Ælfheah 72

Ælfheah ‘of Normanton’ (Derbs.), fl. 1066
Male
DWP
4 of 5

Name

Ælfheah
Ælfheah 71
Ælfheah 73

Summary

(Unknown Person) had four small estates in west Nottinghamshire and east Derbyshire TRE; three had co-holders, but if these are divided proportionally his totals holdings would have an assessment of 51/6 carucates with a value of £2 16s 8d.

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
Derbyshire 7,4 South Normanton Elfag Ælfheah 'of Normanton' - William Peverel Edwin 'of South Normanton' 2.00 1.00 0.50 C Map
Nottinghamshire 10,34 Beeston Ælfag Ælfheah 'of Normanton' - William Peverel - 1.00 0.50 0.50 E Map
Nottinghamshire 10,51 Basford Alfag Ælfheah 'of Normanton' - William Peverel Sasfrid 'of Catesby' 1.19 1.00 1.00 E Map
Nottinghamshire 30,29 Papplewick Alfa Ælfheah 'of Normanton' - 1 king's thegn 'of Papplewick' - 0.79 0.33 0.00 E Map
Totals

Profile

It is difficult to determine if Ælheah 72 represents one TRE landholder or up to four separate ones.  The starting point, beyond the shared but fairly common name, is the relatively close geographical proximity of the four estates concerned.  All of the estates lay within 11 miles of all of the others and none was more than 7 miles from its nearest neighbour.  Three of them – at Papplewick, Basford and Beeston – lay in the valley of the River Leen or its tributaries in west Nottinghamshire; the fourth and largest was at South Normanton, further into the Pennines and just over the county boundary into east Derbyshire.

As well as the relative proximity and (probably) similar sizes of the four estates, another factor that appears to associate three of them with each other is that all three were held by William Peverel in 1086 (the exception being Papplewick, which passed to an unnamed king’s thegn).  The extent to which succession to William represents a useful guide to pre-Conquest arrangements is uncertain, however, with Fleming (1991: 148-9) seeing William’s largely territorial fief as one that cut across earlier arrangements by incorporating the lands of many minor thegns whereas Roffe (1990: 173-4; cf. Sawyer 1998: 276-7) perceived it to incorporate the lands of the pre-Conquest earls and their followers.  Furthermore, against the tenuous coincidence of proximity, estate size and succession it should be noted that each of the four DB entries employs a different spelling for the name Ælfheah, which could indicate that they refer to different people.  No certainty is possible; but the balance of probability is just in favour of regarding all four estates as having been held TRE by the same man, (Unknown Person).

Normanton was the only estate at which Ælfheah was the sole landholder TRE.  At the other three estates he either shared the land with others as at Papplewick or held one of several manors grouped under a single entry in DB.  This renders it impossible to know exactly the extent or value of his estates TRE; but, if the details of the shared entries are divided equally between the co-holders then Ælfheah’s overall holding, including Normanton, will have been in the region of 51/6 carucates with a value of £2 16s 8d.  None of his co-holders occurred in more than one of these entries.

Given the relative proximity of their estates it is conceivable that (Unknown Person) and (Unknown Person) were the same person and, if so, that (Unknown Person) could likewise be subsumed.  However, the name was fairly common and the estates of the other two men appear distinct from those of (Unknown Person) in terms of geography or succession or both, so they are treated separately here.  There is no reason to consider (Unknown Person) in connection with any other person of estate.

Bibliography


Fleming 1991: R. Fleming, Kings and Lords in Conquest England (Cambridge, 1991)

Roffe 1990: D. R. Roffe, ‘From thenage to barony: sake and soke, title, and tenants-in-chief’, Anglo-Norman Studies 12 (1990)

Sawyer 1998: P. H. Sawyer, From Roman Britain to Norman England, 2nd edn (London & New York, 1998)