[45] The so-called laws of Edward the Confessor, an antiquarian compilation of the twelfth century largely mixed with invention, do not even profess to be actual dooms of the Confessor, but the customs of his time collected by order of William the Conqueror. [46] The modern forms of these words, _thane_ and _churl_, have passed through so much change of meaning and application that they cannot be safely used for historical purposes. [47] There were minor distinctions between ranks of free men which are now obscure, and were probably no less obscure in the thirteenth century: they seem to have been disregarded very soon after the Conquest. [48] Blackstone, _Com._ iv. 203. [49] _Wite_ was probably, in its origin, rather a fee to the court for arranging the composition than a punishment. But it is treated as penal from the earliest period of written laws. In the tenth century it could mean pain or torment; see C. D. 1222 _ad fin._ [50] See the customs of Chester, D. B. i. 262 b, extracted in Stubbs, _Sel. Ch._ [51] Ælf. 36. The statement is rather obscure. One is tempted to suppose that an accident of that kind had happened to some well-known person at the king’s court. [52] Ælf. 23. [53] See Holmes, _The Common Law_, 7-12. [54] See especially Edg. iv. 6-11. [55] Ælf. 19. [56] Ælf. 13. [57] Maitland, _Domesday Book and Beyond_, 106. [58] Ælf. 43. [59] See C. D. 226 compared with 256. [60] A strictly accurate statement in few words is hardly possible. See the section “Book-land and Folk-land” in Maitland, _Domesday Book and Beyond_, p. 244 _sqq._ INDEX Æstel, the, 192, 195 Africa, description of, 164 Alfred regains his kingdom, 17, 18 as law-giver, 22-26 permanence of his work, 32 personal appearance of, 33 as king, 41 legendary and real, 42, 43 army, 45 accession to throne, 46, 133 visit to Rome, 58, 172 portrait of a king, 61, 62 writings of, 63, 64 life work, 66 mother of, 71 parentage, 71, 72 his youth, 76 as a musician, 81 his laborious life, 88-90 translations of books, 100-104 religious views, 107 will of, 110, 203 military tactics, 118 first campaign, 129 marriage, 129 campaigns against Hasting and the “Great Army,” 145-147 as a geographer, 151 selection of books for the people, 177-181 minor literary works, 199-202 as architect, writer, musician, 243 Anglo-Saxon dooms, 222 justice, 218 landholding, 234-239 life, 209 women, 7, 8 Anglo-Saxons, gods of, 3-5 manners and customs of, 7-10 Ashdown, battle of, 118 Basing, battle of, 133 Bede, literary works of, 180 Bede’s _History_, 198 _Benedictional_, 255 Boethius’s _Consolation of Philosophy_, 30, 178, 183 extract from Sedgefield edition, 185, 186 Britons of Cornwall and Wales, 58, 59 Burhs, 142 Candle-clocks, invention of, 91 Canute on pilgrimages to Rome, 74 Capital punishment, 228