Noah Webster
Folkmote
FOLKMOTE, noun
An assembly of the people, or of bishops, thanes, aldermen and freemen, to consult respecting public affairs; an annual convention of the people, answering in some measure, to a modern parliament; a word used in England before the Norman conquest, after which, the national Council was called a parliament.
But some authors allege that the folkmote was an inferior meeting or court.