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Ælfthryth 14

Name

Summary

Ælfthryth 14 had a substantial manor in south Essex TRE assessed at 9 hides and with a value of £9, which she may have held as a dependent tenant of the bishop of London.

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 Essex	Phil. ref. 3,1	Vill Laindon	DB Spelling Alftred	Holder 1066 Ælfthryth 'of Laindon'	Lord 1066 -	Tenant-in-Chief 1086 Maurice, bishop of London	1086 Subtenant -	Fiscal Value 5.33	1066 Value 4.00	1086 Value 5.00	Confidence B	Map
Shire Essex	Phil. ref. 3,1	Vill Laindon	DB Spelling Alftred	Holder 1066 Ælfthryth 'of Laindon'	Lord 1066 -	Tenant-in-Chief 1086 Maurice, bishop of London	1086 Subtenant William 'the man of Maurice, bishop of London'	Fiscal Value 1.83	1066 Value 2.50	1086 Value 2.50	Confidence B	Map
Shire Essex	Phil. ref. 3,1	Vill Laindon	DB Spelling Alftred	Holder 1066 Ælfthryth 'of Laindon'	Lord 1066 -	Tenant-in-Chief 1086 Maurice, bishop of London	1086 Subtenant Ralph fitzBrian	Fiscal Value 1.83	1066 Value 2.50	1086 Value 2.50	Confidence B	Map
Totals								Fiscal Value	1066 Value	1086 Value

Profile

Ælfthryth 14’s substantial manor was at Laindon in south Essex, the Old English name Ligeandūn ‘hill of Lygh’ referring both to the low hill on whose summit the present church stands and probably the old name of the stream rising slightly to its north-west (Reaney 1935: 161-2; cf. Ekwall 1928: 239-41).  An estate at Laindon was listed among those of the bishop and canons of St Paul’s cathedral that contributed to the manning of a warship in c.1000 (S 1458a); and, since Ælfthryth’s manor was held by the bishop of London in 1086, it may be that she held it as a leasehold tenancy from the bishop’s predecessor, William 2, before the Conquest (Kelly 2004: 199-200).  DB does not mention any such putative lordship, however, referring to Ælfthryth simply as ‘a certain woman’ (quedam femina).

Whether or not she was a dependent tenant, however, Ælfthryth’s estate was large and implies that she was of high status by birth or marriage or both.  That DB records her as holding it in her own right need not indicate that she was a widow, although this is of course possible.

Ælfthryth’s estate practiced the usual mix of arable and pastoral farming, with a population of eight villans and their households who, together with her six slaves, provided the manor’s workforce.  She had two ploughs on her demesne and her peasants had a further seven ploughs on their land, and there were woodland and pasture sufficient for 100 pigs and 100 sheep respectively, although DB does not detail the actual number of animals present.

This was the only estate attributed to someone certainly called Ælfthryth in DB and the only other estate held TRE by someone with a similar name (Althryth 2) lay 70 miles away and passed to a different post-Conquest successor.  There is no reason, therefore, to consider Ælfthryth 14 in connection with any other identification.

Bibliography

Ekwall 1928: E. Ekwall, English River Names (Oxford, 1928)

Kelly 2004: S. E. Kelly, Charters of St Paul’s, London, Anglo-Saxon Charters 10 (Oxford, 2004)

Reaney 1935: P. H. Reaney, The Place-Names of Essex (Cambridge, 1935)