sion, that at the utmost it can only be thought to imply that, in other respects than warranty and ordeal, some courts which were not the king's courts may have had competence. Even this cautious suggestion, however, can hardly be admitted. The meaning of the passage is obscure. Team and ordeal would seem to have been essential elements in every legal tribunal. They appear to have been always conveyed or implied in the subsequent grants of sac and soc. On the whole, the most reasonable interpretation of the clause would seem to be that the informal exercise of these legal processes before the manorial lords was becoming usual; and that this law of Æthelred prohibited the abuse, and enjoined upon the suitors a strict observance of the old law, which recognized no tribunal competent to administer its forms, except the courts of the hundred and the shire. Thus this passage would rather tend to prove that private jurisdictions, though beginning to exist in custom and for convenience, by consent of the parties, were not legal, and were even prohibited by law. Dr. Schmid, however, quotes another passage from Æthelred's laws, which, at first sight, seems conclusive:

Æthelred, III. 11. "And let no man have socn over a king's thane except the king himself."

Dr. Schmid translates "soen here as "jurisdiction." So, also, does Professor Stubbs, and so do all other authorities. It becomes necessary, therefore, to turn aside for a moment, in order to make some inquiry into the history of this word.

The invaluable Glossary, which Dr. Schmid has appended to his edition of the Anglo-Saxon Laws, tells us that soen is a derivative of sêcan, which is identical with our modern verb seek. It is frequently used in all branches of AngloSaxon literature, and in a number of combinations; as, for example:

1. Land-soen, visitatio terrae, land-seeking. Caedmon. 2. Hlaford-soen, lord-seeking, the search for a lord, in order to place one's self under his protection, or in his service. Æthelstan, III. 4; IV. 5; V. 1, § 1. Alfred, 37.

3. Ham-soen, ham-fare, invasio domus, the seeking of a house for hostile purposes. Hen. 80, § 11.

4. Fyrd-socn, fyrd-faru, expeditio, army-seeking, - one branch of the trinoda necessitas. Cod. Dip. CCCXIII. 883; DCLXXV. 990; DCLXXVI. 991.

5. Ciric-socn, church-seeking, the privilege of sanctuary, sought by persons in danger of life or liberty. Ine, 5; Alfred, 5.

6. Frith-socn, peace-seeking, the general peace enjoyed by the king, the church, &c., in behalf of suppliants who sought it. Æthelred, VIII. 1; Cnut, I. 2, § 3.

It is not pretended that, in any of these cases, jurisdiction is to be understood. In fact, the terms of the law, in mentioning the ciric-soen and frith-socn, exclude the possibility of such an idea. The following passages from the laws of Æthelstan define the nature of the frith-soen for the various ranks of society who enjoyed it:

nullo modo vita dignus ha

...

Æthelstan, IV. 6. "Et sic fur beatur, non per socnam non per pecuniam. § 1. "Si regem vel archiepiscopum requirat vel sanctam dei ecclesiam, habeat novem noctes de termino.

...

§ 3. "Si comitem vel abbatem vel aldermannum vel thaynum requirat, habeat terminum tres noctes."

...

In a subsequent council, further provisions are added:

Æthelstan, V. 4, § 2. "And, if any one slay the thief within this term, then let him pay the mund-byrd of the person whom the thief sought, or take an oath of twelve that he did not know of the socn."

§ 3. "And the thief may seek whatever socn he will; yet shall he not have a right to his life, except for so many days as is above ordained."..

Again, in the laws of Edmund, the same use of the word is to be found:

Edmund, II. 4. "I also give notice that I will give no soen to any one of my household who has shed man's blood, before he has done penance to the church, and has agreed with the kin for the amends."...

This kind of soen contains no pretence of jurisdiction. It merely invests individuals or places with the privilege of affording a limited asylum to fugitives from justice or violence, after the expiration of which the law shall take its course.

There was, however, another and wider sense in which the word sốcn was used. In this sense, it indicates the sum of the fiscal privileges enjoyed by lands which the king and witan had freed from fiscal burdens, and to which they had granted the proceeds of fines, &c., as heretofore described. In this use, the word is merely synonymous with the AngloSaxon formula, "Mid eallan dam gerihtum and dam witan de daerof arisað; " as, for example:

Cod. Dip. MCCXCVIII., 1002; DCCX., 1004. “.. Mortun and eal seo socna de daerto hereð."...

A curious illustration of this meaning of the word is afforded by a diversity in the text of Cnut's law. The ordinary reading of Cnut, II. 73, § 1, is as follows:

"And sy he his weres scyldig wið done cyning odde wið done de hit geunnen haebbe."

