Manorial court

English feudalism
Harold Sacramentum Fecit Willelmo Duci (Bayeux Tapestry)
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Manorialism
Lord of the manor Manorial court Manor house (List) Demesne Glebe Overlord Lord Peasant Serfdom Free tenant
Feudal land tenure in England
Land tenure English feudal barony Feudal baron Knight's fee Knight-service Baronage Peerage Serjeanty Copyhold Freehold Gavelkind Customary freehold Landed gentry Peerages in the United Kingdom
Feudal duties
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Feudalism
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The manorial courts were the lowest courts of law in England during the feudal period. They had a civil jurisdiction limited both in subject matter and geography. They dealt with matters over which the lord of the manor had jurisdiction, primarily torts, local contracts and land tenure, and their powers only extended to those who lived within the lands of the manor: the demesne and such lands as the lord had enfeoffed to others, and to those who held land therein. Historians have divided manorial courts into those that were primarily seignorial – based on feudal responsibilities – and those based on separate delegation of authority from the monarch. There were three types of manorial court: the court of the honour; the court baron; and the court customary, also known as the halmote court.^[1]

Each manor had its own laws promulgated in a document called the custumal, and anyone in breach of those laws could be tried in a manorial court. The earlier Anglo-Saxon method of trial by ordeal or of compurgation was modified by the Normans into trial by a jury made up of 12 local freemen. The lord or his steward would be the chairman, whilst the parish clerk would write the record on the manorial rolls.