The establishment of a system of royal courts is a fairly recent development. While they are inaccessable to the unfree majority of Mercian population (who are forced to accept their lord’s justice), royal justice system is of great significance. The wise monarch is anxious to cultivate respect for the law and the old feudal courts are plagued by jurisdictional problems. The royal system is open to any freeman, generally provides better, faster and cheaper justice, and has gradually taken over an even larger share of important legal administration. The preservation of local custom is a high priority of royal courts, but some uniform laws emerge. These are referred to as the “King’s commonlaw”, a body of legal tradition that is shared by most of the realm.

Under vendetta and feudal law, most crime is a matter concerning only the rights and privileges of those involved. Legal action can only be initiated by the injured party. The concept of felony (crimes against the king’s peace) has revolutionized law over the law few centuries and is largely responsible for the growth of royal justice. At each court session, the question is put to the jurors, “whether any man present knows of any crime against the crown, or of any felons dwelling in the community”. The jurors are sworn to give the particulars of any cases of which they know, and the assembly may have the accused brought before it for trial. Accusations of crimes that are not technically “against the King’s peace”, (civil or financial suits) must still be made by the injured party, who will usually obtain a royal writ in order to be heard.

Writs are simply written commands to any court that a plaintiff’s case be heard. Because all courts decide which cases they will hear, a writ ensures a case will come before the court. Writs were originally granted as favors by the king but now their wording and form are standardised and sold by the crown for a nominal fee. Most writs are issued in the king’s name by the chief judicial officer within his own shire (jurisdiction). To avoid the persecution of individuals by obtaining writ after writ against them, and to discourage frivolous actions, a losing plaintiff is placed in “amercement”, that is on the king’s mercy. His case is examined by the court and if the examiners decide it has been brought lightly or dishonestly, he will be fined depending on the gravity of his transgression. Writs are only issued to freemen but this includes those who are disputing their unfree status.

Towns are inhabited mainly by freemen, so royal justice is available to most citizens. Towns regard their right to operate their own courts, free from the interference of any local lord, as their most teasured prerogative. The charters of some towns give their courts a place in the judicial hierarchy equal to a shite. Appeal from them is directly to the crown.

Town law is quite different from rural justice and is sufficiently complex to support a guild of litigants. As centres of trade and sometimes scholarship, there is somewhat greater dependence on written statute and precedent. Financial transactions are much more common and civil penal codes may view economic or civil cases as dimply as crimes of violence. The importance of a suit is often a matter of much (and whose) money is involved.

Nevertheless, most cases are settled in a casual way. The parties to a dispute will make an appointment for ajudication and the case will then be argued before a single officer or alderman. The financial interests of the participants often lend themselves to a quick execution of justice. The officer or alderman will pass judgement, levy and collect fines with dispatch. Appeals can be made to a town court of assembled aldermen. Important or complex cases will usually go directly to the town court. Aldermen and officers may issue writs and warrants.

The majority of cases are heard informally by a single noble or officer who will listen to the arguments and render his verdict. However, any freeman may demand a sworn inquest by obtaining a royal writ.

The basic form for the sworn inquest is for the presiding officer to appoint a sworn jury, usually of prominent neighbours or town aldermen (jurors) to whom specific questions of fact are put. Witnesses may be called, obliged to testify under oath. The jurors’ answer (the verdict) may be from personal knowledge, or from local gossip, but will at least be based on some kind of evidence rather than superstition or raw power.

Ordeal was formerly in common use at all levels of justice but is now quite rare. The exception is in temple courts where is is still the most common form of trial; ordeal relies heavily on a belief in divine intervention. There are a huge variety of methods used; each temple has its own traditions.

A vestige of the vendetta system is the right of the accused to meet the plaintiff in fair combat. It is generally only the nobility, those trained in arms, who attempt to exercise this right. The right to this form of trial is often denied.

