frankpledge

American  

[frangk-plej] / ˈfræŋkˌplɛdʒ /

noun

Old English Law.

1. a system of dividing a community into tithings or groups of ten men, each member of which was responsible for the conduct of the other members of his group and for the assurance that a member charged with a breach of the law would be produced at court.

2. a member of a tithing.

3. the tithing itself.

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frankpledge British  

/ ˈfræŋkˌplɛdʒ /

noun

1. the corporate responsibility of members of a tithing for the good behaviour of each other

2. a member of a tithing

3. a tithing itself

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Etymology

Origin of frankpledge

1250–1300; Middle English fra ( u ) nkplegge < Anglo-French frauncplege. See frank ¹, pledge

Example Sentences

Tithing and surety, two Old English institutions which were the roots of the later frankpledge, are mentioned in the laws of Canute; but they were still distinct.

From Canute the Great The Rise of Danish Imperialism during the Viking Age by Larson, Laurence Marcellus

The servants of the Crown were not, as now, bound in frankpledge for each other.

From The History of England, from the Accession of James II — Volume 3 by Macaulay, Thomas Babington Macaulay, Baron

But the history of the frankpledge proper begins not earlier than the time of the Norman Conquest.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 1 "Franciscans" to "French Language" by Various

Ultimately the laws of the 10th and 11th centuries show the beginnings of the frankpledge associations, which came to act so important a part in the local police and administration of the feudal age.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Part 1, Slice 1 by Various

In a formal fashion courts leet for the view of frankpledge were held in the time of the jurist Selden, and a few of these have survived until the present day.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 1 "Franciscans" to "French Language" by Various