Definition
An archaic Law French term meaning a proclamation, cry, or outcry. In medieval English legal usage, *crie* referred to a formal public proclamation or the raised alarm that triggered collective community pursuit of a suspected wrongdoer. It appears most prominently in the compound phrase *crie de pays* (also rendered *cry de pais*), meaning the cry of the country — the hue and cry.
Common Language
Modern common usage (Wiktionary): Obsolete spelling of "cry."
Historical common usage (Webster's 1913): No distinct entry; treated as variant spelling of *cry*, meaning a loud utterance, call, or exclamation.
The gap between the common and legal meaning is one of formality and legal consequence. In its legal context, *crie* was not merely any outcry but a specific, recognized procedural act — a public proclamation carrying legal obligation. When a *crie de pays* was raised, bystanders were legally required to join the pursuit. The common word "cry" carries none of that compulsory legal weight.
Common Confusion
*Crie* and *cry de pais* (hue and cry) are closely related but not identical. *Crie* is the general term for proclamation or outcry; *crie de pays* or *cry de pais* is the specific institution of communal pursuit. Researchers encountering *crie* alone in a medieval source should not assume it always refers to the hue and cry specifically — it may denote any formal public proclamation.
Why It Matters in Research
*Crie* appears almost exclusively in very early English legal sources written in Law French, particularly in Britton and statutory material from the reign of Edward I. Researchers working in medieval criminal procedure, frankpledge, or communal policing will encounter the term in its original form. Because the word had no continued life in common legal usage after the decline of Law French, it rarely surfaces in post-medieval dictionaries and is easily missed or misread in manuscript and early print sources.
The primary navigational value of this entry is directional: *crie* is essentially a pointer term. It leads researchers to the substantive doctrine of hue and cry (*cry de pais*), which is the proper subject of deeper research. Finding *crie* in a source is a signal to consult entries and materials on communal policing obligations, the Statute of Winchester (1285), and Westm. 1 (1275), c. 9, which codified aspects of the hue and cry obligation.
Researchers should also note that the Law French corpus is inconsistent in spelling. *Crie*, *cry*, and *crie de pays* / *cry de pais* may appear interchangeably depending on the manuscript tradition or the editor of a printed edition. Variant spellings can cause keyword searches in digitized sources to miss relevant passages.
Historical Dictionary Support
Burrill is the primary historical dictionary source for this term, and his entry is brief but precise: *crie* means proclamation or outcry, with *crie de pays* identified as the hue and cry. He cites Britton (c. 2) for the general proclamation sense and the Statute of Westminster I, c. 9, for the hue and cry application. No broader treatment of the term's legal significance is offered, which is typical — most historical dictionaries treat *crie* as a form entry rather than a doctrine entry, routing the reader to *hue and cry* for substance. Researchers should follow that routing and not expect to find the doctrine of communal pursuit developed under this headword in any historical source.
Jurisdictional Note
*Crie* is a term of English legal history with no direct analog in other common law jurisdictions as a term of art. The underlying doctrine of hue and cry was received into American colonial law in modified forms, but the Law French vocabulary — including *crie* — did not travel with it.
Encyclopedia Cross-Reference
See Law Mind Encyclopedia: Hue and Cry; Communal Policing in Medieval English Law.