"And let him forfeit his wer to the king, or to him to whom the king may have granted it."

Codex G. substitutes the words "his socne" as equivalent for the word "hit," so that soen can here only mean the right to receive the wer, - the same right which has already been described as expressly specified in the charters.

Other cases of the same nature occur, all pointing to the same conclusion:

Cnut, II. 63. "Gif hwa reaf-lac gewyrce, agife and forgylde and beo his weres scyldig wið done cyningc [odde wið done de his socne age. Codex G.]."

"If any one take by force another's property, let him return it, and its value, and forfeit his wer to the king [or to whoever has his socn. Cod. G.]."

Cnut, II. 37. "... Gylde dam cyninge oðde landrican be healsfange."

Codex G. "... Gylde dam cyninge oððe landrican de his socne ah, be healsfange."

"Let him forfeit his halsfang (ten shillings) to the king (or to the manorial lord who has his socn. Codex G.]."

In all these cases, there is no reason for supposing that jurisdiction is implied in the word socn. The idea expressed is always that of the charters. It is the profits of justice, and not the justice itself. To add to the plain statements of the charters an implied grant of jurisdiction, is mere gratuitous assumption, unsupported by a particle of evidence. The same rule of interpretation applies also to the clause cited by Dr. Schmid, as given above, "Let no man have socn over a king's thane except the king himself." That is, let no man claim to exact a forfeiture or fine from a king's thane except the king himself. This was merely another and more concise way of expressing the same idea that is set forth in the earlier legislation of the same king:

Æthelred, I. 1, § 14. "And let the king be entitled to all the forfeitures of such as hold book-land; and let no man make composition on any accusation, unless with the witness of the king's reeve."

So the Latin version of the Confessor's charter to Abbot Ordric of Abingdon (Cod. Dip. DCCCXL., IV. 200) renders "swa daet nan scyrgerefe odde motgerefe dar habban aeni socne odde gemot" by "sic ut nullus vicecomes vel praepositus ibi habeant aliquam appropriationem seu placitum." 1

And, finally, the same meaning is perfectly appropriate to the mention in Cnut, 71, 3, of "a king's thane among the Danes, who has his socn," his freedom from fiscal burdens, and his rights to the profits of justice.

Dr. Schmid cites one more example, also from Codex G., to illustrate his view:

Cnut, II. 62. "Gif hwa ham-socne gewyrce, gebete daet mid fif pundan dam cyningce on Engla-lage [and on Cent aet dam socne V. dam cinge and threo dam arcebisceope]."

Dr. Schmid considers "aet dam socne to mean here, again, jurisdiction. But this is obviously a very forced interpretation. A reference to the before-mentioned law of Æthelstan, V. 4, § 2, sufficiently illustrates the meaning of the later law.

In point of fact, no instance can be found, before Norman 1 See also DCCCLXXXVIII., IV. 228.

times, in which soen means jurisdiction. Sôcn had a technical meaning of its own, which is always rigorously observed. The idea of jurisdiction, on the other hand, was expressed by an equally technical word, the meaning of which is also rigorously observed. This is sacu, a word which has strangely vanished from our legal vocabulary, but is still preserved, even in its technical sense, by the German sache. Another expression is also found, spraec or spaec, meaning placitum, or lawsuit; but sacu, saca, or abbreviated sac, is the legal term most commonly adopted. It is found in the early laws of Kent, and in the late laws of the Norman kings; it is used throughout the charters, and never in any doubtful sense. Sacu in all the early literature, meant a suit at law. When joined with soen in a royal grant, the intention is to convey to the grantee placita et forisfacturas, - pleas and forfeitures, justice and the profits of justice.

Dr. K. Maurer, while conceding that the evidence is far from convincing in regard to the existence of private lawcourts before Cnut's accession, goes on to say: "But all the more certain is it that, from the reign of Cnut, the manorial jurisdiction appears in its most complete development; innumerable charters, from his and his successors' hands, grant or confirm the same; so that the expressions, sac and soen, toll and team, aðas and ordalas, &c., occur on almost every page of the Codex Diplomaticus." 1

1.

Here, again, careful criticism can only express dissent. So far as Dr. Maurer's statement concerns the charters of Cnut, investigation will show that it is in error. He has himself given no instances of such charters. The Codex Diplomaticus contains only two such, which offer even an appearance of authenticity. One of these (MCCCXIX., VI. 183) is an evident forgery, which hardly needs notice. The other (MCCCXXVII., VI. 190) does not even purport to be an original document; and the paraphrase is so carelessly made that, if Mr. Kemble's version is trustworthy, the name of the king himself is omitted among the signatures; and that of Earl Harold is made to appear in a charter which must have