Also known as: wites · wited · witepenny · fine · mulct
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A historical penal fine exacted by the Crown or other authority for a serious crime such as murder.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
In a tenth-century English village, Eadric struck a neighbor during a dispute. The local reeve imposed a wite payable only by fine with no other punishment. The reeve collected payment on the spot without further process because the offense occurred in his presence.
After a tavern brawl in Anglo-Saxon England, Leofwine faced a wite. Local officials took him into custody and questioned him about the fight. They recorded his statements only after he acknowledged the penalty he might owe.
A freeman in a medieval borough refused to pay a wite imposed for declining a required public oath. The authority sought to compel his participation through the fine. Local custom later protected his choice against such compulsion.
A woman in a Norman manor challenged a wite levied for an early termination procedure. The lord claimed power to regulate the conduct through fines. The reeve examined whether the fine unduly burdened the underlying custom.
A scribe published criticism of a local lord and faced a wite for defamation. The authority demanded proof of actual harm before imposing the fine. Custom required that standard to protect open debate within the hundred court.
A kinsman sought to avoid a wite for assisting a terminally ill relative. The authority banned the conduct outright through criminal fines. The moot upheld the prohibition as consistent with historical tradition.
A wite was a monetary penalty imposed by authority for serious offenses like murder. It served as atonement through payment rather than other forms of punishment.
Supporting sources
The historical wite parallels contemporary fines that carry no incarceration risk. Authorities could still effect arrests for such offenses when committed in an officer's presence.
Supporting sources
Payment of a wite historically satisfied the authority's claim for the offense. It functioned as full emendation before harsher sanctions replaced such payments.
Supporting sources
…an abortion other than authorized by this Act is guilty of a [felony] and, upon conviction thereof, may be sentenced to pay a fine not exceeding [$1,000] or to imprisonment [in the state penitentiary] not exceeding [5 years], or both. "SECTION 3. [ Uniformity of Interpretation. ] This Act shall be construed to…