Anglo-Saxon Wergeld Codes (c. 600–1066)

The wergeld (man-price or life-price) system was the cornerstone of Anglo-Saxon law: a schedule of fixed monetary compensation payable for injury, death, or theft, calibrated to the status of the victim. Rather than state-imposed punishment, wergeld operationalised restitution — the offender owed the victim's kin, not the crown. Appearing in law codes from Æthelberht of Kent (c. 602 AD) through to the Dooms of Alfred, the system reflects an early common-law tradition in which justice was understood as making the victim whole rather than satisfying state vengeance.