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The Origins of the Husting and the Folkmoot
Author(s) -
NAISMITH RORY
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
history
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.12
H-Index - 15
eISSN - 1468-229X
pISSN - 0018-2648
DOI - 10.1111/1468-229x.12816
Subject(s) - reign , middle ages , history , composition (language) , code (set theory) , law , political science , genealogy , ancient history , art , literature , set (abstract data type) , politics , computer science , programming language
In the central Middle Ages, London was marked out by its idiosyncratic institutions, prominent among which were two courts or assemblies: the Folkmoot and the Husting. This article re‐examines the early history and origins of both, and suggests that they should be seen as outgrowths of the entities recorded in a legal composition from the reign of King Æthelstan (924–39). The latter describes associations formed by the people of London to defend their interests against thieves from surrounding districts. Provisions made in this text for a gathering of leaders, to be held over food and drink, may be a forerunner of the Husting, while a larger judicial body hinted at in the law‐code could represent a precursor to the Folkmoot. The internal divisions of London from the twelfth century onwards, the wards, are also considered.