The languages of invaders had produced a hybrid language that was roughly understood throughout the country. The existence of Europe, Africa, Asia, and India were known. Jerusalem was thought to be at the center of the world. There was an annual tax of a penny on every hearth, Peter's pence, to be collected and sent to the pope in Rome yearly. Ecclesiastical benefices were to pay church-scot, a payment in lieu of first fruits of the land, to the pope. The Law There were several kings in this period. The king and witan deliberated on the making of new laws, both secular and spiritual, at the regularly held witanagemot. There was a standard legal requirement of holding every man accountable, though expressed in different ways, such as the following three: Every freeman who does not hold land must find a lord to answer for him. Every lord shall be personally responsible as surety for the men of his household. [This included female lords.] (King Athelstan) "And every man shall see that he has a surety, and this surety shall bring and keep him to [the performance of] every lawful duty. 1. -And if anyone does wrong and escapes, his surety shall incur what the other should have incurred. 2. -If the case be that of a thief and his surety can lay hold of him within twelve months, he shall deliver him up to justice, and what he has paid shall be returned to him." (King Edgar) Every freeman who holds land, except lords with considerable landed property, must be in a local tithing, usually ten to twelve men, in which they serve as personal sureties for each other's peaceful behavior. If one of the ten landholders in a tithing is accused of an offense, the others have to produce him in court or pay a fine plus pay the injured party for the offense, unless they could prove that they had no complicity in it. If the man is found guilty but can not pay, his tithing must pay his fine. The chief officer is the "tithing man" or "capital pledge". There were probably ten tithings in a hundred. (King Edward the Confessor). Canute reigned from 1016 to 1035. The following are substantially all the laws of Canute with an * before ones of special interest. Proclamations of Canute are: All my reeves, under pain of forfeiting my friendship and all that they possess and their own lives, shall govern my people justly everywhere, and to pronounce just judgments with the cognizance of the bishops of the dioceses, and to inflict such mitigated penalties as the bishop may approve and the man himself may be able to bear.