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Sweting 8

Name

Summary

Sweting 8 was one of eight free men holding a tiny estate in south-east Suffolk TRE assessed at only 57 acres; the TRE value is unknown but in 1086 it was 10s.

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. 7,98	Vill Falkenham	DB Spelling Suetingus	Holder 1066 Sweting 'of Falkenham'	Lord 1066 Northmann the sheriff	Tenant-in-Chief 1086 Roger Bigod	1086 Subtenant -	Fiscal Value 0.06	1066 Value 0.06	1086 Value 0.06	Confidence B	Map
Totals								Fiscal Value	1066 Value	1086 Value

Profile

Sweting 8 was one of eight men sharing a tiny holding with three plough-teams at Falkenham, on ground rising above the marshes and creeks along the River Deben and among numerous such shared estates on the Colneis peninsula in south-east Suffolk. How the holding was divided between the eight men is unknown; but an equal division would have seen Sweting with about 7¹/₈ acres worth perhaps 1s 3d in 1086 and probably something similar TRE.

DB notes that Sweting and his co-holders were in the commendation of Northmann, sometime sheriff of Suffolk who was still alive in 1086 and apparently closely associated with his Norman successor Roger Bigod (Roger 6) (Wareham 2005: 146-9). It also describes them as ‘7½ free men’. This ‘half free man’ could refer to Sweting, because unlike his co-holders who are simply listed in DB his name is followed by the comment that ‘Roger was seised of Sweting’ (de isto sueting fuit R saisitus). Quite what had happened here is not entirely clear, but it does imply that Sweting was still alive when Roger acquired the Falkenham estate.

Although Sweting 8’s name was rare his estate was too small and too isolated to provide any reason to consider him in connection with any other person of that name TRE or TRW.

Bibliography

Wareham 2005: A. Wareham, Lords and Communities in Early Medieval East Anglia (Woodbridge, 2005)