What is "frankpledge"

Friborg \Fri"borg\, Friborgh \Fri"borgh\, n. [AS. fri[eth]borh, lit., peace pledge; fri[eth] peace + borh, borg, pledge, akin to E. borrow. The first part of the word was confused with free, the last part, with borough.] (Old Eng. Law) The pledge and tithing, afterwards called by the Normans frankpledge. See Frankpledge. [Written also friburgh and fribourg.]
--Burril.

n. 1 A legal system, based on tithings, in Anglo-Saxon England, in which members were held responsible for each other's conduct 2 A member of such a tithing

Frankpledge, earlier known as frith-borh (literally "peace-pledge"), was a system of joint suretyship common in England throughout the Early Middle Ages. The essential characteristic was the compulsory sharing of responsibility among persons connected through kinship, or some other kind of tie such as an oath of fealty to a lord or knight. All men over 12 years of age were joined in groups of approximately ten households. This unit, under a leader known as the chief-pledge or tithing-man, was then responsible for producing any man of that tithing suspected of a crime. If the man did not appear, the entire group could be fined.

Frankpledge can be traced back to King Canute II the Great of Denmark and England (d. 1035), who declared that every man, serf or free, must be part of a hundred, that could put up a surety in money for his good behaviour. Frankpledge was more common in the area under the Danelaw, from Essex to Yorkshire. In the south and southwest of England, tithing was common. Frankpledge began to decline in the 14th century, and by the 15th century was superseded by local constables operating under the justices of the peace.