Toxus 1

Toxus the priest, fl. 1066x1086
Male
DWP
4 of 5

Name

Toxus

Summary

Toxus 1 was a priest with land on the Dorset coast TRE that did not pay geld; he claimed to hold under King Edward (Edward 15), and was still alive and pressing his claim in 1086.

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
Dorset 34,8 Swyre Toxus Toxus the priest Edward, king William d'Eu William Belet 0.00 0.00 0.00 C Map
Totals

Profile

Toxus 1’s holding was a part of Swyre, in a cleft valley rising from Chesil Beach on the Dorset coast. The main manor at Swyre had been held by Tholf 2 TRE; but after that entry DB records the details of a piece of land there that had not paid geld TRE and had been part of King Edward’s (Edward 15) demesne and farm. It states that a king’s reeve had leased it to Toxus but then taken it back into the king’s hand; Toxus claimed that that the king had subsequently granted it back to him and that Toxus had held it for the remainder of Edward’s reign and that of Earl Harold (Harold 3). Although there is no evidence to suggest that Toxus was successful in (re)establishing his claim to this land, he was clearly still alive at the time of the inquest in 1086.

At the first mention of Toxus in this short narrative, his name is written partly over an erasure and is followed by a superscript ‘p’ and perhaps ‘r’, the simplest interpretation being that this is an abbreviation for presbiter and that Toxus was a priest (Thorn and Thorn 1983: DB 34,8 Notes). What he was the priest of, and whether he was in royal service, must remain open questions, however.

Bibliography


Thorn and Thorn 1983: Domesday Book 7: Dorset, ed. C. Thorn and F. Thorn (Chichester, 1983)