† wergeldthief O.E. Law. Obs.
Forms: 1 werᵹeldtheof (-ᵹild-), 3 weregelt thef; 3–5 wer(e)gelthef (4 wergiltif, 5 werkelthef).
[OE., f. prec. + þéof thief.]
A thief or other criminal whose ‘wergeld’ was paid as a satisfaction for his crime; also ellipt. jurisdiction over a thief of this description.
| c 690 Laws Ine §72 Ᵹif mon werᵹildðeof ᵹefehð. 781 in Birch Cartul. Sax. I. 334 Nec etiam fures illos quos Saxonice dicimus uuerȝeldtheouas alicui foras reddant. 1235 in Cal. Charter Rolls (1903) I. 208 [With] soc and sac,..infangenthef, utfangenthef, wergeldthef, hamsocn [etc.]. c 1290 Fleta i. xlvii. (1647) 62 Weregelt thef, latronem qui redimi potest. 13.. Higden Polychron. (Rolls) II. 94 De quibus [legibus] nonnulla vocabula adhuc frequentata. hic inserere dignum duxi:..Wergelthef, id est, solte de laroun eschape. c 1437 John Brompton in Twysden Hist. Angl. Script. (1652) 957 Weregelthef est solutio latronis evasi, i. soute de latrone eschape. |