Editing Weregild (section)

== Amount ==

The size of the weregild was largely conditional upon the [[social rank]] of the victim. There used to be something of a "basis" fee for a standard "free man" that could then be multiplied according to the social rank of the victim and the circumstances of the crime. The weregild for women relative to that of men of equal rank varied: among the [[Saxons]] half that of men.

In the [[Migration period]], the standard weregild for a freeman appears to have been 200 [[Solidus (coin)|solidi]] ([[shilling]]s), an amount reflected as the basic fee due for the death of a ''[[churl]]'' (or ''ceorl'') both in later Anglo-Saxon and continental law codes.

In the 8th century, the ''[[Lex Alamannorum]]'' sets the weregild for a duke or archbishop at three times the basic value (600 shillings), while the killing of a low ranking cleric was fined with 300, raised to 400 if the cleric was attacked while he was reading mass.

During the reign of [[Charlemagne]], his ''[[missi dominici]]'' required three times the regular weregild should they be killed whilst on a mission from the king.

In 9th century [[Mercia]]n law a regular freeman ([[churl]]) was worth 200 shillings<ref>A shilling was defined as the value of a cow in Kent or elsewhere, a sheep.</ref> (''twyhyndeman''), and a nobleman was worth 1,200 (''twelfhyndeman''), a division established enough that two centuries later a [[Old English#Charter of Cnut|charter]] of [[King Cnut]]'s would simply refer to "all his people - the twelve-hundreders and the two-hundreders". The law code even mentions the weregild for a king, at 30,000 thrymsas, composed of 15,000 for the man, paid to the royal family, and 15,000 for the kingship, paid to the people. An archbishop or nobleman is likewise valued at 15,000 [[thrymsa]]s. The weregild for a Welshman was 120 [[shilling]]s if he owned at least one [[Hide (unit)|hide]] of land and was able to pay the king's tribute. If he has only 1 hide and cannot pay the tribute, his wergild was 80 shillings and then 70 if he was landless yet free.

[[Thrall]]s and [[slaves]] legally commanded no weregild, but it was commonplace to make a nominal payment in the case of a thrall and the value of the slave in such a case. Technically this amount cannot be called a weregild, because it was more akin to a reimbursement to the owner for lost or damaged property.