WERGILD, wer'gitd, or WEREGILD, sv'er'eld, derived from the Anglo-Saxon wer, a man, and geld, satisfaction, and meaning the price in money paid either kinsmen or to the state, or both, as satisfaction in a case of homi cide or other crime against the person. The wergild extended to offenses of the highest grade. It was also sometimes exacted when the killing was not criminal, as in the case of a thief slain in battle. It was eminently a Teu tonic institution, and the amount of wergild varied with different tribes. Among the Anglo Saxons, the wergild for taking the life of the king was 7,200 shillings; for an eolderman, 2.400 shillings; a king's thegn, 600 and a cent!, 200. In the Anglo-Saxon period an alderman or colderman was a much more important person age than the alderman of to-day, the aldermen of all England being the first subjects of the realm, and other aldermen being governors of counties. Even kings were called aldermen. The thegn, or thane, was a minor noble, and the ceorl, or churl, a tenant-at-will of the thane, or he might be simply a serf or farm-laborer. As
the value of money, measured by its purchasing power, was far greater than to-day, the wergeld for king and alderman and even for thane, must have been prohibitory save for the wealthiest members of the community, or when the state assumed the burden of payment, as in the case of an enemy of high rank killed in war, whose relatives were able to wreak vengeance for his death.
Wergild for a homicide had to be paid to the king and the kindred, and also to the thane, or overlord of the slain man. The relatives were not obliged to accept the price of their kinsman's blood, but might, if they chose, exact life for life. If the relatives were satisfied, however, it wis not difficult to make terms with the king and thane. The wergild passed away when Norman succeeded to Anglo-Saxon rule, and while fines continued to be imposed on of fenders, there was no escape from the capital penalty for homicide except in trial by combat.