Talk:Ælfwaru

Ownership of Little Thetford

This section transcluded to Talk:Little_Thetford/Archive 1

• "Ely Abbey, founded in 673 by Æthelthryth, owned the Little Thetford land until the 17th century." appears to be disputed. Not sure where I read it so still looking. It is clear from VCH that

"LITTLE THETFORD was described as a berewick of Ely in Domesday Book. It was rated at 1 hide held in demesne; there were a villein with 6 acres and 4 cottars. The Thetford fisheries yielded 500 eels and 4½d. in tribute. The vill had been worth 20s. when received, 30s. T.R.E., and 40s. in 1086.".

It is also clear (from the same source) that

"Thetford first emerges as a separate manor in 1539, when Edmund Knyvett and his wife Joan (Burghden) made a settlement of it."

Thus CORRECTION—Ely Abbey (or more accurately, the Bishop(s) of Ely?) owned the land of Little Thetford until the 16th century?

• From Hervey (d. 1131) it is clear he was a Bishop of Ely, therefore "Ely Abbey, founded in 673 by Æthelthryth, owned the Little Thetford land until the 16th century." seems to still stand. From Bowyer, William (d. 1569/70) it is not clear how much of Thetford he owned. The statement

"...Bowyer died possessed of the leases of his residences, the prebend of Waltham in Chichester Cathedral and parsonage of Selsey, Sussex, and the farm of Little Thetford, Cambridgeshire. Probate of his will was granted on 23 June 1570, his widow being his executor. ..."

implies (to me anyway) that he owned a farm at Little Thetford not all of it.

• I am not an historian so I bow down to those who know more than me. IMHO "In 1110, William Brito, the Archdeacon of Ely, granted the manor to Hervey le Breton, his own uncle." and "In the mid-sixteenth century, the antiquary William Bowyer owned the farm." adds unnecessary detail and thus breaks summary style

--Senra (talk) 17:36, 23 June 2010 (UTC)

As an aside, ...Edmund Knyvett and his wife Joan (Burghden)... may be interesting in itself. Not certain if Edmund Knyvett is ...

Sir Edmund Knyvet (d. 1539), the second son of Edmund Knyvet of Buckenham Castle and his wife, Eleanor, a sister of Sir James Tyrell. This Sir Edmund, the younger brother of Sir Thomas Knyvet, was sergeant-porter to Henry VIII and received several grants from the king, including an annuity of 50 marks, a manor in Northamptonshire, a lease of land in Shropshire, and the office of receiver of revenues from Denbigh. Through his marriage to Joan, the only surviving child of John Bourchier, second Baron Berners, he acquired the manor of Ashwellthorpe, Norfolk. He was a great-nephew of Christian Knyvet, the mother of John Colet, the dean of St Paul's, and was named in Colet's will as his chief heir should the dean's mother not survive him (which she did). As porter at the gate he attended Henry VIII at the Field of Cloth of Gold. He died in 1539 and was buried at Ashwellthorpe.

— Stanford Lehmberg, DNB

Well I never! As Joan seemed to have estates in Norfolk by inheritance, I began to assume that Thetford may have been Thetford Norfolk, but the National Archives confirms that it was Little Thetford. Interesting. Not sure if it can be used, but nevertheless, interesting. --Senra (talk) 20:37, 23 June 2010 (UTC)

Thanks for your message. Just to be clear, it's not that I was specifically disputing the statement, I was just noting that it could do with a reference, and you have now provided one - that's great.

My reading of the article on Hervey is that he was personally granted the land by his archdeacon (so presumably it had previously been owned by the Abbey). As the VCH states that the Abbey owned the land until the 16th century, presumably it returned to them - perhaps on his death - but, for at least a few years, it belonged to an individual notable enough to have their own ODNB article, which seems to me to be worth mentioning in the article.

With regard to William Bowyer, I agree that he appears to have owned a (the only?) farm, rather than the manor, but, again, the connection with a figure notable enough to have an article in the ODNB seems worth mentioning.

