Page "Earl" Paragraph 11

In Anglo-Saxon England, earls had authority over their own regions and right of judgment in provincial courts, as delegated by the king.

They collected fines and taxes and in return received a " third penny ", one-third of the money they collected.

In wartime they led the king's armies.

Some shires were grouped together into larger units known as earldoms, headed by an ealdorman or earl.

Under Edward the Confessor earldoms like Wessex, Mercia, East Anglia and Northumbria — names that represented earlier independent kingdoms — were much larger than any shire.