Editing Frankpledge (section)

{{Short description|System of surety in medieval England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
'''Frankpledge''' was a system of joint [[surety]]ship common in [[England]] throughout the [[Early Middle Ages]] and [[High Middle Ages]]. The essential characteristic was the compulsory sharing of responsibility among persons connected in [[tithing]]s.  This unit, under a leader known as the chief-pledge or [[tithing]]-man, was then responsible for producing any man of that tithing suspected of a crime. If the man did not appear, the entire group could be [[Amercement|fined]].<ref>Kenneth F. Duggan "The Limits of Strong Government: Attempts to Control Criminality in Thirteenth-Century England" ''Historical Research'' 93:261 (2020) pp. 402–409</ref>

While women, clergy, and the richer freemen were exempt, otherwise all men over 12 years of age were organised in the system for mutual surety.<ref>Z. Razi ed., ''Medieval Society and the Manor Court'' (1996) p. 408</ref>