The Edmund Knyvett you mention certainly appears to be the same one, and his grandson Thomas Knyvett, 4th Baron Berners, who owned the manor until 1582, is also notable enough to have a Wikipedia article.

Finally, on summary style - it's only used where there is a more specific article covering the relevant section. So, if there were an article on the "History of Little Thetford", then we should use summary style in the History section of this article, and leave all the detail for the fuller article. But, at least at present, there is no more specific article, so this one should seek to cover everything notable and verifiable with regard to Little Thetford. Warofdreams talk 20:46, 23 June 2010 (UTC)

I've found some more on the ownership of the manor. Apparently, it was first granted to the abbey by donation of Ælfwaru in around 1007.[1] Also, I misread the article on Hervey - he granted it to his nephew, not the other way around. So how did it come back into the possession of the diocese? Perhaps on William's death? Warofdreams talk 21:01, 23 June 2010 (UTC)

Let me digest the content of the above. In the meantime, how on earth did you uncover Lords and communities in early medieval East Anglia – Andrew Wareham. Is that document text searchable or did you read it line-by-line? Impressive either way. --Senra (talk) 21:27, 23 June 2010 (UTC)

It is searchable :) Warofdreams talk 21:53, 23 June 2010 (UTC)

This is really very very interesting. I have been speaking to David O'Neale, an amateur historian who has researched the Bridgham roots for their 1007 – 2007 celebrations. He has kindly sent me some information pertaining to show that Aelfwaru died on 27 February 1007 as follows:

========================================Aelfwaru's death date begins ===============================================

On the topic of Aelfwaru, he found a reference written by Simon Keynes about 15 years ago:

'Aethelstan Mannesson was himself a major benefactor of Ramsey and a minor benefactor of Ely; it is perfectly likely, therefore, that his daughter should similarly have bequeathed property to both houses, but it has to be admitted that of the estates which our Aelfwaru gave to Ely, none can be shown to have come to her from Aethelstan Mannesson, and that her identification with the Ramsey Aelfwaru thus rests solely on the common name.' Has new evidence come to light that these lands were inherited from her mother's side of the family? I seem to recall reading this in The Danelaw, but cannot get to the library until mid-week.

He wrote to Ann Williams who replied:

There is one possible tenurial link between Aelfwaru and Aethelstan Manneson. Hart suggested (`The Danelaw', p. 617) that the `Chinnora' of her will `is to be equated with part of the Owra which Aethelstan left to his wife'. Owra (OE `ofer' = over) is Over, Cambs, in which parish runs a stream called in the C20 Chain Brook and in the C19 Over Chain. Hart suggests that this preserves the name of Chinnora': OE cinu = ravine, plus ofer = over, hence `Over Chain'. If he is right - and it sounds possible, at least - then there is a direct link between Aelfwaru and Aethelstan, which reinforces the theory that she was one of his daughters.

David O'Neale then finds this

1 (and 2). Extracts from Aelfwaru's will appear both in the 'Liber Benefactorum' of Ramsey Abbey (in W.Dunn Macray (ed.), Chronicon Abbatiae Rameseiensis, Rolls series 83, 1886, pp. 84-5), and in the Liber Eliensis. She is identified as Aethelstan Mannesunu's daughter in the Ramsey extract by the fact that she left to the abbey lands at Holywell and Elsworth (and the disputed Chinnora), which Aethelstan Mannesunu had bequeathed to his (unnamed) wife (said, in the Liber Benefactorum, pp. 59-60, to have been a kinswoman.of Archbishop Oswald). Her death in 1007 is recorded in the obituary lists of Ramsey Abbey (this is the reference you cite), but this gives only the year, not the day and month. The day (27 February) must come from another source - perhaps an obituary list from Ely, but I'm afraid I don't have information on this.

