Editing Anglo-Saxons (section)

=== Women, children and slaves ===
[[File:WestStowAngloSaxon-3F7-827647-wiki.jpg|thumb|An Anglo Saxon woman's attire shown at [[West Stow Anglo-Saxon Village]]|left|259x259px]]

Alfred's reference to 'praying men, fighting men and working men' is far from a complete description of his society. Women in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms appear to have enjoyed considerable independence, whether as abbesses of the great 'double monasteries' of monks and nuns founded during the seventh and eighth centuries, as major land-holders recorded in [[Domesday Book]] (1086), or as ordinary members of society. They could act as principals in legal transactions, were entitled to the same weregild as men of the same class, and were considered 'oath-worthy', with the right to defend themselves on oath against false accusations or claims. Sexual and other offences against them were penalised heavily. There is evidence that even married women could own property independently, and some surviving wills are in the joint names of husband and wife.<ref>Klinck, A. L., 'Anglo-Saxon women and the law', Journal of Medieval History 8 (1982), 107–21.</ref>

Marriage comprised a contract between the woman's family and the prospective bridegroom, who was required to pay a 'bride-price' in advance of the wedding and a 'morning gift' following its consummation. The latter became the woman's personal property, but the former may have been paid to her relatives, at least during the early period. Widows were in a particularly favourable position, with inheritance rights, custody of their children and authority over dependents. However, a degree of vulnerability may be reflected in laws stating that they should not be forced into nunneries or second marriages against their will. The system of [[primogeniture]] (inheritance by the first-born male) was not introduced to England until after the Norman Conquest, so Anglo-Saxon siblings – girls as well as boys – were more equal in terms of status.

The age of majority was usually either ten or twelve, when a child could legally take charge of inherited property, or be held responsible for a crime.<ref>Rivers, T. J., 'Widows' rights in Anglo-Saxon law', American Journal of Legal History 19 (1975), 208–15.</ref> It was common for children to be fostered, either in other households or in monasteries, perhaps as a means of extending the circle of protection beyond the kin group. Laws also make provision for orphaned children and foundlings.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Fell |first1=Christine E. |url= |title=Women in Anglo-Saxon England |last2=Clark |first2=Cecily |last3=Williams |first3=Elizabeth |publisher=British Museum Publications |year=1984 |isbn=978-0-7141-8057-1 |language=en}}</ref>

The traditional distinction in society, amongst free men, was expressed as ''eorl and ceorl'' ('earl and churl') though the term 'Earl' took on a more restricted meaning after the Viking period. The noble rank is designated in early centuries as ''gesiþas'' ('companions') or ''þegnas'' ('thegns'), the latter coming to predominate. After the Norman Conquest the title 'thegn' was equated to the Norman 'baron'.<ref>''[[Leges Henrici Primi]]''</ref> A certain amount of social mobility is implied by regulations detailing the conditions under which a ceorl could become a thegn. Again these would have been subject to local variation, but one text refers to the possession of five hides of land (around 600 acres), a bell and a castle-gate, a seat and a special office in the king's hall. In the context of the control of [[Ancient borough|boroughs]], [[Frank Stenton]] notes that according to an 11th-century source, "a merchant who had carried out three voyages at his own charge [had also been] regarded as of thegnly status."{{sfn|Stenton|1971|p=530}}<!-- Annoyingly Stenton refers only to "a well-known English tract": it's "Geþyncðo", q.v. --> Loss of status could also occur, as with penal slavery, which could be imposed not only on the perpetrator of a crime but on his wife and family.

A further division in Anglo-Saxon society was between slave and free. [[Slavery in Britain|Slavery]] was not as common as in other societies, but appears to have been present throughout the period. Both the freemen and slaves were hierarchically structured, with several classes of freemen and many types of slaves. These varied at different times and in different areas, but the most prominent ranks within free society were the king, the nobleman or thegn, and the ordinary freeman or ceorl. They were differentiated primarily by the value of their [[weregild]] or 'man price', which was not only the amount payable in compensation for homicide, but was also used as the basis for other legal formulations such as the value of the oath that they could swear in a court of law. Slaves had no weregild, as offences against them were taken to be offences against their owners, but the earliest laws set out a detailed scale of penalties depending both on the type of slave and the rank of owner.<ref>Anglo-Saxon Dictionary edited by Joseph Bosworth, T. Northcote Toller and Alistair Campbell (1972), Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0-19-863101-9}}.</ref>

The Exeter Book Riddle 12, 49 and 52 both describe swarthy/dark haired Britons, while Riddle 72 describes a lower class 'dark' Welsh herdsman.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Riddle Ages |url=https://theriddleages.com/riddles/post/exeter-riddle-49/ |access-date=2024-07-25 |website=theriddleages.com}}</ref>

Some slaves may have been members of the native British population conquered by the Anglo-Saxons when they arrived from the continent; others may have been captured in wars between the early kingdoms, or have sold themselves for food in times of famine. However, slavery was not always permanent, and slaves who had gained their freedom would become part of an underclass of freedmen below the rank of ceorl.<ref>Stenton, F. M. "The Thriving of the Anglo-Saxon Ceorl." Preparatory to Anglo-Saxon England (1970): 383–93.</ref>