Leofwine, Cynges ðegn, 890AD
(aka Ben Levick)Meet Leofwine, son of Earnulf.
Leofwine is the lord of an estate in Kent which has been held as bookland by members of his family since the time of his great, great, great grandfather Brihtnoth. However, his family have served the king as warriors since before the time Hengest first came to this country. Leofwine inherited the estate when Earnulf was killed fighting against the Vikings at Rochester in 885. King Alfred himself led the army that routed the Vikings who were beseiging the city. Before this he was a member of the king's hearth-troop for almost half his lifetime. During this period he was involved in many skirmishes and several battles against the Danish Invaders, most notably the Battle of Eddington in 878.
Ben Levick is the Leader of Angelcynn.
Known Aliases
Æðelstan, Cyniges Gesið, 660AD
The Thegn
The advent of Christianity in the seventh century was to bring about a change in the Anglo-Saxon social/military system which would totally change its nature by the middle of the ninth century. As Christianity spread the monasteries needed land on which to build, and in the past land tended to be given only for the lifetime of the king. However, the monasteries needed a more secure arrangement than just the hope that the king's successor would maintain the donation. This was achieved through the introduction of a Roman system known as ius perpetuum, or as the Anglo-Saxons called it bocland [bookland]. Under this system the king gave the land to the Church in eternity, and the grant was recorded in writing [the book] and witnessed by important noblemen and churchmen so that the land could not be taken back in future. Although book-land was foreign in origin, it flourished in England because the notion a man gave so that he might receive was anything but foreign to the pagan English. Book-land must have struck early Christian kings as a reasonable demand on the part of the Church. A Christian king gave a free gift to God in hope of receiving from Him an eternal gift - salvation.
As time went by more and more land was booked to the church, and many of the kings noblemen became disgruntled. Some of the noblemen offered to build abbeys and become the abbot on their land in return for the book-right, and this was often granted even if the noblemen didn't keep his end of the bargain. The holders of these early books, both genuine and spurious, enjoyed their tenures free from all service, including military service. And by giving the land in book-right, the king had removed it permanently from his control.
The kings faced a dilemma. This dilemma was first solved by the Mercian kings of the mid-eighth century, when King Æthelbald decreed that all the churches and monasteries in his realm were to be free from 'all public renders, works and charges, reserving only two things: the construction of bridges and the defence of fortifications against enemies.'
By the latter part of the eighth century book-right was being granted to secular as well as ecclesiastical men. In order to maintain his fyrd, King Offa of Mercia further refined Æthelbald's decree by giving land free of all service 'except for matters pertaining to expeditions [fyrd], and the construction of bridges and fortifications, which is necessary for the whole people and from which none ought to be excused.' By the mid ninth century these 'common burdens' (as they were often referred to) were being demanded in all the kingdoms.
In short the idea of military service as a condition of land tenure was a consequence of book-right. Under the traditional land-holding arrangement a stipulation of this sort would have been un-necessary - a holder of loanland from the king was by definition a king's man, and his acceptance of an estate obliged him to respond with fidelity and service to his royal lord. Book-land tenure, a hereditary possession, was quite a different matter, for such a grant permanently removed the land from the king's control without assuring that future generations who owned the property would recognise the king or his successors as their lord. By imposing the 'common burdens', the king guaranteed military service from book-land and tied the holders of the book securely to the ruler of the tribe. By this time the earlier terms geoguð and duguð were being replaced by dreng (young landless warrior) and thegn (one who serves). The dreng still attended the king directly, whilst the thegn was usually the holder of book-land. By now, the term scir usually denoted more than just a single estate, and the thegn who held the scir was usually referred to as an ealdorman. Many of the lesser thegns within the scir would have held their land from the ealdorman in addition to those who held land directly from the king, the king's thegns.
The Anglo-Saxons did not draw much distinction between 'military' and 'police' actions. The same men who led the king's hosts, his thegns, gerefa [reeves] and ealdormen, also did justice. The same mounted men who were responsible for the capture of lawbreakers were also responsible for the defence of the kingdom - there was a thin line between posse and army! After all, the Danish invasions did not end ordinary criminal activity, in fact there is some evidence to suggest it may have increased.
Page created 13th August1997
Last updated 14th August 1997
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