Some lords were even given jurisdiction over
breach of the royal peace, ambush and treacherous manslaughter,
harboring of outlaws, forced entry into a residence, and failure
to answer a military summons. Often this court's jurisdiction
overlapped that of the hundred court and sometimes a whole hundred
had passed under the jurisdiction of an abbot, bishop, or earl.
A lord and his noble lady, or his steward, presided at this court.
The law was administered here on the same principles as at the
hundred court. Judges of the leet of the court of a large private
estate were chosen from the constables and four representatives
selected from each community, village, or town.
Before a dispute went to the hundred court, it might be taken care
of by the head tithing man, e;.g. cases between vills, between
neighbors, and some compensations and settlements, namely
concerning pastures, meadows, harvests, and contests between
neighbors.
The vill [similar to village] was the smallest community for
judicial purposes. There were several vills in a hundred.
In London, the Hustings Court met weekly and decided such issues
as wills and bequests and commerce matters. The folk-mote of all
citizens met three times a year. Each ward had a leet court [for
minor criminal matters].
The king and his witan decided the complaints and issues of the
nobility and those cases which had not received justice in the
hundred or shire court.
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