Source: Textual EditionRamsey.Liber Benefactorum

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Description

The Liber benefactorum of Ramsey abbey, compiled in the mid-twelfth century, incorporates much valuable information on the early history of Ramsey, complementing material from other fenland houses. Pt I provides a twelfth-century view of the historical background; Part II covers the period from the foundation of Ramsey to the deaths of Ealdorman Æthelwine and Bishop Oswald in 992; Part III covers the period from 992 to 1066; and Part IV covers the period after the Conquest. Some of the material in Parts II and III is derived from tenth- and eleventh-century vernacular documents then preserved in the abbey’s archives.

Source Information
Source Title Liber benefactorum of Ramsey Abbey

Notes

This source has been entered in part. Only information relating to the endowment and lost cartulary of Ramsey has been included.

Edition(s)

Editor Article or Book Title Journal or Pub.Loc. Date pp.
Go to 
Chronicon Abbatiæ Rameseiensis W.D. Macray Chronicon Abbatiæ Rameseiensis   1886  

Translation(s)

Editor Article or Book Title Journal or Pub.Loc. Date pp.
Edgington, S.B. Ramsey Abbey’s Book of Benefactors, Part One: The Abbey’s Foundation      
Edgington, S.B. Ramsey Abbey’s Book of Benefactors, Part Two: The Early Years   2001  

