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Bisi

Discussion of the name

Bisi is an Old Norse or Old Danish masculine name that probably originated as a byname meaning ‘leader, commander’ (von Feilitzen 1937: 202; Petersen 2007: s.n. Bisi).  Palmer et al. (2002: DB Lincs. 56,18 Note) suggest confusion between the names Besi, Bisi and Bosi in DB but this impression is created by two variant forms referring to Bisi 3: a single Besi form that may represent a recognized scribal variation of ‘e’ for ‘i' (cf. Fellows Jensen 1968: lxxiii) and a single Bosi form that is best interpreted as a scribal error.  That all forms have final ‘i’ in DB precludes confusion with the earlier Old English name Bisi, which would have become *Bise after c.800 (von Feilitzen 1937: 71).

The only entries in the PASE corpus are for Bisi 1, a late seventh-century bishop of the East Angles (and representing the earlier Old English name), and Bisi 2, a catch-all for occurrences of the Scandinavian name in DB.

Bibliography

Fellows Jensen 1968: Gillian Fellows Jensen, Scandinavian Personal Names in Lincolnshire and Yorkshire (Copenhagen: I Kommission hos Akademisk Forlag, 1968)

Palmer et al. 2002: J. Palmer, F. Thorn and C. Thorn, and N. Hodgson, Electronic Edition of Domesday Book: Translation, Databases and Scholarly Commentary, 1086, 2nd edn (2002), currently published online by the UK Data Service https://discover.ukdataservice.ac.uk/catalogue?sn=5694

L. Peterson, Nordiskt Runnamnslexikon, Institutet för språk och folkminnen (Uppsala, 2007), s.n. Bisi.

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: Besi, Bisi, Bosi

Forms in modern scholarship:

  von Feilitzen head forms: Bisi  (some forms under Besi, Bósi)

  Phillimore edition: Bisi  (some forms under Besi, Bósi)

  Alecto edition: Bisi  (some forms under Besi, Bósi)

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 Berkshire	Phil. ref. 33,8	Vill Eaton	DB Spelling Bosi	Holder 1066 Bisi 'of Calverton'	Lord 1066 Edward, king	Tenant-in-Chief 1086 Miles Crispin	1086 Subtenant Alfred nephew of Wigot	Fiscal Value 5.00	1066 Value 3.00	1086 Value 3.50	Confidence C	Map
Shire Buckinghamshire	Phil. ref. 23,32	Vill Stantonbury	DB Spelling Bisi	Holder 1066 Bisi 'of Calverton'	Lord 1066 Edward, king	Tenant-in-Chief 1086 Miles Crispin	1086 Subtenant Ralph 'the man of Miles Crispin'	Fiscal Value 5.00	1066 Value 6.00	1086 Value 6.00	Confidence C	Map
Shire Buckinghamshire	Phil. ref. 26,8	Vill Calverton	DB Spelling -	Holder 1066 Bisi 'of Calverton'	Lord 1066 Edward, king	Tenant-in-Chief 1086 Hugh de Bolbec	1086 Subtenant -	Fiscal Value 8.00	1066 Value 9.60	1086 Value 8.00	Confidence C	Map
Shire Oxfordshire	Phil. ref. 35,19	Vill Upper Heyford	DB Spelling Besi	Holder 1066 Bisi 'of Calverton'	Lord 1066 -	Tenant-in-Chief 1086 Miles Crispin	1086 Subtenant Ralph 'the man of Miles Crispin'	Fiscal Value 5.00	1066 Value 6.00	1086 Value 6.00	Confidence C	Map
Totals								Fiscal Value	1066 Value	1086 Value

Lord 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 Buckinghamshire	Phil. ref. 17,21	Vill Great Linford	DB Spelling Bisi	Holder 1066 Grimbald 'of Great Linford'	Lord 1066 Bisi	Tenant-in-Chief 1086 William fitzAnsculf	1086 Subtenant Robert 'the man of William fitzAnsculf'	Fiscal Value 0.25	1066 Value 0.10	1086 Value 0.10	Confidence C	Map
Totals								Fiscal Value	1066 Value	1086 Value

People of this name

• Bisi 3 - Bisi ‘of Calverton’ (Bucks.), fl. 1066