Legal Definitions - shire-gerefa

Definition: A shire-gerefa is a historical term that refers to the reeve of a shire. The shire-reeve was a high-ranking ministerial officer who had local jurisdiction and served as the chief magistrate of a hundred. The reeve executed process, kept the peace, and enforced the law by holding court within the hundred. The shire-gerefa was also a minor officer serving the Crown at the hundred level, such as a bailiff or deputy-sheriff. Additionally, the shire-gerefa could be an overseer of a manor, parish, or the like.

Examples: In Anglo-Saxon times, the reeve was an independent official, and the hundred-moot was not a preliminary stage to the shire-moot at all. However, after the Conquest, the hundred assembly lost its importance very quickly. Pleas of land were taken from it, and its criminal jurisdiction limited to one of holding suspects in temporary detention. The reeve of the hundred became the deputy of the sheriff, and the chief purpose of holding the hundred court was to enable the sheriff to hold his tourn and to permit a ‘view of frankpledge,’ i.e., an inspection of the person who ought to belong to the frankpledge system.

Another example is the borough reeve, who was the head of an unincorporatedmunicipality in England.

Explanation: The examples illustrate how the role of the shire-gerefa evolved over time and how it was related to other historical terms such as the hundred-moot, the sheriff, and the frankpledge system. The examples also show how the shire-gerefa was a significant figure in local governance and law enforcement in medieval England.