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Witan   Listen
noun
Witan  n. pl.  Lit., wise men; specif. (A.-S. Hist.), The members of the national, or king's, council which sat to assist the king in administrative and judicial matters; also, the council.






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Witan" Quotes from Famous Books



... THE CONQUEST.—In the year 1066 Edward the Confessor died, in whose person, it will be recalled, the old English line was restored after the Danish usurpation (see p. 412). Immediately the Witan, that is, the assembly of the chief men of the nation, in accordance with the dying wish of the king, chose Harold, Earl of the West Saxons, son of the famous Godwin, and the best and strongest man in all England, to ...
— A General History for Colleges and High Schools • P. V. N. Myers

... the "town-meeting" and of popular government. In the "witan," or "wise men," who were chosen as advisers and adjusters of difficult questions, exist the future legislature and judiciary, while in the king, or "alder-mann" ("Ealdorman") we see not an oppressor, but one who by superior age and experience is fitted ...
— The Evolution of an Empire • Mary Parmele



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