Legal Definitions - wapentake

A wapentake is a historical term primarily used in certain northern English counties to describe a specific type of administrative and judicial division. It served a similar purpose to a "hundred" or "ward" found in other parts of England.

Historically, the term could refer to three distinct but related concepts:

• 1. A Geographical Division: An administrative area within a county, used for purposes like taxation, military organization, and local governance.
• 2. A Local Court: The court that operated within such a geographical division, responsible for hearing local disputes and enforcing local laws.
• 3. A Court Officer: An official, often a bailiff, who worked within a wapentake court, carrying out its orders and maintaining order.

Here are some examples illustrating the historical use of "wapentake":

• Imagine a medieval land charter from the 12th century. It might describe a parcel of farmland as being "situated within the Wapentake of Strafforth in the County of Yorkshire." This precise geographical reference would be crucial for establishing ownership, assessing taxes, or determining local obligations.

  This example illustrates the wapentake as a defined geographical area, much like a modern county subdivision, used to precisely locate property for legal and administrative purposes such as land ownership records or tax assessments.

• Consider a historical record from the 14th century detailing a dispute between two villagers over a stray pig that damaged crops. The record states that the matter was brought before "the Wapentake Court of Claro," which then issued a ruling requiring one villager to compensate the other for the damage.

  Here, "Wapentake Court" refers to the local judicial body responsible for resolving minor civil disputes and enforcing local customs within its designated territory, demonstrating its function as a court.

• A historical chronicle from the 15th century might recount how "the bailiff of the Wapentake of Staincliffe" was tasked with collecting fines from merchants who had violated market regulations in a nearby town, ensuring that the court's judgments were enforced.

  This example shows the "wapentake" referring to an officer (the bailiff) associated with the court of that division, whose role was to enforce its decisions and maintain order, highlighting the human element of the system.