Æthelmund

Male
CPL
4 of 5

Discussion of the name

Æthelmund is an Old English masculine name formed from the elements æðel ‘noble’ and mund ‘protection’. The name had been widely used in England since the eighth century, but by the end of the tenth century was perhaps becoming both less common and geographically restricted to western Mercia: the only Æthelmunds currently recorded in PASE who were active after 980 were a Gloucestershire thegn of the 970s and 980s (Æthelmund 22 and 23) and a charter witness of the 1060s (Æthelmund 24) who may have been identical with Æthelmund 33 identified below. The sparing use of the name among TRE landowners is broadly in line with that pattern.

The name was spelled in seven different ways in DB. The form Edelmundus is the clearest indication that the traditional form normalized as Æthelmund was still current (with the written letter d standing for ð). The forms Ailmundus and Æilmundus represent the way that Æthelmund was pronounced in the eleventh century.

Spellings in Almund(us) (and the variant Almunt) and Elmund(us) could in theory stand for either Æthelmund or Ealhmund, but the identification of Æthelmund 33 proposed below carries the implication that all the instances of those spellings in the west Midlands referred to him, a matter on which von Feilitzen (1937: 149 and note) was unnecessarily cautious. The instances of Almund and Almunt in Yorkshire, however, have been left as Almund, on the grounds that the name Ealhmund was certainly current in the shire in 1066.

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: Edelmundus, Æilmundus, Ailmundus, Elmund; Almund(us), Almunt and Elmund(us)

Forms in modern scholarship:

  von Feilitzen head forms: Æthelmund

  Phillimore edition: Almund, Aethelmund

  Alecto edition: Æthelmund, Almund

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
Cheshire R1,14 Smithdown Edelmundus Æthelmund 'of Smithdown' Edward, king Roger the Poitevin - 1.00 0.13 0.00 A Map
Shropshire 4,20,11 Obley Ælmund Æthelmund 'of Shropshire' - Roger, earl Picot de Sai 2.00 0.00 0.00 B Map
Shropshire 4,20,17 Westhope Elmundus Æthelmund 'of Shropshire' - Roger, earl Picot de Sai 2.00 0.75 1.25 B Map
Shropshire 4,20,3 Clunton Elmund Æthelmund 'of Shropshire' - Roger, earl Picot de Sai 1.33 2.57 0.67 B Map
Shropshire 4,20,3 Clunton Ælmund Æthelmund 'of Clunton' - Roger, earl Picot de Sai 1.33 2.57 0.67 A Map
Shropshire 4,21,18 Bouldon Elmundus Æthelmund 'of Shropshire' - Roger, earl Helgot de Fourches 1.00 0.20 0.38 B Map
Shropshire 4,21,8 Harley Elmund Æthelmund 'of Shropshire' - Roger, earl Helgot de Fourches 1.00 0.26 0.50 B Map
Shropshire 4,21,9 Belswardyne Elmundus Æthelmund 'of Shropshire' - Roger, earl Helgot de Fourches 0.50 0.50 0.20 B Map
Shropshire 4,27,17 Amaston Elmund Æthelmund 'of Shropshire' - Roger, earl Æthelmund 'of Shropshire' 1.00 0.25 0.18 B Map
Shropshire 4,27,17 Amaston Elmund Æthelmund 'of Shropshire' - Roger, earl Alweard son of Æthelmund 1.00 0.25 0.18 B Map
Shropshire 4,27,21 Wotherton Elmund Æthelmund 'of Shropshire' - Roger, earl Alweard son of Æthelmund 3.00 4.00 4.00 B Map
Shropshire 4,3,45 Munslow Aston Elmundus Æthelmund 'of Shropshire' - Roger, earl Reynold de Bailleul 8.50 3.25 2.00 B Map
Shropshire 4,3,47 Strefford Elmund Æthelmund 'of Shropshire' - Roger, earl Reynold de Bailleul 2.00 1.50 1.00 B Map
Shropshire 4,3,48 Henley Elmundus Æthelmund 'of Shropshire' - Roger, earl Reynold de Bailleul 1.00 0.60 0.60 B Map
Shropshire 4,3,63 Upton Cressett Elmundus Æthelmund 'of Shropshire' - Roger, earl Reynold de Bailleul 3.00 2.00 1.25 B Map
Shropshire 4,3,67 Fouswardine Elmund Æthelmund 'of Shropshire' - Roger, earl Reynold de Bailleul 0.50 0.80 0.50 B Map
Shropshire 4,8,1 Moreton Say Elmundus Æthelmund 'of Shropshire' - Roger, earl Roger de Lacy 3.00 2.00 1.50 B Map
Shropshire 4,8,16 Wheathill Elmundus Æthelmund 'of Shropshire' - Roger, earl Roger de Lacy 3.00 2.00 3.00 B Map
Staffordshire 8,11 Walton Grange Almundus Æthelmund 'of Shropshire' - Roger, earl Roger de Lacy 2.00 0.50 0.50 B Map
Staffordshire 8,14 Coton Almund Æthelmund 'of Shropshire' - Roger, earl Azelin 'of Colton' 2.00 1.00 1.00 B Map
Staffordshire 8,15 Colton Almundus Æthelmund 'of Shropshire' - Roger, earl Azelin 'of Colton' 1.00 2.00 2.00 B Map
Staffordshire 8,23 Tixall Elmundus Æthelmund 'of Shropshire' - Roger, earl Henry de Ferrers 0.13 0.50 0.50 B Map
Staffordshire 8,4 Cobintone Almundus Æthelmund 'of Shropshire' - Roger, earl Reynold de Bailleul 2.00 2.00 2.00 B Map
Warwickshire 12,3 Stretton-on-Dunsmore Æilmundus Æthelmund 'of Shropshire' - Roger, earl Reynold de Bailleul 5.00 3.00 6.00 B Map
Warwickshire 12,4 Wolston Æilmundus Æthelmund 'of Shropshire' - Roger, earl Reynold de Bailleul 5.00 3.00 5.00 B Map
Warwickshire 12,7 Wolston Elmund Æthelmund 'of Shropshire' - Roger, earl Reynold de Bailleul 0.25 0.25 0.25 B Map
Warwickshire 17,9 Mackadown Ailmundus Æthelmund 'of Shropshire' - Thorkil of Warwick Alnoth 'of Mackadown' 4.75 1.00 2.00 B 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
Shropshire 4,27,17 Amaston Elmund Æthelmund 'of Shropshire' - Roger, earl Æthelmund 'of Shropshire' 1.00 0.25 0.18 - Map
Totals