Haghni 2

Haghni ‘of Bedingham’ (Norf.), king’s thegn, fl. 1066
Male
CPL
4 of 5

Name

Haghni
Haghni 3

Summary

Haghni 2 was a king’s thegn, also commended to Archbishop Stigand, with six principal manors scattered across southern Norfolk. They were assessed at c. 15½ carucates and worth £20. He was also the lord of 70 sokemen and freemen in and around the same vills.

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
Norfolk 1,182 Bedingham Hagane Haghni 'of Bedingham' Edward, king William, king - 2.00 4.00 7.63 C Map
Norfolk 1,184 Shotesham - Haghni 'of Bedingham' - William, king - 0.08 0.00 0.00 C Map
Norfolk 12,42 Heckingham Hagana Haghni 'of Bedingham' Stigand, archbishop of Canterbury Godric the steward - 4.00 1.00 3.00 C Map
Norfolk 1,81 Kimberley Hakene Haghni 'of Bedingham' - William, king Godric the steward 2.00 3.00 7.00 C Map
Norfolk 1,82 Bowthorpe Hakene Haghni 'of Bedingham' - William, king Godric the steward 2.00 2.00 6.00 C Map
Norfolk 1,84 Runhall Hakene Haghni 'of Bedingham' - William, king Godric the steward 1.00 0.00 0.00 C Map
Norfolk 1,86 Swathing Hagana Haghni 'of Bedingham' - William, king Godric the steward 2.00 5.00 6.67 C Map
Norfolk 1,87 Flockthorpe Hakena Haghni 'of Bedingham' - William, king Godric the steward 2.00 5.00 10.00 C Map
Norfolk 1,87 Manson - Haghni 'of Bedingham' - William, king Godric the steward 0.25 0.00 0.00 C Map
Norfolk 1,87 Manson - Haghni 'of Bedingham' - William, king Godric the steward 0.25 0.00 0.00 C 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
Norfolk 1,182 Bedingham Hagane 3 free men Haghni, king's thegn William, king - 0.75 0.00 0.68 C Map
Norfolk 1,182 Bedingham - 6 sokemen Haghni, king's thegn William, king - 0.15 0.00 0.00 C Map
Norfolk 1,81 Kimberley Hakene 10 sokemen Haghni William, king Godric the steward 0.25 0.00 0.00 C Map
Norfolk 1,81 Carleton - 7 free men Haghni William, king Godric the steward 0.22 0.00 0.00 C Map
Norfolk 1,82 Bowthorpe - 2 sokemen Haghni William, king Godric the steward 0.03 0.00 0.00 C Map
Norfolk 1,84 Runhall - 7 free men Haghni William, king Godric the steward 0.20 0.00 0.00 C Map
Norfolk 1,86 Swathing - 5 sokemen Haghni William, king Godric the steward 0.38 0.00 0.00 C Map
Norfolk 1,86 Thustuna - 4 sokemen Haghni William, king Godric the steward 0.31 0.00 0.00 C Map
Norfolk 1,86 Thuxton - 4 sokemen Haghni William, king Godric the steward 0.31 0.00 0.00 C Map
Norfolk 1,87 Manson - 22 sokemen Haghni William, king Godric the steward 1.00 0.00 0.00 C Map
Totals

Profile

Haghni is named as a king’s thegn ‘and commended to Stigand’ (Stigand 1) (tegnus regis 7 Stigandi commendatus) at Bedingham in the densely settled, intensively farmed claylands of south-east Norfolk. Although not called a king’s thegn elsewhere, he was probably the same Haghni who held the other manors in south-east and central Norfolk described here. The nearest was 9 miles to the north-east at Heckingham, on the edge of the Yare-Waveney levels, where there is an additional link in that Haghni held Heckingham from (de) Archbishop Stigand. Heckingham and Bedingham lie 10–12 miles south-east of Norwich; Haghni’s other estates were all west of the city, Bowthorpe on its own 3 miles distant, and the rest clustered some 10 miles further west, not immediately adjoining one another but all within a radius of 5 miles and all in Forehoe hundred.

All Haghni’s manors except for Heckingham were in the king’s hands in 1086, part of the very extensive estates in all parts of the county that were administered by Godric the steward (Godric 103) (Norf. 1:71–208); the group in Forehoe comprised all the king’s manors in that hundred that were in Godric’s charge. Heckingham was in Godric’s own fief. It is unlikely that the king’s and Godric’s interest in all these manors was a coincidence, though marginally conceivable that we are dealing with three different landowners called Haghni: the king’s thegn at Bedingham and Heckingham, a second Haghni a Bowthorpe, and a third in Forehoe hundred.

On balance, though, Haghni 2 had six principal manors in south Norfolk, three of which had berewicks. Their economic structure had several points of similarity. Haghni’s manor was the largest holding in each of the vills concerned. All his manors were assessed between 2 and 4 carucates. Only Heckingham was worth outside the range £2–£5. Each had a home farm, and all except Heckingham included between two and five ploughteams worked by slaves numbering between three and six. Most had relatively modest numbers of pigs and sheep, but Flockthorpe specialized in raising goats, with one of the three largest herds in Norfolk. There was some demesne woodland and meadow on every manor. Each apart from Bedingham had a mill, and Swathing had two. There were quite large numbers of dependent peasants on the six manors, 51 villans and 43 bordars in all. In addition Haghni was the lord of 54 sokemen and 43 small free men, some of them living in vills adjoining the manorial centres. Heckingham was distinctive in having only a small arable home farm (with one plough) but marshland for 60 sheep in the levels, though the demesne flock was not itself mentioned.

Haghni’s main residence may have been at Bedingham, where DB mentions ‘1 horse at the hall’ (.i. equus in aula), evidently a different kind of animal from the rounceys (runcini) present as draught animals on most manorial demesnes in East Anglia. Bedingham was also notable in having an especially large home farm, with five ploughteams.

The case against identifying Haghni 2 elsewhere in Norfolk is based on both distance and succession. Those other manors were not held by the king and Godric the steward in 1086 but had passed instead to Earl Hugh (Haghni 3) and Roger Bigod (Haghni 4) and were located 25 and 20 miles respectively from Haghni 2’s manors in Forehoe hundred and further still from Bedingham.