No distinction was made between murder and manslaughter until these distinctions were instituted by the re-introduction of Roman law in the 12th century.
Similar to the way a payment was made to family, it was also a family or kin group responsibility to ensure the payment for the wrong committed, especially if the offender is unable to cover the cost of the offense himself. The payment was typically made to the family or to the clan. Weregild payment was an important legal mechanism in early Germanic society the other common form of legal reparation at this time was blood revenge. The weregild was codified, for example, under Frankish Salic Code. It was assessed from the guilty party, payable as restitution to the victim's family. A weregild was a defined value placed on every man graded according to rank, used as a basis of a fine or compensation for murder, disablement, injury (or certain other serious crimes) against that person.
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