Hundred (redirected from hundredfold)

A political subdivision in old England.

Under the Saxons, each shire or county in England was divided into a number of hundreds, which were made up of ten tithings each. The tithings were groups of ten families of freeholders. The hundred was governed by a high constable and had its own local court called the Hundred Court. The most remarkable feature of the hundred was the collective responsibility of all the inhabitants for the crimes or defaults of any individual member.

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HUNDRED, Eng. law. A district of country originally comprehending one hundred families. In many cases, when an offence is committed within the hundred, the inhabitants tire civilly responsible to the party injured.
     2. This rule was probably borrowed from the nations of German origin, where it was known. Montesq. Esp. des Lois, ]iv. 30, c. 17. It was established by Clotaire, among the Franks. 11 Toull. n. 237.
     3. To make the innocent pay for the guilty, seems to be contrary to the first principles of justice, and can be justified only by necessity. In some of the United States laws have been passed making cities or counties responsible for, the destruction of property by a mob. This can be justified only on the ground that it is the interest of every one that property should be protected, and that it is for the general good such laws should exist.