wittenagemot

witenagemote /witanagamowt/

(Spelled also uiitenagemot, wittenagemot, witanagemote, etc.) "The assembly of wise men."

This was the great national council or parliament of the Saxons in England, comprising the noblemen, high ecclesiastics, and other great thanes of the kingdom, advising and aiding the king in the general administration of government. It was the grand council of the kingdom, and was held, generally, in the open air, by public notice or particular summons, in or near some city or populous town. These notices or summonses were issued upon determination by the king's select council, or the body met without notice, when the throne was vacant, to elect a new king.

Subsequently to the Norman Conquest it was called commune concilium regni, curia regis and finally parliament; but its character had become considerably changed. It was a court of last resort, more especially for determining disputes between the king and his thanes, and, ultimately, from all inferior tribunals.

Great offenders, particularly those who were members of or might be summoned to the king's court, were here tried. The casual loss of title-deeds was supplied, and a very extensive equity jurisdiction exercised. 1 Bl. Comm. 147.

It passed out of existence with the Norman Conquest, and the subsequent Parliament was a separate growth, and not a continuation of the Witenagemot