PASE

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Blæc

Gender: Male

Author: CPL

Editorial Status: 4 of 5

Discussion of the name

The masculine Old English name Blæc is not recorded before DB, where it appears both as a true forename and more frequently as a byname (von Feilitzen 1937: 203). The spellings Blac and Blach serve to distinguish this, the strong form of the name, from the weak form Blaca (Blache). Although the simplest of scribal errors would have confused the two names, in practice there is no possibility of mixing up the TRE landowners called Blæc and Blaca. Another instance of Blac, however, represents the equivalent Scandinavian name (ON Blakkr), usually in DB spelled Blacre (Blacher).

The adjective which forms the name was almost certainly OE blæc (‘black, dark’), referring in a byname principally to hair colour, rather than OE blāc (‘bright, shining; pale’) (von Feilitzen 1937: 203).

Bibliography

von Feilitzen 1937: Olof von Feilitzen, The Pre-Conquest Personal Names of Domesday Book, Nomina Germanica 3 (Uppsala: Almqvist and Wiksells, 1937)

Forms of the name

Spellings in Domesday Book: Blac, Blach

Forms in modern scholarship:

von Feilitzen head forms: Blæc

Phillimore edition: Black

Alecto edition: Blæc

Distribution map of property and lordships associated with this name in DB

List of property and lordships associated with this name in DB

Holder 1066

Shire	Phil. ref.	Vill	DB Spelling	Holder 1066	Lord 1066	Tenant-in-Chief 1086	1086 Subtenant	Fiscal Value	1066 Value	1086 Value	Conf.	Show on Map
Shire Bedfordshire	Phil. ref. 17,6	Vill Easton	DB Spelling Blach	Holder 1066 Blæc 'of Easton'	Lord 1066 Augi	Tenant-in-Chief 1086 William de Warenne	1086 Subtenant -	Fiscal Value 0.25	1066 Value 0.15	1086 Value 0.10	Confidence A	Map
Shire Sussex	Phil. ref. 9,4	Vill Ninfield	DB Spelling Blac	Holder 1066 Blæc 'of Ninfield'	Lord 1066 Edward, king	Tenant-in-Chief 1086 Robert, count of Eu	1086 Subtenant -	Fiscal Value 0.79	1066 Value 1.58	1086 Value 1.38	Confidence A	Map
Shire Sussex	Phil. ref. 9,4	Vill Ninfield	DB Spelling Blac	Holder 1066 Blæc 'of Ninfield'	Lord 1066 Edward, king	Tenant-in-Chief 1086 Robert, count of Eu	1086 Subtenant Robert the cook	Fiscal Value 0.32	1066 Value 0.63	1086 Value 0.55	Confidence A	Map
Shire Sussex	Phil. ref. 9,4	Vill Ninfield	DB Spelling Blac	Holder 1066 Blæc 'of Ninfield'	Lord 1066 Edward, king	Tenant-in-Chief 1086 Robert, count of Eu	1086 Subtenant Osbern fitzGeoffrey	Fiscal Value 0.47	1066 Value 0.95	1086 Value 0.83	Confidence A	Map
Shire Sussex	Phil. ref. 9,4	Vill Ninfield	DB Spelling Blac	Holder 1066 Blæc 'of Ninfield'	Lord 1066 Edward, king	Tenant-in-Chief 1086 Robert, count of Eu	1086 Subtenant Werenc 'of Ninfield'	Fiscal Value 0.32	1066 Value 0.63	1086 Value 0.55	Confidence A	Map
Shire Sussex	Phil. ref. 9,4	Vill Ninfield	DB Spelling Blac	Holder 1066 Blæc 'of Ninfield'	Lord 1066 Edward, king	Tenant-in-Chief 1086 Robert, count of Eu	1086 Subtenant Reinbert	Fiscal Value 1.11	1066 Value 2.21	1086 Value 1.93	Confidence A	Map
Totals								Fiscal Value	1066 Value	1086 Value