Factoid List

View Factoid Type Source Ref Primary Person Short Description
Transaction Ramsey.Liber Benefactorum  c. 24 King Edgar 11, in response to the entreaty and insistence of Archbishop Oswald 8, granted 5 hides at Burwell to Ramsey, and 1 hide at Stukeley, which had belonged to a man called Turkemer 1, and two bells purchased at the price of 20 pounds.
RecordedNames Ramsey.Liber Benefactorum  c. 24 Turkemer 1 (Turkemer)
Possession Ramsey.Liber Benefactorum  c. 24 Turkemer 1 He held land at Stukeley.
Transaction Ramsey.Liber Benefactorum  c. 25 Oswald 8 acquired a privilege for Ramsey from Pope John 27 XIII.
Transaction Ramsey.Liber Benefactorum  c. 25 Oswald 8 bought Needingworth from King Edgar 11 for precious relics enclosed in two crosses made from gold and weighing 120 marks. Edgar 11 also gave Wistow. In exchange for Needingworth, Ramsey acquired 3 hides at Godmanchester.
Transaction Ramsey.Liber Benefactorum  c. 25 Oswald 8 granted an additional 5 hides at Burwell.
Personal Relationship Ramsey.Liber Benefactorum  c. 25 Edwin 52 was Son of Othulf 4
Personal Relationship Ramsey.Liber Benefactorum  c. 25 Anonymous 10122 was Wife of Edwin 52
Personal Relationship Ramsey.Liber Benefactorum  c. 25 Anonymous 10122 was Daughter of Ulf 32
Transaction Ramsey.Liber Benefactorum  c. 25 Edwin 52, son of Othulf 4, granted 5 hides at Burwell to Archbishop Oda 1 as a reward for the concern and effort with which he had brought King Eadred 16 to agree to allow him to unite to him by a marriage treaty the woman whom he desired, the daughter of a certain Ulf 32.
Event Ramsey.Liber Benefactorum  c. 25 Archbishop Oda 1 persuaded King Eadred 16 to persuade to the union of Edwin 52 and the daughter of Ulf 32.
Personal Relationship Ramsey.Liber Benefactorum  c. 25 Æthelstan 78 was Relative of Oda 1
Event Ramsey.Liber Benefactorum  c. 25 Æthelstan 78, kinsman of Archbishop Oda 1, tried to deny Oda 1's gift of 5 hides at Burwell to Ramsey, alleging that half the land lawfully belonged to his jurisdiction, but Ealdorman Æthelwine 2 granted him 80 gold mancuses for the land.
RecordedNames Ramsey.Liber Benefactorum  c. 25 Winesige 1 (Wynsige)
Event Ramsey.Liber Benefactorum  c. 25 Winesige 1, a relative of Othulf 4, claimed the 5 hides in Burwell for himself. Ealdorman Æthelwine 2 would have used violence to resolve the matter had he not been prevented by Eadnoth 23, a brother of Ramsey. Eadnoth 23 called together Cambridgeshire, and offered Winesige 1 land at Sawston in exchange for Burwell.
Occupation Ramsey.Liber Benefactorum  c. 25 Eadnoth 23 Brother
Personal Relationship Ramsey.Liber Benefactorum  c. 25 Ælfgar 58 was Familiar of Æthelwine 2
Personal Relationship Ramsey.Liber Benefactorum  c. 25 Ælfgar 58 was Confidant of Æthelwine 2
Transaction Ramsey.Liber Benefactorum  c. 25 Ælfgar 58 granted to Ramsey his own houses and court, with 3 hides, 40 acres, and 1 virgate, as well as the church of Burwell of which he was advocate [advocatus].
Transaction Ramsey.Liber Benefactorum  c. 26 Æthelgifu 19 granted to Ramsey, 60 acres and 1 virgate in the vill which had been Guthred’s, and 8 hides at Henning.
Transaction Ramsey.Liber Benefactorum  c. 27 Winesige 1 granted to Ramsey, half a hide at Stukeley.
Personal Relationship Ramsey.Liber Benefactorum  c. 27 Anonymous 10124 was Wife of Winesige 1
Personal Relationship Ramsey.Liber Benefactorum  c. 27 Anonymous 10123 was Son of Winesige 1
Transaction Ramsey.Liber Benefactorum  c. 27 Ramsey bought 1 hide in Stukeley from a son of Winesige 1.
Transaction Ramsey.Liber Benefactorum  c. 28 Æthelwine 2, dux, to Ramsey; grant of Ramsey, Upwood, Hilgay with its berewick, Snore, 5 hides at Walsoken, half a fishery at Wella, Brington, 10 hides at Weston, 10 hides at Gidding and Wedetone, 7 hides at Stukeley, part of 10 hides at Toft (in exchange for which, he received Linton), Oakley, 6 hides at Wangford, rights at Houghton, a mill he had obtained from a relative, Siric 7, and Hemingford.
Personal Relationship Ramsey.Liber Benefactorum  c. 28 Siric 7 was Relative of Æthelwine 2
Transaction Ramsey.Liber Benefactorum  c. 28 Æthelwine 2 obtained a mill from a relative, Siric 7.
Transaction Ramsey.Liber Benefactorum  c. 28 Bishop Æthelwold 2 to Æthelwine 2; grant of the land at Hemingford in exchange for the land at Hatfield.
Transaction Ramsey.Liber Benefactorum  c. 28 Cynemund 9, priest, to Æthelwine 2, dux; bequest of Oakley.
Occupation Ramsey.Liber Benefactorum  c. 28 Wulfhun 12 Monk
Transaction Ramsey.Liber Benefactorum  c. 28 Wulfhun 12 granted Ramsey Linton went he became a member of their community.
Transaction Ramsey.Liber Benefactorum  c. 28 Æthelwine 2 inherited Brington from his father.
Transaction Ramsey.Liber Benefactorum  c. 28 Æthelwine 2 inherited 10 hides at Weston from his mother.
Transaction Ramsey.Liber Benefactorum  c. 28 King Edgar 11 granted 10 hides at Weston to Ealdorman Æthelwine 2’s mother.
