Final answer:
The correct answer is a) Wergild. This was the payment required by early Germanic law to compensate the family of the injured or killed person, reflective of the person's social status.
Step-by-step explanation:
Under early Germanic law, a wrongdoer had to pay wergild, or "money for a man," to the family of the person he or she had injured or killed. The correct answer to the question is option a) Wergild. This system was devised to limit the cycles of violence by ensuring that any injury or death was compensated for, taking into consideration the social status of the person injured or killed. For instance, a chieftain or a warrior had a higher wergild compared to other members of society. This concept underpinned the Germanic legal system, which was distinct from the Roman legal traditions that existed at the time.