3. Aelfwaru's identification as the 'first-born daughter' (unnamed) of Aethelstan Mannesunu's will (he left her land at Gransden, Cambs, given to her by her godmother Aethelswith) does not rest entirely on her disposal of land left to Aethelstan's widow (see 1. above). She was also a kinswoman of Eadnoth, a monk of Ramsey who became bishop of Dorchester (as Eadnoth II) in 1034; he died in 1049 and left to Ramsey lands at Over (land there was left to Aethelstan's widow, possibly identical with Aelfwaru's Chinnora), and Knapwell, Cambs**, (land there also bequeathed to Aethelstan's widow); see Chronicon Rameseiensis, pp. 84-5,148, 159. These bequests suggest that Eadnoth was a member of Aethelstan's family, as does the fact that (though the name is common) one of Aethelstan Mannesunu's sons was also called Eadnoth (later abbot of Ramsey, and bishop of Dorchester (c. 1007-1016), and his second son Godric was the father of a third Eadnoth (see the pedigree in C.R. Hart, The Danelaw, p. 614).

Aelfwaru is described as a widow both in the Ramsey Liber Benefactorum and Liber Eliensis, but husband's name is unknown, as is the name of her mother. Hart suggested that the Norfolk lands left by Aelfwaru to Ely came to her from her mother's kin, since Aethelstan Mannesunu left his Norfolk estates to his widow. But this is conjecture.Aelfwaru might just as well have married a Norfolk man who predeceased her, and the bequest to Ely could be the fulfilment of his will.

NOTE** Land at Knapwell was also bequeathed by Aethelstan Mannesunu to his kinsman Leofsige; it is this Knapwell subsequently found in the possession of Thurstan Lustwine's son (Liber Eliensis, p. 188; S 1531 - this Knapwell passed to Ely, whereas the other was held by Ramsey).

and on writing to Alan Kennedy:

When she comes briefly into historical focus Ælfwaru of Bridgham was, it would seem, a very wealthy and pious widow. She appears in LE ii 61, as a person who bequeathed an estate at Bridgham (Shropham Hundred, Norfolk) to Ely, together with other properties. LE ii 61 implies that Ely had still in its archives her will, written in Old English rather than Latin, as documents of this kind usually were. The estate at Bridgham was retained in Ely hands through the eleventh century, being part of farming arrangements organised c. 1029 - 1035 (LE ii 84) and held as 4 carucates (hides) TRE (1066) and TRW (1086): Little Domesday Book 213v.

There is also a lady of similarly elevated status called Alfwaru a notice of whose will appears in the Ramsey Chronicle (pp. 84-5). According to this report she gave Ramsey several properties when she died, apparently in 1007 (Ramsey Cartulary iii 167). Wealthy and noble Anglo-Saxons often arranged for the production of duplicates of their wills which would then be held by several interested parties. Both Ely and Ramsey could therefore have had duplicates of the one will from which abstracts were produced. The Alfwaru of the Ramsey Chronicle is very likely the same person as the Ely Ælfwaru and, as well, the eldest daughter of the prominent thegn Æthelstan son of Mann: see C.R. Hart, 'Eadnoth, First Abbot of Ramsey, and the Foundation of Chatteris and St Ives', Proceedings of the Cambridge Antiquarian Society 6-7 (1964), pp. 61-7. I am unaware of any information concerning her husband.

Æthelstan son of Mann was an important regional figure and a very wealthy man but there is no evidence that he was ever an ealdorman. He is thought to have died in 986 (Ramsey Cartulary iii 166). A supposed Latin version of his will survives in the Ramsey Chronicle (pp. 59-61). It is probably abbreviated.

