Legal Definitions - sake and soke

Sake and Soke is a historical legal term that describes the right of a lord or landowner to exercise judicial authority within their own territory. Specifically, it refers to the power to:

• Establish and operate a local court.
• Compel the residents of that territory to attend these courts to resolve disputes, answer accusations, or provide testimony.

Essentially, it granted a lord significant control over the legal affairs and administration of justice for the people living on their land.

Examples:

• Imagine a powerful medieval baron, Lord Ashworth, who governs a large estate. Two of his tenant farmers, John and Thomas, are in a heated dispute over the exact boundary line between their fields, which impacts their harvest. Instead of seeking justice from a distant royal court, Lord Ashworth exercises his right of sake and soke. He convenes a court in his manor hall, summons both John and Thomas to appear, hears their arguments, and ultimately issues a ruling on the boundary. This demonstrates his authority to hold court and compel his tenants to attend and abide by his judgment.

• Consider a wealthy abbot in the 12th century who, in addition to his religious duties, also holds extensive lands and has secular lordly rights. When a merchant traveling through the abbey's territory is accused by a local villager of selling faulty goods, the abbot's court, operating under the principle of sake and soke, would have jurisdiction. The abbot's bailiff would compel both the merchant and the villager to appear before the abbey's court to present their case, rather than them having to travel to a higher royal or county court.

• During the early Norman period, a local lord, Sir Reginald, discovers that one of his serfs has stolen grain from the communal granary. Rather than handing the serf over to a distant royal sheriff, Sir Reginald, exercising his sake and soke, convenes his own manorial court. He summons the accused serf, hears evidence from witnesses, and pronounces a judgment, which might involve a fine, a public shaming, or another form of punishment appropriate to the offense and the lord's jurisdiction. This illustrates the lord's power to administer justice for offenses committed within his domain and to compel the accused to face his court.