Note 20 — A DISCOURSE concerning the LAWS and GOVERNMENT of ENGLAND.
Reading edition
It is a very curious fact, that even some of the Anglo-Saxon nobles had all the prerogatives of earls-palatine. Alfred, we are told, put to death one of his judges for having passed sentence on a malefactor for an offence which had been committed where the king’s writ did not pass. Mirroire de Justices, ch. v. And in Selden we meet with earls who had entirely the civil and criminal jurisdiction in their own territories. Tit. Hon. part 2. ch. v. If there were no other proofs than these, they would be sufficient to evince the reality of fiefs among the Anglo-Saxons.