Beorhtwulf 14

Beorhtwulf son of Leomær 2, fl. 1066
Male
DWP
4 of 5

Name

Beorhtwulf
Beorhtwulf 25

Summary

Beorhtwulf 14 held a number of estates in Suffolk and one in Essex TRE, with a combined assessment of 18¼ carucates and with a probable value of just under £27; he was probably also the lord of men holding a further 4¼ carucates or so in Suffolk with a value of 50s. Beorhtwulf appears to have survived the Conquest and retained these lands until his death, perhaps in the mid-1070s, after which King William (William 1) gave his Suffolk lands to the abbey of Bury St Edmunds.

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
Essex 20,75 Elmdon Lee Brictulfus Beorhtwulf son of Leomær - Eustace, count Roger de Sommery 2.50 4.00 5.00 B Map
Suffolk 14,21 Santon Downham - Beorhtwulf son of Leomær - Baldwin, abbot of Bury St Edmunds Frodo brother of Abbot Baldwin 3.00 8.00 11.00 A Map
Suffolk 14,28 Somerton - Beorhtwulf son of Leomær - Baldwin, abbot of Bury St Edmunds Frodo brother of Abbot Baldwin 1.00 2.15 2.15 A Map
Suffolk 14,5 Chevington - Beorhtwulf son of Leomær - Baldwin, abbot of Bury St Edmunds - 5.75 5.75 9.58 A Map
Suffolk 14,6 Saxham - Beorhtwulf son of Leomær - Baldwin, abbot of Bury St Edmunds - 5.00 6.00 10.00 A Map
Suffolk 14,65 Tostock - Beorhtwulf son of Leomær - Baldwin, abbot of Bury St Edmunds Frodo brother of Abbot Baldwin 1.00 1.00 1.00 A Map
Totals

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
Suffolk 14,21 Santon Downham - 9 free men Beorhtwulf son of Leomær Baldwin, abbot of Bury St Edmunds Frodo brother of Abbot Baldwin 3.00 1.75 1.75 B Map
Suffolk 14,5 Chevington - 1 sokeman Beorhtwulf son of Leomær Baldwin, abbot of Bury St Edmunds 1 sokeman 0.25 0.25 0.42 A Map
Suffolk 14,65 Tostock - 17 free men and 1 half-free man Beorhtwulf son of Leomær Baldwin, abbot of Bury St Edmunds Frodo brother of Abbot Baldwin 1.00 0.50 0.53 B Map
Totals

Profile

Beorhtwulf 14’s TRE tenure of five estates in Suffolk is obscured in DB, where the record makes it appear that the abbey of Bury St Edmunds held them then as it did in 1086. However, the actual situation is revealed not only by the DB satellite text produced by the abbey itself (FBB, at fo 33v-34r; Douglas 1932: 4-6) but also in a writ by which King William (William 1) confirmed his grant of Beorhtwulf’s estates to the abbey (Douglas 1932: 56 no.9; Bates 1998: 213 n.43). FBB specifies that William granted these estates to Abbot Baldwin (Baldwin 5) of St Edmund’s when Beorhtwulf died; and the most likely date and context for the writ seem to be c.1077, when the king was dealing with matters that had arisen since his departure from England in 1076. It may be, therefore, that Beorhtwulf’s death should be placed at about this time.

The more detailed narrative in FBB describes Beorhtwulf 14 as ‘a good man’, identifies him as the son of Leomær 2, and states that the five estates concerned were those at Chevington, Saxham, [Santon] Downham, Tostock and Somerton, all in the western half of Suffolk. Since these estates were not in the abbey’s possession TRE it is probable that the sokeman and free men that DB records as holding parts of Chevington, Downham and Tostock TRE with the power of alienation but within the commendation of St Edmund’s (which retained the sake and soke) were in fact the commended men of Beorhtwulf 14.

The extent of Beorhtwulf 14’s TRE estates in Suffolk (15¾ carucates) was clearly substantial and it is therefore reasonable to suggest that he also held the estate of the only other person of that name recorded as a TRE landholder in DB. In this instance the estate was one of 2½ hides at Elmdon Lee in north-east Essex, which lay about 23½ miles from the nearest of Beorhtwulf 14’s Suffolk estates, that at Somerton. Although the Elmdon Lee estate eventually passed to a subtenant of Count Eustace (Eustace 1) rather than forming part of King William’s grant of Beorhtwulf 14’s estates to Abbot Baldwin, it was among numerous estates appropriated by Eustace’s antecessor Ingelric after the Conquest and so the difference in successor may not be significant. On balance, it seems more likely than not that the Beorhtwulf who held Elmdon Lee TRE was the same as the man of that name with considerable estates in Suffolk, Beorhtwulf 14.

Since Beorhtwulf 14 was dead before 1086 he cannot be the same as either of the two men of that name then recorded in DB or FBB as holding very small amounts of land in Suffolk and Essex.

Bibliography


Bates 1998: Regesta Regum Anglo-Normannorum: The Acta of William I (1066-1087), ed. D. Bates (Oxford, 1998)

Douglas 1932: Feudal Documents from the Abbey of Bury St. Edmunds, ed. D. C. Douglas (London, 1932)