But such government as existed was mainly that of the local ealdormen and the village gentry.
Marriages were practically conducted by purchase, the wife being bought by the husband from her father's family.

A relic of this custom perhaps still survives in the modern ceremony, when the father gives the bride in marriage to the bridegroom.

Polygamy was not unknown; and it was usual for men to marry their father's widows.

The wives, being part of the father's property, naturally became part of the son's heritage.
Fathers probably possessed the right of selling their children into slavery; and we know that English slaves were sold at Rome, being conveyed thither by Frisian merchants.
The artizan class, such as it was, must have been attached to the houses of the chieftains, probably in a servile position.

Pottery was manufactured of excellent but simple patterns.