Backberend and handhabendIn Anglo-Saxon law, backberend (also spelled backberende or back-berande) and handhabend (also spelled hand-habend or hand-habende) were terms applied to a thief who was found having the stolen goods in his possession.[1] The terms are respectively derived from "bearing [a thing] upon the back" and "having [a thing] in the hand".[2][3] The thief himself was a hontfongenethef, meaning "a thief taken with handhabend"; i.e., captured while holding the stolen item in his hand, later described as "red-handed".[4] By extension, handhabend and backberend also means the jurisdiction to try a thief caught with the property in question.[4] A thief so caught could be given a trial of a more summary nature.[5] Almost any theft could be a felony, and the death penalty might be applied.[4] References
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