Royal Estates in Anglo-Saxon Wessex: Land, politics and family strategies: Land, politics and family strategies

This work, focusing on specific categories of royal estates, concentrates on the later Anglo-Saxon period in England (the mid-ninth century to the mid-eleventh AD). These centuries were a formative period in early medieval history, in which a state can be seen to have developed from a small kingdom to take control of lowland Britain, and, indeed, exert political influence over much of the rest of Britain. The area of this study consists of royal lands in the two shires of Hampshire and Dorset as set out in the folios of Domesday Book. Royal estates were lands used to support kings and their immediate retinue, and lands granted by kings to members of the royal family. Lands of royal agents are also examined in this work. This study, a revisiting of the author's PhD thesis, looks at Royal landholding in the Wessex shires of Hampshire and Dorset in the later Anglo-Saxon period. It analyses the techniques used for estate management across the different categories of landholding and examines the role of role agents. Of primary importance is evidence from Domesday Book backed up with other charters and wills. Ultimately conclusions are drawn about the nature of Royal power and the development of the Anglo-Saxon state. Front Cover Title Page Copyright Table of Contents Tables and Illustrations Preface List of Abbreviations Used Chapter One: Introduction: Placing Royal Estates Chapter Two: The Farm of One Night Chapter Three: Royal Presence and the King’s Tun Chapter Four: Lands of the Royal Family Chapter Five: All the King’s Men? Land and Royal Service Conclusion Appendix 1 Appendix 2 Appendix 3 Bibliography Index of People and Places Ryan Lavelle. Based On The Author's Thesis (ph. D.--university Of Southampton, 2001). Includes Bibliographical References (p. 137-147) And Index.