The presiding officer of any court has the right to issue warrants that are valid within his jurisdiction. Presenting a court officer with a royal writ will usually force him to issue a warrant. Warrants are supposed to be formal documents, but they are just as likely to be verbal orders to some underlings. Warrants may command either the arrest of the accused, or demand his appearance at the next court session. The latter is the case in most civil suits. Once apprehended the accused might languish in the dungeon for years but he will usually be brought before the next session of the court; this is the law in Mercia. Some criminals are apprehended by the citizenry; seized off the street, often by a pursuing mob exercising a quaint custom known as the “Hue and Cry”, and brought (hopefully in one piece) to an officer for arrest.

Torture is considered a legimate means to extract evidence from reluctant witnesses, but its use is limited as much as possible.

By tradition, death by the severing of the head is an honor reserved to the nobility; simple folk are executed in various interesting ways, hanging being the most common. Occasionally a gentleman may have his lands/titles stripped from him; this is considered a worse penalty than death.

Very often the accused evades capture, escapes custody, or otherwise cannot be found, but detail like this does not prevent his being tried. When an “in absentia” conviction occurs, the penalty is limited, in practical terms, to outlawry. A declared outlaw may be slain by anyone without fear of prosecution. Any legally constituted court, right down to the lord of a manor can “grant” the status of outlawry although other jurisdictions may not acknowledge the declaration.

If an outlaw is considered particularly unsavory, the court may go beyond simple declaration of outlawry and offer a reward for his capture. Such bounties are generally the only hope of securing the return of an outlaw or escapee from outside one’s own jurisdiction unless one is willing to chase him personally.

Gibbets are often used in Mercia. The cadaver of an executed criminal is locked into an iron frame and hung in plain view as an example of justice. After a few years (none of them pleasant for those with noses) the body has rotten away, and the frame is ready to embrace its next tenant.

The following is a guide to what are considered appropriate penalties for various crimes in Mercia, including its satellites like Denshy. “Aiding and abetting” (accessory to a crime or lending succor to a criminal) will generally bring the same penalty as the actual crime.

The following crimes concern actions against the sovereign, and are deemed the most serious of all crimes. In some jurisdictions, they are the only laws that are enforced against nobles, and are all felonies.

• Obstructing royal privilege, action detrimental to the crown, sabotage of crown property, membership in a treasonable or seditious organization. Treason can only be committed by citizens of the country; foreign nationals are prosecuted under sedition or espionage laws. Penalties: banishment, death by various means.

• Verbal treason. Encouraging others to commit treason, disputing the authority of the crown. Penalties: banishment, death by various means.

• Sabotage of crown property, spying, etc. Penalties: death by various means.

• Taking up arms against a lawful liege or denying his rights or privileges. Penalties: loss of title, banishment, death by various means.

• Killing or atempting to kill a member of the royal family. Penalties: death (usually after torture).

• Murder or attemted murder of a noble or lawfully appointed official. Penalties: restitution and/or death.

The following crimes concern the abuse or usurpery of some kind of privilege, obligation or right, an offence against the social order. Many of these are considered felonies; those that are not require an accusation to be brought by the offended party.

• Bearing chivalric or heraldic symbols without lawful right thereto, impersonation of a noble, usurpery of the customary or lawful rights of a noble, lack of proper respect for a person of noble birth or rank, or for a lawfully appointed official, and laying hands on such a person in a disrespectful manner or without permission. Penalties: flogging, branding, imprisonment, death by flogging.

• Any crime involving abuse of office or position including graft, embezzlement, accepting bribes, failure to properly execute customary or legal obligation, dereliction of duty, etc. Where a royal official is concerned, this is considered a felony. Penalties: loss of office, title, property and privilege, imprisonment, banishment, death by various means.

• Perjury (lying under oath) or oathbreaking, breach of contract, etc. Penalties: fine, restitution, confiscation of property, loss of privilege, title, scolding.

• Hindering an officer/noble in the performance of his duty. If other felonies are involved or if the obstructed officer is a royal official, this is deemed a felony. Penalties: fine, imprisonment, pillory, hanging.

