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Blæc 2

Name

Summary

Blæc 2 was a small landowner in east Sussex, probably of thegnly rank, whose single manor of 3 hides was worth £6.

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 Sussex	Phil. ref. 9,4	Vill Ninfield	DB Spelling Blac	Holder 1066 Blæc 'of Ninfield'	Lord 1066 Edward, king	Tenant-in-Chief 1086 Robert, count of Eu	1086 Subtenant -	Fiscal Value 0.79	1066 Value 1.58	1086 Value 1.38	Confidence A	Map
Shire Sussex	Phil. ref. 9,4	Vill Ninfield	DB Spelling Blac	Holder 1066 Blæc 'of Ninfield'	Lord 1066 Edward, king	Tenant-in-Chief 1086 Robert, count of Eu	1086 Subtenant Robert the cook	Fiscal Value 0.32	1066 Value 0.63	1086 Value 0.55	Confidence A	Map
Shire Sussex	Phil. ref. 9,4	Vill Ninfield	DB Spelling Blac	Holder 1066 Blæc 'of Ninfield'	Lord 1066 Edward, king	Tenant-in-Chief 1086 Robert, count of Eu	1086 Subtenant Osbern fitzGeoffrey	Fiscal Value 0.47	1066 Value 0.95	1086 Value 0.83	Confidence A	Map
Shire Sussex	Phil. ref. 9,4	Vill Ninfield	DB Spelling Blac	Holder 1066 Blæc 'of Ninfield'	Lord 1066 Edward, king	Tenant-in-Chief 1086 Robert, count of Eu	1086 Subtenant Werenc 'of Ninfield'	Fiscal Value 0.32	1066 Value 0.63	1086 Value 0.55	Confidence A	Map
Shire Sussex	Phil. ref. 9,4	Vill Ninfield	DB Spelling Blac	Holder 1066 Blæc 'of Ninfield'	Lord 1066 Edward, king	Tenant-in-Chief 1086 Robert, count of Eu	1086 Subtenant Reinbert	Fiscal Value 1.11	1066 Value 2.21	1086 Value 1.93	Confidence A	Map
Totals								Fiscal Value	1066 Value	1086 Value

Profile

The name Blæc occurs only twice in DB, at widely separated places where there is no other reason to make a connection. One of them was Ninfield, in the heavily wooded eastern Sussex Weald and less than 5 miles from where the battle of Hastings was fought. The assessment of only 3 hides did not reflect the size of Blæc’s estate, which had land for 12 ploughs and was worth £6. Each of the hides here, in Hastings rape, comprised 8 virgates. Blæc had full power of alienation, though the DB scribe blundered the formula, writing cum terra quo uoluit ire uoluit for cum terra quo uoluit ire potuit (‘could go with the land where he wished’).

For whatever reason, Ninfield was broken up among six landholders after the Conquest, the count of Eu’s principal tenant Robert the cook having only the ‘head of the manor’ (caput M’) with 2 virgates. The destruction of Blæc’s estate before 1086 is strikingly confirmed by the fact that there was never again a manor of Ninfield (VCH Suss. IX, 247–8).

Bibliography

VCH Suss. IX: The Victoria History of the Counties of England: The Victoria History of the County of Sussex, IX, ed. L. F. Salzman (London: Oxford University Press for the Institute of Historical Research, 1937)