Leofcwen 3

‘of Gislingham’ (Suffolk), fl. 1066
Female
DWP
4 of 5

Name

Leofcwen

Summary

Leofcwen 3 was a free woman who shared with two men a small holding in north Suffolk TRE assessed at 23 acres.

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 35,8 Gislingham Lefquena Leofcwen 'of Gislingham' - Aubrey de Vere Adelelm the man of Aubrey de Vere 0.06 0.08 0.08 D Map
Totals

Profile

Leofcwen 3 occurs as one of three ‘free men’ (liberi homines here including both genders) holding 23 acres at Gislingham, on higher ground between various tributary streams of the River Dove in north Suffolk. Her co-holders were Wulfmær and Leofstan, but unless the shared (but common) element Leof- in two of the names indicates a familial connection there is nothing to suggest that the three were related. The holding was given to arable farming, with one plough recorded in DB, but it is not known if the land was farmed collectively or divided into shares, equal or otherwise.

After the Conquest this little holding in Gislingham passed to a subtenant of Aubrey de Vere (Aubrey 2). Aubrey’s main antecessor in Suffolk was Wulfwine and it is possible that Wulfwine had been the tenurial or, perhaps more likely, the commended lord of Leofcwen 3 and her co-holders TRE, although in the absence of an explicit note to this effect in DB it is unwise to press speculation further.

Leofcwen 3 represents the only occurrence of this name in DB or its satellites. Von Feilitzen (1937: 311) suggested that she could be the same as Leofcwen 1, who received a bequest of 15 acres and a toft at Palgrave at some point before c.1038 (S 1527; Whitelock 1930: 68-9, 179). The proximity of Plagrave to Gislingham – they are only 5 miles apart – and the extreme rarity of the name Leofcwen makes the identification tempting. However, both holdings were small and the instances were some thirty years apart, so in the absence of further evidence the identification cannot be supported.

Bibliography


von Feilitzen 1937: Olof von Feilitzen, The Pre-Conquest Personal Names of Domesday Book, Nomina Germanica 3 (Uppsala: Almqvist and Wiksells, 1937)

Whitelock 1930: Anglo-Saxon Wills, ed. D. Whitelock (Cambridge, 1930)