Status Updates From Domesday Book: A Complete T...

Highlights: Occupations/Classes

Thegn - Saxon nobility
Free men
Knights
Clerks - churchmen of some type
Priests
Falconer
Burges - townsman
Earl
Countess
King
Villan - upper class peasant
Cottar - unknown class peasant
Border - lower class peasant
Slave - are these the same as “slaves” we think of?

Highlights:
The biggest difference between Kent and Sussex seems to be the value of land from TRE and the current day. Kent’s properties seemed to have increased in value from TRE, whereas Sussex’s seemed to decrease or remain the same. Perhaps because of the battles fought there?
(Of course there were exceptions to both rules, but this is the pattern I’ve noted for the majority.)

Highlights:
More mentions of women holding/who held land. Even some mentions of women leasing the land to men, so basically being their landlord. Countess Gode and Queen Edith are the best examples; both Saxon. There are current ladies holding land, though it doesn’t seem as common as in Saxon run England.

Highlights:
Got distracted looking up names… seriously, if anyone wants unique names for their characters/kids, just read a few pages of this. Scattered amid the Roberts, Williams, and Ralphs, you’ll find some really unique ones!

Highlight: FINISHED KENT’S SECTION!

“…a certain woman holds of Hugh 1 virgate…”
“Sidgar held it of Queen Edith…”
Both of these are interesting incites into women’s rights, and I think they show that, although far from equality, medieval women DID have more rights than first thought. Both these women held land, clearly in their own rights, and presumably they weren’t widows (as widows have been mentioned elsewhere)

Highlights:
“Turstin Tinel and his wife hold…” *gasp* Doth I see a WOMAN holding LAND?? Thus far I have not seen this. This is quite enlightening.

Reading the same names made me wonder how hard council meetings were… “Robert, what do you think of this?”
*10 Roberts stand up*
Then I realized it shows exactly how they fixed the problem:
Hugh de Montfort… Hugh, nephew of Herbert. (Imagine being known by THAT!)

Highlights: Medieval Names!

Adam
Adelold
Alfred
Alvred
Alweard
Alwine
Ansfrid
Ansgot
Ansketil
Ælfric
Æthelnoth
Baldric
Bernard
Dudemann
Edith
Edward
Edwin
Esbiorn
Eudo
Fulbert
Geoffrey
Godric
Godwine
Gothild
Hamo
Herbert
Hugh
Karli
Leofgifu
Leofnoth
Leofwine
Northmann
Odo
Osbern
Osweard
Ralph
Ranulph
Richard
Robert
Sigeræd
Stigand
Thorgisl
Toli
Turstin
Vitalis
Walter
Wesman
William
Wulfgeat
Wulfric
Wulfsige
Wulfwine

Highlights:

Richard of Tonbridge holds a lot… I need to find out who this guy is.

“…2 brothers, Godwine and Alweard, held this land of the king as 2 manors.” Always love to see brotherly pairs, even in a non-fiction census!

“Hugh, nephew of Herbert…” I’m glad to know he’s Herbert’s nephew, but WHO’S HERBERT??

Highlights:
“Of the king’s woodland, Wadard…holds half a dene…and Æthelnoth Cild took 2 parts [of a dene] away from a certain villan by force.”
Okay WHAT HAPPENED?? I wanna know how this guy took away this dene “by force” like, did he kill the poor villan?
Also…
“Of this manor, William the steward holds… Geoffrey holds… Farman holds… a certain FrEnCHMaN holds…”
Like, can we get the guy’s name?? FRENCHMAN?? XD XD

Haha, this is going to take me at least a year, probably more to get through, but hey, every little bit counts. It’s also helpful to learn some old medieval terminology, which is interesting, and amounts of money paid and certain fine amounts.

Starting on Kent!

Some interesting terminology thus far:
TRE - time of King Edward (the Confessor)
By Tale - payments made by counting coins, not weighing them.

Never possible to read it all, but the wealth of 11th century occurrences and hopes for connecting to my Ancestry is fascinating reading.