Constable 06
Constable 06 : Historical Usage: (5) United Kingdom: See also: Lord High Constable (disambiguation) and Parish constable. The office of the constable was introduced in England following the Norman Conquest of 1066 and was responsible for the keeping and maintenance of the king's armaments and those of the villages as a measure of protecting individual settlements throughout the country. The office of Lord High Constable, one of the Great Officers of State, was established in the kingdoms of England and Scotland during the reigns of King Stephen (1135-1154) and King David (1124-1154) respectively, and was responsible for the command of the army. The term was also used at the local level within the feudal system however, describing an officer appointed to keep order. One of the first descriptions of the legal role of a constable comes from Bracton, a jurist writing between 1220 and 1250: In whatever way they come and on whatever day, it is the duty of the constable to enroll everything in order, for he has record as to the things he sees; but he cannot judge, because there is no judgment at the Tower, since there the third element of a judicial proceeding is lacking, namely a judge and jurisdiction. He has record as to matters of fact, not matters of judgment and law. In Bracton's time, anyone seeing a "misdeed" was empowered to make an arrest, whether or not they were a constable. The role of the constable in Bracton's description was as the "eyes and ears" of the court, finding evidence and recording facts on which judges could make a ruling. By extension, the constable was also the "strong arm" of the court (i. e. , of the common law), marking the basic role of the constable that continues into the present-day. In 1285, King Edward I of England passed the Statute of Winchester, which "constituted two constables in every hundred to prevent defaults in towns and highways"
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