The following crimes are tried under temple law in religious courts. Only crimes against legally recognized churches are dealt with under temple law and only after the accused has been bound overy by the secular authorities (likely after the appeal options have been exhausted). Temple courts must obtain secular consent to any death penalties. The penalties handed out by temple courts will vary from one temple to another; the church of Myra, for example, never causes any permanent harm to offenders. None of these are considered felonies; accusations must be mady by the injured party.

• Impersonation of a priest/cleric, usurpery of temple rights. Penalties: scolding, flogging, banishment, burning (at the stake), impalement.

• Disrespect for, or theft of, the property of a lawfully recognized church or the relics/artifacts of a lawful deity. Penalties: flogging, branding, mutilation, burning, impalement.

• Lack of respect for a lawfully recognized deity. Penalties: scolding, removal of the tongue.

• Denial of a lawful church’s status as arbiter of its deity’s will, denial of the authority of a temple or cleric, disputing church doctrine. Penalties: scolding, removal of the tongue, mutilation, burning, impalement.

• Unsanctioned use of the arcane. Practising magery without a Priory license, conjuring or consorting with demons, disposing of souls, casting harmful spells etc., for the purpose of unlawful personal gain. Penalties: scolding, removal of the tongue, drowning, burning.

These are generally crimes of violence against commoners. As a rule, only common folk will suffer the more severe penalties given below; a noble’s liability is usually limited to restitution in cash or kind, if that. Some are felonies, others require actions by the injured party.

• Common assault, attacking a person causing injury. Penalties: restitution, pillory, flogging.

• Sexual assault of a maiden. This is a borderline felony. Penalties: flogging, restitution, imprisonment, castration, death by stoning.

• Killing or attempting to kill a commoner without due cause or provocation. This is generally considered a felony. Penalties: death by hanging, restitution, fine, slavery to the family of the deceased, etc.

• The accidental slaying of a commoner. This is generally considered a felony. Penalties: restitution, fine, imprisonment.

• Eating or skinning human bodies. Generally deemed a felony. Penalties: death by starvation or being thrown to wild dogs, burning at the stake.

• Detention of a person against his will, without good or lawful cause. Sometimes considered a felony. Penalties: restitution, fine, imprisonment, mutilation.

• Engaged in some prescribed and immoral act such as prostitution, indecent exposure, etc. Penalties: fine, pillory, imprisonment.

• False accusation, malicious gossip, etc. Penalties: scolding, removal of the tongue, restitution, flogging.

The following are secular crimes that cause only economic harm. With some exceptions, actions must be initiated by the injured party. Most are not deemed felonies.

• Usurpery of the customary or lawful rights of a guild or guildsman, impersonating a guildsman, violation of guild monopoly. Penalties: confiscation of property, fine, restitution, banishment.

• Minor theft. Penalties: pillory, restitution, fine, flogging.

• Major theft. Generally when the amount stolen is the equivalent of 1000 golds. Penalties: pillory, restitution, fine, flogging, mutilation, hanging.

• Usually applies only to warhorses, otherwise considered a larceny. Penalties: death by hanging.

• Most serious when the act is on royal lands, when it is considered a felony. Penalties: restitution, fine, flogging, severing of the hand, banishment, death.

• Hoarding food in time of famine, violation of any rationing laws that may be in effect. Penalties: flogging, death by starvation.

• Avoiding payment of any lawful toll or tax. A felony. Penalties: restitution, fine, pillory, flogging.

• Counterfeiting coins or forging documents, possession of same, or obtaining benefits by misrepresentation. A felony, if royal privilege is involved. Penalties: fine, restitution, pillory, loss of property, privilege and office, severing of the hand, imprisonment.

• Engaged in transporting, selling, or in possession of, any proscribed or contraband good. Considered a felony. Penalties: fine, imprisonment, pillory, hanging.

• Self-explanatory. A felony. Penalties: fine, pillory, imprisonment, hanging