frankpledge
[frangk-plej]
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noun Old English Law.
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.
a member of a tithing.
the tithing itself.
Origin of frankpledge
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for frankpledge
Historical Examples of frankpledge
The system of frankpledge prevailed in some English boroughs.
Mr. Gammon swore by Frankpledge, who had been at school with him, and was a "rising man."
Ten Thousand a-Year. Volume 1.Samuel Warren
The servants of the Crown were not, as now, bound in frankpledge for each other.
The History of England from the Accession of James II.Thomas Babington Macaulay
But the history of the frankpledge proper begins not earlier than the time of the Norman Conquest.
The machinery of the frankpledge was probably used by Henry II.
frankpledge
noun (in medieval England)
Word Origin for frankpledge
C15: via Anglo-French from Old French franc free (see frank) + plege pledge
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
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