Obs. exc. Hist. Also 1 frith-, frythstól, 7 freedstool, 9 fridstool. [OE., f. frið, FRITH sb.1 + stól chair, seat: see STOOL.] a. OE. only. A place of safety; a refuge. b. A seat, usually of stone, formerly placed near the altar in some churches, which afforded inviolable protection to those who sought privilege of sanctuary.
c. 1000. Ags. Ps. (Th.), lxxxix. 1. Þu eart frið-stol us fæste, Drihten.
a. 1016. Laws of Ethelred, VII. c. 16. And ȝif forworht man frið-stol ȝesece.
1610. Holland, Camden’s Brit., I. 712. This seat of Stone is called Freedstooll, that is, The chaire of Peace, unto which what Offender soever flieth and commeth, hath all manner of security.
1662. Ray, Three Itin., II. 137. At the upper end of the choir, on the right side of the altar stands the Freed stool.
1829. G. Poulson, Beverley, 687. The Fridstool is … hewn out of a solid stone, with a hollow back.
1871. Freeman, Norm. Conq. (1876), IV. xviii. 288. The people of the whole neighbourhood had taken shelter with all their precious things in the inviolable sanctuary which was afforded by the frithstool of the saint.
