Huscarl 9

Huscarl ‘of Eastrip’ (Som.), fl. 1066x1086
Male
DWP
4 of 5

Name

Huscarl
Huscarl 8
Huscarl 10

Summary

Huscarl 9 held 1 virgate in east Somerset TRE, and still held it as a king’s thegn 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
Somerset 47,24 Eastrip Huscarle Huscarl 'of Eastrip' - Huscarl, king's thegn - 0.25 0.17 0.17 D 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
Somerset 47,24 Eastrip Huscarle Huscarl 'of Eastrip' - Huscarl, king's thegn - 0.25 0.17 0.17 D Map
Totals

Profile

Huscarl 9’s estate was the smaller of two at Eastrip, lying between the River Brue and a small tributary stream in east Somerset.  He held it both TRE and in 1086, when DB listed him among the king’s thegns in Somerset and recorded a value of 40d.  No other information is forthcoming from DB beyond that he had half a plough (i.e. one with a team of just four rather than eight oxen) there to work his arable land.  However, the name ‘Huscarl’ occurs as the byname of several tenants in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries (Currie and Dunning 1999: 16-18), and it is reasonable to presume that these were the descendants of Huscarl 9.

By 1259 the estate was being held from the de Moyon honour of Dunster (ibid.) and it is possible that Huscarl 9 was the same man as Huscarl 6, the TRE holder of another tiny estate less than 30 miles away that had passed to William de Moyon (William 46) by 1086.  However, the small sizes of the two estates reduce the likelihood that both were held by the same man at this distance and the putative tenurial association is both late and tenuous, while the fact that the name Huscarl was not exceptionally rare in the late eleventh century renders it more likely than not that Huscarl 9 and Huscarl 6 were different people.

Bibliography


Currie and Dunning 1999: A History of the County of Somerset: Volume 7: Bruton, Horethorne and Norton Ferris Hundreds, ed. C. R. J. Currie and R. W. Dunning (London, 1999)