Transaction Ramsey.Liber Benefactorum  c. 28 King Edgar 11 to Æthelwine 2, dux; grant of Upwood, Raveley, Sawtry.
Transaction Ramsey.Liber Benefactorum  c. 28 Æthelwine 2 bought 10 hides at Gidding and Wedetone from Othengar 1.
RecordedNames Ramsey.Liber Benefactorum  c. 28 Othengar 1 (Othengar)
Personal Relationship Ramsey.Liber Benefactorum  c. 28 Æthelflæd 29 was Wife of Æthelwine 2
Personal Relationship Ramsey.Liber Benefactorum  c. 28 Anonymous 10125 was Father of Æthelflæd 29
Transaction Ramsey.Liber Benefactorum  c. 28 While the father of Æthelflæd 29, Æthelwine 2’s wife, was still alive and possessed a certain part of that countryside [Sawtry?] by hereditary right, he gave it to Ealdorman Æthelstan 26 who gave it to Ramsey. Later Æthelflæd 29 claimed the land and took it back by judicial order into the jurisdiction of her own hereditary right. Then she granted the land to Ramsey with the burial of her body.
Event Ramsey.Liber Benefactorum  c. 28 Æthelflæd 29 arranged to be buried at Ramsey.
Personal Relationship Ramsey.Liber Benefactorum  c. 28 Ælfwald 42 was Brother of Æthelwine 2
Transaction Ramsey.Liber Benefactorum  c. 35 Ælfhild 8 grants to Eadnoth 24, son of her daughter, provided that the brothers of Ramsey will accept him as a monk, Bythorn, so that it may go with him to Ramsey.
Personal Relationship Ramsey.Liber Benefactorum  c. 35 Eadnoth 24 was Grandson, daughter’s son of Ælfhild 8
Personal Relationship Ramsey.Liber Benefactorum  c. 35 Anonymous 10126 was Daughter of Ælfhild 8
Personal Relationship Ramsey.Liber Benefactorum  c. 35 Eadnoth 24 was Son of Anonymous 10126
Office Ramsey.Liber Benefactorum  c. 35 Eadnoth 24 held office of Praepositus
PersonInfo Ramsey.Liber Benefactorum  c. 35 Eadnoth 24 He was overcome with illness having mocked a vision of St Ivo.
Transaction Ramsey.Liber Benefactorum  c. 35 Godric 54 to Ramsey; grant of Girton.
Office Ramsey.Liber Benefactorum  c. 35 Eadnoth 25 held office of Prior
Transaction Ramsey.Liber Benefactorum  c. 37 Ærnketel 1 and Wulfrun 0, his wife, to Ramsey; bequest of Hickling and Kilvington, along with 15 pounds in silver and gold in return for Earnketil receiving burial at Ramsey and Wulfrun at Lockington, Yorks.. Wulfrun decreed that she would make payments to Ramsey every year on St Benedict’s day.
Event Ramsey.Liber Benefactorum  c. 37 Wulfrun 9 made arrangements for her burial at Lockington.
Event Ramsey.Liber Benefactorum  c. 37 Ærnketel 1 made arrangements for his burial at Ramsey.
Personal Relationship Ramsey.Liber Benefactorum  c. 37 Æthelstan 63 was Son of Ærnketel 1
Personal Relationship Ramsey.Liber Benefactorum  c. 37 Æthelstan 63 was Son of Wulfrun 9
Transaction Ramsey.Liber Benefactorum  c. 38 King Edgar 11, at the request of Oswald 8 and Ealdorman Æthelwine 2 confirmed grants made to Ramsey.
Transaction Ramsey.Liber Benefactorum  c. 43 King Edward 12 the Martyr granted 2 hides at Broughton, Hunts. to Ramsey.
Transaction Ramsey.Liber Benefactorum  c. 43 Eadnoth 25, brother of Ramsey, acquired for Ramsey, 1 hide at Broughton from Bishop Æthelwold 2 in exchange for the church at Wilbraham.
Event Ramsey.Liber Benefactorum  c. 44 Eadnoth 25, brother of Ramsey, acquired for Ramsey, 1 hide at Broughton from Bishop Æthelwold 2 in exchange for the church at Wilbraham. ‘At the same time there was a protracted problem to do with certain business between Bishop Æthelwold 2, patron of Ely, and Æthelwine 2, advocate of Ramsey and brother Eadnoth 25, in response to the pleas of the Ely brothers, granted much honour to that same holy bishop, and, having induced the ealdorman to agree, he had him draw lots to arrive at a satisfactory outcome of the same business. As their part of this exchange of landed property, the Ely brothers and their first abbot, Beorhtnoth 19, gave to brother Eadnoth 25, 1 hide at Boughton, witnessed by Æthelsige 26, uncle of the ealdorman, and Ælfgyth 9 and his children. Therefore, Eadnoth 25 ... took 4 turves of green grass from that very land, and placed them upon the altar of St Gregory in the crypt of Ramsey with many people observing his deed with approving eyes.’
Transaction Ramsey.Liber Benefactorum  c. 48 Ælfstan 84 granted Ramsey 2 hides at Stapleford in exchange for 100 silver solidi. The business was undertaken by brother Eadnoth 25.
Transaction Ramsey.Liber Benefactorum  c. 49 Ælfwald 42 bought Swaffham from Æthelwald 65.
Personal Relationship Ramsey.Liber Benefactorum  c. 49 Æthelwald 65 was Kinsman of Wulfstan 16
Transaction Ramsey.Liber Benefactorum  c. 49 Ælfwald 42 granted Ramsey Swaffham in exchange for the 2 hides at Stapleford.
