folkmoot

English

Alternative forms

• folkmot, folkmote

Etymology

From Old English folcġemōt (“meeting of the people of a town or district”), equivalent to folk +‎ moot.

Noun

folkmoot (plural folkmoots)

1. (historical , or later revived in general usage) A general meeting (assembly) of the people of a town, district, or shire.
   • 1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, Book IV:

     To which folke-mote they all with one consent […] Agreed to travell, and their fortunes try.

   • 1897, William Stubbs, The Constitutional History of England in Its Origin and Development, 6th edition, volume 1, page 134:

     Yet even in the seven kingdoms, even in the united kingdom, when there was a general summons to the host, some concentration of the armed folkmoots must have taken place.

   • 1919, F. J. Snell, The Customs of Old England:

     If the accused did not appear on the day named for the trial, he was outlawed at the folkmoot.

   • 1963, James Alexander Robertson, editor, The Hispanic American Historical Review, volume 8, page 463:

     Since marital, hiring, and other contracts were made in the folkmoots, it is likely that justice was administered there. Thus it may be said that the meeting -places were used for councils of war and the administration of the law.

   • 1983, Poul Anderson, Time Patrolman (fiction):

     […] slay Ermanaric in one quick, clean blow, and afterward call a folkmoot to pick a new king who shall be righteous.

   • 2003, John Hamilton Baker, The Oxford History of the Laws of England: c. 900-1216, Oxford University Press, page 819:

     The folkmoot retained various responsibilities, but most important business, including dealing with those who failed to attend the chief folkmoots, took place at the husting.

   • 2006, Constance E. Richards, Kenneth L. Richards, Insiders' Guide to North Carolina's Mountains, 8th edition, page 334:

     New Zealand Maori in grass skirts, Bavarian oompah bands, and sombrero-wearing Mexican ensembles are only a few of the multicultural treasures you might encounter at Waynesville's Folkmoot USA festival.

Related terms

• moot

See also

• thing, husting

Further reading

• Thing (assembly) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia