Reeve (England) - Anglo-Saxon England

Anglo-Saxon England

Before the Conquest, a reeve (Old English gerefa; similar the titles greve/gräfe in Low Saxon languages of Northern Germany) was an administrative officer who generally ranked lower than the ealdorman or earl. The Old English word gerefa was originally a general term, but soon acquired a more technical meaning. Different types of reeves attested before the Conquest include the high-reeve, town-reeve, port-reeve, shire-reeve (predecessor to the sheriff), reeve of the hundred and the reeve in charge of a manor. The word is often rendered in Latin by the historian Bede as prefectus and some early Anglo-Saxon charters, while West-Saxon charters prefer to reserve the term prefectus for ealdormen.

England in the early 11th century employed the services of shire reeves to assist in the detection and prevention of crimes. Groups of 10 families or "tithings" were commissioned for an early form of "neighborhood watch", and were organized into groups of 100 families or "hundreds." The hundreds were supervised by a constable. Groups of hundreds within a specific geographic area were combined to form shires and were under control of the king. The reeve of an entire shire was a Shire-reeve, predecessor to the Sheriff.