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Leofsidu 4

Name

Summary

Leofsidu 4 was a free woman with a small holding in north Suffolk TRE assessed at only 30 acres and that she probably held as a dependent tenant of the abbey of Bury St Edmunds; she remained as a sub-subtenant on this holding in 1086, when it had a value of 32d.

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
Shire Suffolk	Phil. ref. 14,138	Vill Oakley	DB Spelling Leuseda	Holder 1066 Leofsidu 'of Oakley'	Lord 1066 Baldwin, abbot of Bury St Edmunds	Tenant-in-Chief 1086 Baldwin, abbot of Bury St Edmunds	1086 Subtenant Jocelin the lorimer	Fiscal Value 0.25	1066 Value 0.13	1086 Value 0.13	Confidence B	Map
Totals								Fiscal Value	1066 Value	1086 Value

Sub-subtenant in 1086

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
Shire Suffolk	Phil. ref. 14,138	Vill Oakley	DB Spelling Leuseda	Holder 1066 Leofsidu 'of Oakley'	Lord 1066 Baldwin, abbot of Bury St Edmunds	Tenant-in-Chief 1086 Baldwin, abbot of Bury St Edmunds	1086 Subtenant Jocelin the lorimer	Fiscal Value 0.25	1066 Value 0.13	1086 Value 0.13	Confidence B	Map
Totals								Fiscal Value	1066 Value	1086 Value

Profile

Leofsidu 4’s small holding was at Oakley, by the confluence of the rivers Dove and Waveney in north Suffolk. In 1086 she was a free woman who held her land under Joscelin, himself a subtenant of the abbey of Bury St Edmunds. DB does not state explicitly that she held this land TRE as well as in 1086 but that is the clear implication of the tense and statement that she had not been able to ‘sell or give’ her land. This lack of the power of alienation indicates that she was a dependent tenant TRE; the simplest interpretation is that her tenurial lord was the abbey and that her 30 acres formed part of a hide that the abbey had at Oakley, the other 90 acres being held from the abbey by Goding the reeve TRE.

In 1086, Leofsidu’s estate had a population of three cottars and their households and seems to have practiced a mixed agriculture, there being enough arable land for half a plough-team, 2 acres of meadow and sufficient woodland to provide forage for four pigs.

Leofsidu’s holding was too small and, at about 150 miles distant, too far removed from that of Leofsidu 3 for any connection between them to be considered.