David then asks Alan:

Dear Alan, Thank you for all of this. Just one question. How do we (and by 'we' I mean Simon Keynes) know that Bridgham's Aelfwaru died (or at least was celebrated in Ely) on 27 February? With best wishes David

...who replies:

Dear David, This is because her obit appears for that day among many others for other days in a calendar being the first item in MS Cambridge, Trinity College O. 2.1 The text (expanded for abbreviations) is '... et soror nostra Ælfwara que dedit nobis Bregeham. Wetinge. Hengeham. Radlesdene. Mundeford. et scrinium cum reliquis' . The Ely obits are edited, among others, by Jan Gerchow, Die Gedenküberlieferung der Angelsachsen (Berlin, 1988), pp.343-50. I owe the transcription to Simon Keynes with whom I have been working on an edition of the Libellus Æthelwoldi for some years now, which we are hoping to complete soon. Best regards,Alan

Note that Liber Eliensis: a history of the Isle of Ely from the seventh century to the twelfth Fairweather, Janet p. 159 note 294 relates the above to Little Thetford.

--Senra (talk) 12:51, 26 June 2010 (UTC)

In a letter dated 24 January 2011 to the Ely and District Archaeological Society Janet fairweather confirms Fairweather (2005 p. 159 note 294) as after E.O. Blake, editor of the latin text of the Liber Eliensis (Blake, 1962 LE, p. 133, nr. 8) --Senra (Talk) 10:27, 5 February 2011 (UTC)

========================================Aelfwaru's death date ends =================================================

...and there is more...Regesta Regum Anglo-Noermanorum By Charles Johnson, H. A. cronne, H. W. C. Davis

1502. [1127, c. Aug. 26.] Eling 'in transitu'

Notification by Henry I to the Bp of Ely and the Prior and convent of Ely and the barons of the honour of Ely: That he has granted to his chaplain, William Archdeacon of Ely, the royal manor of Pampisford (Pampesworda); and that of Little Thetford which William's uncle, Bp. Hervey of Ely, gave to William in the presence of Bp. Roger of Salisbury, with the consent of the Prior and convent of Ely. These to be held by hereditary right; the manor of Pampisford for the service of one knight; that of Little Thetford by the service of 5s. to be rendered annually to the monks of Ely. William is to hold them with sac and soc, toll and team and infangthief, and all customs which Bp. Hervey possessed.

Witness: Roger Bp. of Salisbury; A[lexander] Bp. of Lincoln; Geoffrey (T.) the chancellor; Robert de Sigillo.

--Senra (talk) 23:15, 23 June 2010 (UTC)

Little Thetford may have been the early site of worship BEFORE Ely!

Liber Eliensis: a history of the Isle of Ely from the seventh century to the twelfth Fairweather, Janet

Lat. apud Ely: 'at the (monastic) house of Ely'. With reference to the question of the site of Cratendune [Eni of East Anglia—Ely] and the monastery reputedly founded by St Augustine, note the existence of a large early Anglo-Saxon cemetry on the Isle of Ely between Witchford and Little Thetford.

--Senra (talk) 10:55, 24 June 2010 (UTC)

Same reference, p. 159 plus Brigdham 1007-2007 we have ...

There was a certain widow, named AElfwaru [d. 27 February 1007], who was noble by birth and extremely rich. ... she had her will confirmed ... She also laid down, moreover, that land at [Little] Thetford and fisheries around those marshes and ... should be handed over to the church. ...

--Senra (talk) 17:22, 24 June 2010 (UTC)

Great work - there's a lot of useful material there! Ælfwaru's date of death now looks to be well-referenced. The information on her possible father looks a little tenuous, particularly as there is no guarantee that she inherited from him - should you feel the desire to write an article on Ælfwaru, it might be well-placed there. It might also be worth mentioning the speculation you mention about the importance of the Anglo-Saxon cemetery; provided the speculation is attributed to a reputable named author, that should be fine for Wikipedia purposes. Warofdreams talk 10:33, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

Alverstoke

The name of the village of Alverstoke in Hampshire, derives from the name Ælfwaru plus OE stoc.Mills, A.D. ((1991, 1998)). A dictionary of British place-names:Alverstoke. Oxford University press. ISBN 0198527586. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |date= (help) --Senra (talk) 11:09, 2 July 2010 (UTC)