Cynewine 5

Cynewine ‘of Codsall’ (Staffs.), fl. 1066x1086
Male
DWP
4 of 5

Name

Cynewine
Cynewine 4

Summary

Cynewine 5 had an estate in south-west Staffordshire TRE, assessed at 3 hides but with no value given in DB. He survived the Conquest and was still holding his estate in 1086, by which time he was regarded as a king’s thegn.

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
Staffordshire 17,1 Codsall Chenvin Cynewine 'of Codsall' - Cynewine, king's thegn - 3.00 0.00 0.00 A 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
Staffordshire 17,1 Codsall Chenvin Cynewine 'of Codsall' - Cynewine, king's thegn - 3.00 0.00 0.00 A Map
Totals

Profile

Cynewine 5’s estate was at Codsall, on a low hill between branches of the River Penk in south-east Staffordshire. He retained this estate after the Conquest and by 1086 was regarded as a king’s thegn; indeed, he was the first-named in DB among the king’s thegns in Staffordshire, although it is not possible to say if he had held similar status before the Conquest.

The scant details in the DB entry for Codsall suggest that the estate was not intensively farmed in 1086, because although there was estimated to be land for three ploughs only two were present, in the hands of the six villans and their households who constituted Cynewine’s dependant peasants.

DB gives no value for Cynewine’s estate, either TRE or in 1086. There is, however, a note that he and two other king’s thegns paid 12s p.a. to the sheriff; and if this sum were divided in proportion to the ploughlands on each estate then Cynewine’s share of the payment would be 6s. Although not too much can be built on such evidence, there is a distinct impression that Cynewine 5 may have been a survivor but he was not prosperous.