Topi 7
Topi ‘of Hobbestuna’ (Suff.), fl. 1066
Male
DWP
4 of 5
Summary
Topi 7 was a sokeman with a tiny holding in south-east Suffolk TRE assessed at 15 acres and with a value of 3s; he was a dependent tenant of the abbot of Ely Abbey, to whom he was also commended and owed soke.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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Suffolk | 32,30 | Hobbestuna | Topi | Topi 'of Hobbestuna' | Wulfric, abbot of Ely | Geoffrey de Mandeville | William fitzSaxwalo de Bouville | 0.13 | 0.15 | 0.15 | B | Map |
| Totals | ||||||||||||
Profile
Topi 7’s tiny holding was at Hobbestuna, elsewhere spelled Hopestuna in DB and IE, which lay in Carlford Hundred in south-east Suffolk but which has not yet been identified precisely. In DB and IE(145) his holding given as 15 acres whereas in IE(186) it is put at 16 acres; the former figure is adopted here.Topi 7 was entirely the man of the abbot of Ely Abbey, although this is not immediately apparent from the DB entry that records simply that he was a sokeman ‘commended to St Æthelthryth’, the abbey’s patron saint. At the end of the following entry, however, is a note that ‘St Æthelthryth has the whole soke of the hundred’ while the entry for Topi’s land in IE(146) states that he ‘could not sell his land’. It is therefore apparent that Topi was not only in the commendation of the abbey but was also one of its dependent tenants and owed his soke to it.
Topi 7’s holding was very small and lay nearly 50 miles from any other attributed to a holder of that name in DB, none of whom had the same TRE lord or TRW successor as him. Despite the extreme rarity of the name, therefore, there is no reason to identify Topi 7 with anyone else.