Arthur William Holland

“ Freeman advances the theory that the right of all the freemen to attend the gemót had for practical purposes fallen into disuse, and thus the assembly had come to be confined to the wise men. In other words, the folkmoot had become the witan. Evidence in support of this view is sought for in the accounts in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and elsewhere, where the decisions of the witan were received with loud expressions of approval or of disapproval by an assembled crowd, and it is argued that this is a survival from an earlier age, when all the freemen attended the witan. ”

“ As the number of kings decreased the number of witans decreased, until early in the 9th century there was one king and one witan in all England.
The power of the witan varied according to the personality of the reigning king, being considerable under a weak ruler, but inconsiderable under a strong one. ”

“ The contrary opinion, that the two assemblies were distinct, is held, although with characteristic caution, by Stubbs (Const. Hist. vol. i.) . He thinks that on the union of the kingdoms the witans were merged into one another, while the folkmoot became the shiremoot. ”