Event Ramsey.Liber Benefactorum  c. 49 Ælfnoth 35, son of Goding 5, claimed the land at Swaffham and forced Eadnoth 25 to appear with some of the other brothers before judges at Wandlebury. The assembly was presided over by Ealdorman Æthelwine 2 and Eadric 81, the king’s praepositus. 36 barons were appointed, an equal number from friends of each party, who were to reach a verdict. They retired to make a decision, meanwhile, Ælfnoth 35 questioned brother Eadnoth 25 and the monk Ælfwine 93 in the presence of the judges as to what grounds and in the name of which donor they obtained the land. Eadnoth 25 replied that he had obtained it from an eminent man. The counter-claimant asked if he would prove his assertion by oath on the Blessed Sacrament. Eadnoth 25 agreed, but Ealdorman Æthelwine 2 decreed that professed monks should not take an oath in a secular court, and that he, as advocate of Ramsey was the protector of its possessions and the witness to their piety and faith, and he declared that it was his prerogative to perform the ceremony of this sort of oath. ‘Everybody saw the man’s steadfastness and recognised his loyalty, and, therefore on account of their respect for such an exalted person and his obvious signs of truthfulness, they removed the necessity of swearing the oath, and because of the false claim and the vexation to the religious, all the illegal holding of the aforesaid Ælfnoth 35 and all his chattels were to be forfeited to the king’s mercy.’ Ælfnoth 35, foreseeing the loss of his inheritance, renounced the land and took an oath that he would not contrive any case to do with it. After the deaths of Archbishop Oswald 8 and Ealdorman Æthelwine 2, Ælfnoth 35 seized the land.
Personal Relationship Ramsey.Liber Benefactorum  c. 50 Ælfwine 94 was Son of Beorhtsige 29
Occupation Ramsey.Liber Benefactorum  c. 50 Ælfwine 94 Monk
Transaction Ramsey.Liber Benefactorum  c. 50 Ælfwine 94 became a monk at Ramsey and gave to the monastery, as a pledge of his conversion, Lawshall, Hawstead, and Risby.
Transaction Ramsey.Liber Benefactorum  c. 50 The monk Ælfwine 94 and the brothers of Ramsey, granted Wulfric 82 the land at Risby for a fixed payment in annual rent to hold for his lifetime in the name of the church.
Event Ramsey.Liber Benefactorum  c. 51 Berric 2 was born in Worcestershire.
Transaction Ramsey.Liber Benefactorum  c. 51 Berric 2 granted Sture to Ramsey for the good of his soul and for that of his son Æthelric 94.
Personal Relationship Ramsey.Liber Benefactorum  c. 51 Æthelric 94 was Son of Berric 2
Transaction Ramsey.Liber Benefactorum  c. 52 Oswald 8 gives notice to Ealdorman Æthelwine 2 and the assembly at Worcester that the brothers of Ramsey have leased him the land at Sture for one life.
Transaction Ramsey.Liber Benefactorum  c. 53 Godwine 82 to Ramsey; grant of all the land at Hitcham, Suffolk, under his jurisdiction except that held by three men: Æthelwald 66, his dapifer, Leofric 78 the goldsmith, and Wulfgar 42. Each of them may hold their land provided that they bequeath it to Ramsey free from all future claims.
Office Ramsey.Liber Benefactorum  c. 53 Æthelwald 66 held office of Dapifer for Godwine 82
Occupation Ramsey.Liber Benefactorum  c. 53 Leofric 78 Goldsmith
Transaction Ramsey.Liber Benefactorum  c. 54 Ælfwaru 7 to Ramsey; grant of Holywell and the church at Elsworth, Cambs., as well as Chinnora, and with Eadnoth 26, one of her kinsmen, who became a monk of Ramsey, all the land at Barley, except for 1 hide which she granted to one of her servants, Ælfsige 99, with reversion to Ramsey.
Occupation Ramsey.Liber Benefactorum  c. 54 Ælfsige 99 Servant of Ælfwaru 7
Personal Relationship Ramsey.Liber Benefactorum  c. 54 Eadnoth 26 was Relative of Ælfwaru 7
Transaction Ramsey.Liber Benefactorum  c. 54 Gode 5, priest of Holywell, to Ramsey; bequest of all the land which he held, together with his church.
Office Ramsey.Liber Benefactorum  c. 54 Gode 5 held office of Priest
Transaction Ramsey.Liber Benefactorum  pp. 75-6 Æthelred 32, king, to Ramsey abbey; grant of 9 hides at Broughton, Hunts..
Transaction Ramsey.Liber Benefactorum  pp. 169-71, 198 Æthelwine 49 the Black to Ramsey; bequest of Clapham, Kempstone, Cardington, and Cranfield, Beds..
Event Ramsey.Liber Benefactorum  pp. 169-71, 198 Clapham, Kempstone, Cardington, and Cranfield, Beds., were bequeathed to Ramsey abbey by Æthelwine 49 the Black, claimed after his death by his kinsman Ælfric 113, son of Wihtgar 9, and recovered by Ælfwine 55, abbot of Ramsey, on payment of money to King Edward 15 and Queen Eadgyth 3, in proceedings which took place after his return from the Council of Rheims in 1049 (also attended by Duduc 6, bishop of Wells, and by Wulfric 67, abbot of St Augustine’s, Canterbury).
Transaction Ramsey.Liber Benefactorum  pp. 171-2 Ælfwine 55, abbot of Ramsey, and the community of Ramsey abbey, to Earl Ralph 2; lease of land at Cranfield, Beds., on condition that the land would revert after his death to the abbey, and that the abbey would come into possession of the earl’s land at Cherletonam (?Chalton, Beds.) and Brunstanesthorp.