Does anyone know who they were? What they did?

The reference helps to disambiguate that the question is about folk moots, rather than "moot courts." A sufficient answer can be found in the Oxford English Dictionary, which is freely available to all Columbia community members online.

For the answer team, let's take a more specific object of inquiry: the "hundred courts," which have their origin in the "hundred moot." What was the hundred in Anglo-Saxon England? How was the hundred as a unit affected by Norman legislation? What were the functions of the hundred court before Edward I?

-- InbarAsif - 03 Sep 2014

A hundred in Anglo-Saxon England was an administrative unit of local government, which may have had its roots in an older institution perhaps corresponding to a unit of taxation or a group of households. The Normans found the judicial, administrative, and police aspects of the hundred to be a useful unit of government to leverage to their advantage.

What does this last sentence mean?

For example, if a Norman was found murdered in a hundred by an unknown person, then that hundred would have to pay a heavy murder fine.

What does this imply about the nature of Norman occupation?

The idea of making the entire hundred liable for undetected crimes was expanded upon for the next 500 years, including the Statute of Winchester (1285) which imposed such liability for undetected robberies.

Why 500 years?

The Assize of Clarendon (1166) required that every hundred produce 12 of the most lawful men that would swear to present any man suspected of a serious crime to the relevant authority, along with an oral account of how the prisoner was captured.

Why are you jumping back 125 years here, rather than taking matters in order? Why not explain that the institution created in 1166 remains the central accusatory system of common-law criminal justice.

The hundred court, often simply shortened to ‘hundred,’ was a court of first instance which was headed by a hundred man or the reeve. Traditionally, the hundred court met once every four weeks where it transacted its business – hunting down thieves and executing judgment on them, as well as ensuring that each member of the hundred was ‘in borh’ in what was later referred to as the ‘view of frankpledge.’

Why are you making penal matters the primary business of the hundred? Would "court" justify some explanation? If you're going to discuss presentation of Englishry, however briefly, why not discuss coroners?

The sheriffs frequently brought the hundreds under their control and by the time of Edward I, more than half of the hundreds were under private control.

Some explanation of the meaning of this detail would be useful.

(Plucknett, Concise History 87-90; Baker, Introduction to English Legal History, 7)

-- JimParks - 04 Sep 2014