Legislation constituted but a small portion of the ordinary business transacted by the Imperial Witenagemot. The wisdom of the assembly was shown in avoiding unnecessary change. _Consisting principally of traditionary usages and ancestorial customs, the law was upheld by opinion. The people considered their jurisprudence as a part of their inheritance._ Their privileges and their duties were closely conjoined; _most frequently, the statutes themselves were only affirmances of ancient customs, or declaratory enactments_. In the Anglo-Saxon commonwealth, therefore, the legislative functions of the Witenagemot were of far less importance than the other branches of its authority. * * The members of the Witenagemot were the 'Pares Curiæ' (Peers of Court) of the kingdom. How far, on these occasions, their opinion or their equity controlled the power of the crown, cannot be ascertained. But the form of inserting their names in the _'Testing Clause_' was retained under the Anglo-Norman reigns; and the sovereign, who submitted his Charter to the judgment of the _Proceres_, professed to be guided by the opinion which they gave. As the '_Pares_' of the empire, the Witenagemot decided the disputes between the great vassals of the crown. * * The jurisdiction exercised in the Parliament of Edward I., when the barony of a _Lord-Marcher_ became the subject of litigation, is entirely analogous to the proceedings thus adopted by the great council of Edward, the son of Alfred, the Anglo-Saxon king. In this assembly, the king, the prelates, the dukes, the ealdormen, and the optimates passed judgment upon all great offenders. * * _The sovereign could not compel the obedience of the different nations composing the Anglo-Saxon empire._ Hence, it became more necessary for him to _conciliate their opinions_, if he solicited any service from a vassal prince or a vassal state beyond the ordinary terms of the compact; still more so, when he needed the support of a free burgh or city. And we may view the assembly (the Witenagemot) as partaking of the character of a political congress, in which the liegemen of the crown, or the communities protected by the 'Basileus,' (sovereign,) were asked or persuaded to relieve the exigences of the state, or to consider those measures which might be required for the common weal. The sovereign was compelled to parley with his dependents.