Esbern 13

Esbern ‘of Fotherby’ (Lincs.), fl. 1066
Male
CPL
4 of 5

Name

Esbern
Esbern 12
Esbern 14

Summary

Esbern 13 was a small landowner in north-east Lincolnshire whose single holding of ½ carucate was worth 10 shillings.

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
Lincolnshire 22,33 Fotherby Sberne Esbern 'of Fotherby' - William de Percy Fulk fitzRainfrid 0.50 0.50 0.15 E Map
Totals

Profile

Esbern 13 had a single small estate in the vicinity of manors and sokeland belonging to Esbern 11, Esbern 12, and Esbern 15. Although they all had different successors it is conceivable that they were the same man.

General remarks applicable to Esbern 11–18. Estates ascribed to Esbern are especially thick on the ground in north Lincolnshire and present great difficulties in identification. Seventeen small or very small holdings were involved, with an average assessment of less than 1 carucate, and at their extremities situated 50 miles apart. It is inconceivable that they belonged to one man. It is also clear from the identifications of Esberns 7–10 that the name was common enough in the Danelaw for a multiplicity of Lincolnshire Esberns to be plausible.

These Lincolnshire estates were held by eight different successors in 1086. All eight had very scattered fiefs in Lincolnshire, none of which was constructed on a geographical basis, thus ruling out the possibility that the properties of a super-Esbern had been divided up for that reason.

We have judged it most likely that each of the tenants-in-chief succeeded to one distinct Esbern, but it is possible that there were fewer, especially in the 15-mile stretch of country between the Wolds and the mouth of the Humber, where the estates concerned clustered and overlapped most densely.