The slave owner had to answer for the offences of his slaves
against others, as for the mischief done by his cattle. Since a
slave had no property, he could not be fined for crimes, but was
whipped, mutilated, or killed.
During famine, acorns, beans, peas, and even bark were ground down
to supplement flour when grain stocks grew low. People scoured the
hedgerows for herbs, roots, nettles, and wild grasses, which were
usually left for the pigs. Sometimes people were driven to
infanticide or group suicide by jumping together off a cliff or
into the water.
Several large kingdoms came to replace the many small ones. The
people were worshipping pagan gods when St. Augustine came to
England in 596 A.D. to Christianize them. King AEthelbert of Kent
[much later a county] and his wife, who had been raised Christian
on the continent, met him when he arrived. The King gave him land
where there were ruins of an old city. Augustine used stones from
the ruins to build a church which was later called Canterbury. He
also built the first St. Paul's church in London. Aethelbert and
his men who fought with him and ate and lived in his household
[gesiths] became Christian. A succession of princesses went out
from Kent to marry other Saxon kings and convert them to
Christianity.
Augustine knew how to write, but King AEthelbert did not. The King
announced his laws at meetings of his people and his eorls would
decide the punishments.
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