Anglo-Saxon multiple estate
An Anglo-Saxon multiple estate was a large landholding controlled from a central location with surrounding subsidiary settlements. These estates were present in the early Anglo-Saxon period, but fragmented into smaller units in the late Anglo-Saxon period. Despite some academic criticism, the concept has been widely used and a large number of possible examples have been proposed.
Contents
Definition
The concept of an Anglo-Saxon multiple estate was developed by Professor Glanville Jones of Leeds University. The idea originally appeared in a paper published in 1961[1] and was fleshed out in a 1976 book on medieval settlement.[2] The term "great estate" is sometimes used as an alternative to multiple estate.[3] These estates typically contained various features:[4]
- a central caput from which the estate was managed
- a minster church providing parochial support to the whole estate
- surrounding agricultural settlements specialising in particular crops.
The specialised settlements, dependent on the caput, often took their name from the crop they produced - Cheswick (cheese wick), Berwick (barley farm), etc.[5] The caput has been variously described as a villa regalis, aula, mansio or maerdref.[4] Specialisation may have been encouraged by "renders" - taxation in kind - paid to the king.[6]
These estates may have been based around a royal vill and may have been coterminous with the parochia of an early minster church.[3]
Chronology
The origin of some of these estates has been traced back to Roman times or earlier[7] - for example, Finberg proposed a Roman origin for Withington, Gloucestershire,[8] while Glanville Jones himself suggested a pre-Roman origin for some estates[9] These multiple estates were a common feature in the English landscape before the 10th century and were usually owned by the king or an important monastery.[10] In the late Anglo-Saxon period, many of these large estates fragmented into smaller units which eventually became independent parishes.[11] The resultant parishes frequently share the same name differentiated by a suffix or prefix.[12] The fragmentation of these estates resulted in the diminishing importance of their minster churches[13] which (under the "minster hypothesis") had been the basis of early Christian church organisation.
Academic status
The concept has been criticised - for example because the evidence used is often much later than the date of the proposed estate.[14] Nonetheless, the concept is widely used and a large number of possible examples have been proposed.
Notes
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