So little is known of the laws which governed this country before the Saxon domination that all serious study of English Law must commence at that period. The temporal and spiritual jurisdictions appear to have been distinct, although the judges representing the two sections sat together in the county or in the hundred court. The matters presided over by the heads of the Church were those concerning which the clergy, by virtue of their office, might be expected to exercise a more fitting control than their secular brothers, and included tithes, as such were paid to churchmen.
