_, or meeting of all the freemen of a shire. There, once a month, the aldermen and reeve of the district called up the freeholders who dwelt in it, and by their aid settled disputes and lawsuits. Each freeman had his vote, so the shire-court was a much more democratic body than the Witan, where only great lords and officials could speak and give their suffrages. Matters too small for the _shire-moot_ were settled by the meeting of the villagers in their own petty _tun-moot_, which every freeman would attend. Here would be decided disputes between neighbours, as to their fields and cattle. Such cases would be numerous because, in the early settlements of the English, the ploughed fields and the pasture grounds of the village were both great unenclosed tracts with no permanent boundaries. Every man owned his house and yard, but the pasture and the waste land and woods around belonged to the community, and not to the individual. [Sidenote: =Gradual growth of towns.=]