Rauelin 2

Rauelin ‘of Clere’ (Hants), fl. 1066x86
Male
DWP
4 of 5

Name

Rauelin

Summary

Rauelin 2 held an estate in north Hampshire TRE assessed at 3 hides and half a virgate with a value of 65s; he retained this estate in 1086, when he held it as a king’s thegn and its assessment was reduced to 2 hides.

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
Hampshire 69,42 Kingsclere Rauelin Rauelin 'of Kingsclere' - Ravelin, king's thegn - 3.13 3.25 3.25 B 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
Hampshire 69,42 Kingsclere Rauelin Rauelin 'of Kingsclere' - Ravelin, king's thegn - 3.13 3.25 3.25 B Map
Totals

Profile

Raulein 2’s estate was called Clere in DB and probably originated as a part of the great royal and hundredal manor of Kingsclere, where a minor tributary of the River Enborne rises in the North Downs of north Hampshire.  It is likely that Rauelin’s estate was at Frobury, about a mile to the north-west of the main settlement (Page 1911: 254).

Rauelin 2 survived the Conquest and in 1086 was holding his estate as a king’s thegn.  If this estate was indeed at Frobury then the fact that this was held in the mid-twelfth century as a serjeanty for being usher to the king suggests a similar role for Rauelin under King William (William 1) and perhaps also under King Edward (Edward 15) before the Conquest (Page 1911: 254; cf. Lavelle 2004: 8-11).  For a man with an apparently continental name to be the TRE holder of a moderate estate associated with a royal manor would certainly point towards this interpretation.

In 1086, the assessment of Rauelin’s estate was only 2 hides in comparison to its pre-Conquest one of 3 hides and ½ virgate, although its value of 65s remained unchanged.  It was a predominantly arable estate, with two ploughs on Rauelin’s demesne land and three for his dependent peasants, these later comprising 3 villans and 18 bordars with, presumably, their households; there were also three slaves, presumably working on the demesne.  Rauelin also had a mill that rendered 50d p.a., which means that his estate must have extended to or included as an outlier a suitable stream; the most likely would be that running through Kingsclere itself, although that running through Ecchinswell (another estate originally a part of Kingsclere) is also possible.

This was the only estate recorded in DB as being held by someone called Rauelin TRE or TRW and there is no reason to consider him in connection with any other estate or person.

Bibliography


Lavelle 2004: R. Lavelle, ‘All the king’s men? Land and royal service in eleventh-century Wessex’, Southern History 26 (2004), 1-37

Page 1911: A History of the County of Hampshire: Volume 4, ed. W. Page (London, 1911)