Legal Definitions - infangthief

Infangthief refers to a historical legal privilege that allowed a lord of a manor to exercise immediate justice over a thief. This power applied specifically when a thief was caught within the boundaries of the lord's own land, particularly if they were apprehended with the stolen goods in their possession. Essentially, it granted the lord the authority to try and punish such a thief without needing to involve higher royal courts or external legal systems.

Here are some examples to illustrate this concept:

• Imagine a medieval farmer, Lord Blackwood, who discovers a stranger attempting to flee his wheat fields with a sack full of freshly harvested grain. Lord Blackwood's guards apprehend the individual still on his property, with the stolen wheat clearly visible.

  This scenario illustrates infangthief because the thief was caught directly on Lord Blackwood's land, in possession of the stolen goods. Under this privilege, Lord Blackwood would have the authority to immediately try and sentence the thief, rather than sending them to a distant royal court.

• Lady Eleanor, the owner of a vast estate with a protected deer park, has her gamekeepers patrol the woods. One evening, they catch a poacher red-handed, carrying a freshly killed deer that was clearly taken from Lady Eleanor's forest, still within the estate's boundaries.

  Here, the poacher is apprehended on Lady Eleanor's land with the "plunder" (the deer) from her property. The privilege of infangthief would allow Lady Eleanor to administer justice to the poacher herself, reflecting her direct jurisdiction over crimes committed and discovered within her domain.

• During a bustling market held annually on the grounds of Baron von Richter's castle, a merchant catches a pickpocket attempting to steal coins from his stall. The pickpocket is immediately seized by the Baron's watchmen, still within the castle's outer bailey.

  Even though the theft was from a merchant, it occurred on Baron von Richter's land (the castle grounds). The immediate apprehension of the thief within the Baron's jurisdiction, potentially with the stolen coins, would invoke the infangthief privilege, allowing the Baron to deal with the matter directly and swiftly.