Huscarl

Male
DWP
4 of 5

Discussion of the name

Huscarl is the Anglo-Scandinavian form of a masculine name, corresponding to Old Norse *Húskarl and comprising the ON elements hús ‘house(hold)’ and karl ‘man’, originally used in England as a byname meaning ‘(Danish) retainer of a (noble) household’ and perhaps still indicating Scandinavian descent during its early use as a personal name in the eleventh century (von Feilitzen 1937: 296-7; Fellows-Jensen 1968: 146-7, 354; Insley 1982: 84; cf. Hooper 1985).

There are only 3 entries in the PASE corpus, of which Huscarl 1 is a catch-all for occurrences in DB and Huscarl 2-3 represent a Chester moneyer active 1048-66.  The name Huscarl also appears in the post-Conquest manumission records from Exeter, once as a witness and once as the person being manumitted (Pelterest 1990: 107-9 nos 112, 114), which together with the DB evidence suggests that the name may have been less rare and more socially widespread in late eleventh-century England than the PASE figures imply.

Bibliography

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

Hooper 1985: N. Hooper, ‘The housecarls in England in the eleventh century’, Anglo-Norman Studies 7 (1985), 161-76.

Pelteret 1990: David A. E. Pelteret, Catalogue of English Post-Conquest Vernacular Documents (Woodbridge: Boydell Press, 1990)

Insley 1982: J. Insley, ‘Some Scandinavian personal names from south-west England’, Namn Och Bygd 70 (1982), 77-93

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: Huscarl(e), Husgarla

Spellings in Exon:

Spellings in ICC: Huscarlus

Forms in modern scholarship:

  von Feilitzen head forms: *Húskarl

  Phillimore edition: Guard, Huscarl

  Alecto edition: Huscarl

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
Cambridgeshire 14,64 Swaffham Bulbeck Huscarl Huscarl of Swaffham Edward, king Alan, count 1 knight 0.75 0.63 1.15 A Map
Cambridgeshire 17,2 Swaffham Bulbeck - Huscarl of Swaffham Wulfric, abbot of Ely Walter Giffard Hugh de Bolbec 0.86 1.14 1.36 A Map
Gloucestershire 34,3 Clopton Huscarle Huscarl 'of Clopton' - William Goizenboded - 10.00 8.00 5.00 C Map
Norfolk 9,230 Wallington Husgarla Huscarl 'of Wallington' - Roger Bigod Hugh de Houdain 0.25 0.15 0.15 C Map
Somerset 25,6 Street Huscarl Huscarl 'of Street' - William de Moyon Roger 'the man of William de Moyon' 0.75 0.38 0.38 D Map
Somerset 47,24 Eastrip Huscarle Huscarl 'of Eastrip' - Huscarl, king's thegn - 0.25 0.17 0.17 D Map
Surrey 21,6 Abinger Huscarle Huscarl 'of Abinger' Edward, king William fitzAnsculf - 6.00 8.00 7.00 C Map
Surrey 21,7 Paddington Huscarle Huscarl 'of Abinger' Edward, king William fitzAnsculf Hugh 'the man of William fitzAnsculf' 3.00 6.75 5.25 C Map
Surrey 21,7 Paddington Huscarle Huscarl 'of Abinger' Edward, king William fitzAnsculf - 1.00 2.25 1.75 C Map
Totals

Tenant-in-Chief 1086 demesne estates (no subtenants)

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
Somerset 47,24 Eastrip Huscarle Huscarl 'of Eastrip' - Huscarl, king's thegn - 0.25 0.17 0.17 D Map
Totals

Subtenant in 1086

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
Sussex 3,5 Amberley Huscarle Æthelric, bishop of Selsey - Stigand, bishop of Chichester Huscarl 2.00 0.00 0.98 C Map
Sussex 3,5 Amberley - Æthelric, bishop of Selsey - Stigand, bishop of Chichester Huscarl 2.00 0.84 0.98 C Map
Totals