Tribal Custom in Anglo-Saxon Law: Being an Essay Supplemental to (1) 'The English Village Community', (2) 'The Tribal System in Wales'Seebohm, Frederic
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Tribal Custom in Anglo-Saxon Law: Being an Essay Supplemental to (1) 'The English Village Community', (2) 'The Tribal System in Wales'
Seebohm, Frederic
Anglo-Saxons; Law, Anglo-Saxon; Law, Medieval; Tribes -- Great Britain
And then the commentary goes on to say that if it was the same person who
killed and concealed
a fine of 7 cumhals and full honour-price for the concealing, and
7 cumhals and full honour-price for the killing, which is twice 7
cumhals and double honour-price upon a native freeman for secret
murder.
Obviously the _honour-price_ in both cases is that of the murderer, for a
little further on is a statement that
the same fine is upon a native freeman for looking on at the
killing of a native freeman, or a stranger, or a foreigner, or a
daerman.[71]
[Sidenote: The honour-price of the slain or of his kinsmen.]
But besides this honour-price of the criminal, as we have seen, other
payments had apparently to be made to the relatives of the slain, for
breach of their protection or for injury sustained, and these were
measured by the honour-price of the recipients and not by that of the
criminal.
It is not quite clearly stated that these payments were a part of the
eric, but we may suppose that they were in a sense a buying off of the
right of feud, and accepted in lieu of the right of joining in the
avengement of the crime and in the feud, for which the eric was the
composition.
[Sidenote: The honour-price of the protector of the slain.]
A passage in the Book of Aicill (p. 107) incidentally seems to show that
the son of a person slain could choose whether to claim honour-price on
the scale of his own social rank, according to right of property, or of
the status of his father or grandfather, or that of the chieftain under
whose protection he lived.
If, having been given his choice of taking honour-price in
right of property, or honour-price in right of his father and
his grandfather, he made choice of honour-price in right of his
property, and decay came upon his property so that he has [left]
but the kingship of the three handles--the handle of his flail,
the handle of his hatchet, and the handle of his wood axe; he is
(then) entitled to but one screpall for his worthiness if he be
worthy; and if he be not worthy he is entitled to nothing, unless
children have been born to him afterwards which he had not before
on the day of making his choice, and if they have been born he
has honour-price in right of them.
The passage goes on to mention the case of his having made choice ‘to
have honour-price in right of his relations or in right of his chief.’
In the Senchus Mor (i. p. 275), without direct mention of the case of
homicide, is the following statement:--
The honour-price is fourfold. Full honour-price is due to one for
his father, half honour-price for his father’s brother, one third
honour-price for his son or his daughter, one fourth honour-price
for his grandson.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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