The Normans, as foreigners, were protected by the king's peace.
The entire hundred was the ultimate surety for murder and would
have to pay a "murdrum" fine of 31 pounds [46 marks] for the
murder of any Norman, if the murderer was not apprehended by his
lord within a few days. The reaction to this was that the murderer
mutilated the corpse to make identification of ethnicity
impossible. So the Conquerer ordered that every murder victim was
assumed to be Norman unless proven English. This began a court
custom in murder cases of first proving the victim to be English.
The Royal Court decided this case: "At length both parties were
summoned before the King's court, in which there sat many of the
nobles of the land of whom Geoffrey, bishop of Coutances, was
delegated by the King's authority as judge of the dispute, with
Ranulf the Vicomte, Neel, son of Neel, Robert de Usepont, and many
other capable judges who diligently and fully examined the origin
of the dispute, and delivered judgment that the mill ought to
belong to St. Michael and his monks forever. The most victorious
King William approved and confirmed this decision."
- - - Chapter 5 - - -
- The Times: 1100-1154 -
King Henry I, son of William the Conquerer, furthered peace
between the Normans and native English by his marriage to a niece
of King Edward the Confessor called Matilda.
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