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Leohtgifu 2

Name

Summary

Leohtgifu 2 was a free woman with two minute holding south-east Suffolk TRE assessed at just 2 acres and with a value in 1086 of 4d; she was commended to the abbot of Ely.

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. 21,25	Vill Ashbocking	DB Spelling Listeua	Holder 1066 Leohtgifu 'of Ash'	Lord 1066 Wulfric, abbot of Ely	Tenant-in-Chief 1086 Simeon, abbot of Ely	1086 Subtenant -	Fiscal Value 0.01	1066 Value 0.01	1086 Value 0.01	Confidence B	Map
Shire Suffolk	Phil. ref. 52,7	Vill Otley	DB Spelling Listeua	Holder 1066 Leohtgifu 'of Ash'	Lord 1066 -	Tenant-in-Chief 1086 Humphrey the chamberlain	1086 Subtenant -	Fiscal Value 0.01	1066 Value 0.01	1086 Value 0.01	Confidence C	Map
Totals								Fiscal Value	1066 Value	1086 Value

Profile

Leohtgifu 2 had a single acre that was one of the smallest of several small estates at Ashbocking, by a tributary of the River Gipping in south-east Suffolk. A woman with the same extremely rare name also held an acre at Otley, which although in a different valley was the parish immediately adjacent and to the east of Ashbocking. The rarity of the name and the close proximity of such tiny holdings far outweigh the fact that the lands went to different post-Conquest successors and it is probable that both were held TRE by Leohtgifu 2.

In both cases the DB entries describe Leohtgifu as a free woman and that for Ash also notes that she was in the commendation of the abbot of Ely, as does the corresponding entry in IE(159).  She was probably a free peasant working her little plots of land.

These are the only records of someone called Leohtgifu in DB or its satellites and even the first element of her name was extremely rare. It is therefore probably significant that the only other name featuring it in DB, that of the free man Leohtwine 2, occurs just 4 miles to the south of Leohtgifu’s holdings. This rare and shared first element in their names and their close proximity may well point to a familial connection between Leohtgifu 2 and Leofwine 2, although more evidence is needed to establish the link.