Anglo-Saxon law.

Anglo-Saxon law refers to the body of written rules and legal customs used in Britain during the Anglo-Saxon period, a timeframe lasting from about the fifth century to the late eleventh century. Anglo-Saxon law originated in the legal traditions of the Germanic tribes that populated Britain after the fall of the Roman Empire. With no central policing authority, laws were mainly enforced at the local level. While severe crimes could be punished with death or slavery, many punishments involved highly regulated forms of restitution. Court proceedings often relied on the swearing of oaths, and guilt was sometimes determined by means considered barbaric by modern standards. Anglo-Saxon legal traditions were mostly swept away after the Normans conquered Britain in 1066, although some traces survived in English common law and were later adapted by the American colonies.