- The Law - The Norman conquerors brought no written law, but affirmed the laws of the nation. Two they especially enforced were: Anyone caught in the act of digging up the King's road, felling a tree across it, or attacking someone so that his blood spilled on it shall pay a fine to the King. All freemen shall have a surety who would hand him over to justice for his offenses or pay the damages or fines due. If an accused man fled, his surety would have a year to find him to obtain reimbursement. The Conquerer proclaimed that: No cattle shall be sold except in towns and before three witnesses. For the sale of ancient chattels, there must be a surety and a warrantor. No man shall be sold over the sea. (This ended the slave trade at the port of Bristol.) The death penalty for persons tried by court is abolished. - Judicial Procedure - "Ecclesiastical" courts were created for bishops to preside over cases concerning the cure of souls and criminal cases, in which the ordeal was used. When the Conquerer did not preside over this court, an appeal could be made to him. The hundred and county courts now sat without clergy and handled only "civil" cases. They were conducted by the King's own appointed sheriff. Only freemen and not bound villeins had standing in this court. They continued to transact their business in the English language. The local jurisdictions of thegns who had grants of sac and soke or who exercised judicial functions among their free neighbors were now called "manors" under their new owners, who conducted a manor court. The Conquerer's Royal Court was called the "Curia Regis". When the Conquerer wished to determine the national laws, he summoned twelve elected representatives of each county to declare on oath the ancient lawful customs and law as they existed in the time of the popular King Edward the Confessor. The recording of this law was begun. A person could spend months trying to catch up with the Royal Court to present a case. Sometimes the Conquerer sent the justiciar or commissioners to hold his Royal Court in the various districts. The commissioner appointed groups of local men to give a collective verdict upon oath for each trial he conducted. The Conquerer allowed, on an ad hoc basis, certain high-level people such as bishops and abbots and those who made a large payment, to have land disputes decided by an inquiry of recognitors. Besides royal issues, the Curia Regis heard appeals from lower court decisions. It used English, Norman, feudal, Roman, and canon law legal principles to reach a decision, and was flexible and expeditious.