Infangthief and outfangthief were privileges granted to
feudal lords (and various corporate bodies such as
abbeys and
cities) under
Anglo-Saxon law by the kings of
England. They permitted their bearers to execute summary justice (including
capital punishment) on
thieves
Theft is the act of taking another person's property or services without that person's permission or consent with the intent to deprive the rightful owner of it. The word ''theft'' is also used as a synonym or informal shorthand term for some ...
within the borders of their own
manor
Manor may refer to:
Land ownership
*Manorialism or "manor system", the method of land ownership (or "tenure") in parts of medieval Europe, notably England
*Lord of the manor, the owner of an agreed area of land (or "manor") under manorialism
*Man ...
s or
fiefs.
[.]
The terms are frequently attested in royal writs and charters using formulas such as "
sake and soke,
toll and team, and infangthief", which specified the usual rights accompanying grants of land.
Scope
''Infangthief'' ( ang, infangene-þēof,
[.] . "thief seized within") applied to thieves captured within a landowner's estate,
[ although it sometimes permitted them to be chased in other jurisdictions and brought back for trial.][ Under the 13th-century "]laws of Edward the Confessor
The title ''Leges Edwardi Confessoris'', or ''Laws of Edward the Confessor'', refers to a collection of laws, purporting to represent English law in the time of Edward the Confessor (reigned 1042–1066), as recited to the Norman invader king Wil ...
", the privilege was restricted to the lord's "own thief"—that is, the lord's serf
Serfdom was the status of many peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to manorialism, and similar systems. It was a condition of debt bondage and indentured servitude with similarities to and differences from slavery, which developed ...
s and staff. According to Bracton, the privilege was further restricted to those caught '' in flagrante delicto'' or in possession of the stolen object.[.]
''Outfangthief'' ( ang, ūtfangene-þēof,[.] . "thief seized without") is a more problematic term, as it is unattested prior to a forged charter included in the 3rd edition of William of Malmesbury's ''Deeds of the English Kings
The ''Gesta Regum Anglorum'' (Latin for "Deeds of the Kings of the English"), originally titled ("On the Deeds of the Kings of the English") and also anglicized as or , is an early-12th-century history of the kings of England by William of Malme ...
'' ().[.] It seems to have initially been understood as the right to try a thief among the lord's own men wheresoever he might be apprehended,[''The New England Historical & Genealogical Register and Antiquarian Journal'']
vol. 16, p. 257. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1857[ but this understanding is explicitly rejected by Bracton's '']Laws and Customs of England
Henry of Bracton, also Henry de Bracton, also Henricus Bracton, or Henry Bratton also Henry Bretton (c. 1210 – c. 1268) was an English cleric and jurist.
He is famous now for his writings on law, particularly ''De legibus et consuetudinibu ...
'' and the '' Fleta'', which instead give it the meaning of permitting thieves captured on the lord's land to be tried by his court regardless of the thief's own origin.[ The ''Fleta'' further states that the lord had the right to hang thieves from among his own men on his own gallows, once they had been condemned by the jurisdiction where they had been captured.][
The thief's captor was given a choice between summarily executing him—the usual fate for the poor—or "amercing" him, ransoming him for a fine set according to his rank.][Wright, Martin. ''Justice for victims and offenders: a restorative response to crime'', p. 13. Waterside Press, 1996. ]
Such privileges had several advantages: they were profitable, helped to maintain discipline on the estate, and identified the privilege-holder as a figure of authority.Edward III
Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring r ...
. Even then, they continued to be asserted for a considerable time afterwards in Halifax, West Yorkshire.
Examples
According to the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
The ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' is a collection of annals in Old English, chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The original manuscript of the ''Chronicle'' was created late in the 9th century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of Alf ...
'', in 963 AD King Edgar granted a charter to Bishop Æthelwold for the minster of Medeshamstede
Medeshamstede was the name of Peterborough in the Anglo-Saxon period. It was the site of a monastery founded around the middle of the 7th century, which was an important feature in the kingdom of Mercia from the outset. Little is known of its ...
(afterwards Peterborough) and attached villages. The charter included the grant of "sack and sock, toll and team, and infangthief".
See also
* Halifax Gibbet
Notes
References
{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2020
Anglo-Saxon law
Medieval law
English legal terminology