Presidential Address: The Historical Bearing of Place-Name Studies: The Place of Women in Anglo-Saxon Society Author(s): F. M.

Stenton Source: Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, Fourth Series, Vol. 25 (1943), pp. 1-13 Published by: Royal Historical Society Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3678611 . Accessed: 28/03/2014 11:44
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

Royal Historical Society is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Transactions of the Royal Historical Society.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 64.141.84.23 on Fri, 28 Mar 2014 11:44:15 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

TRANSACTIONS
OF THE

ROYAL HISTORICAL SOCIETY

PRESIDENTIAL
BY PROFESSOR

ADDRESS

Delivered x4 February 1942

F. M.
STENTON,

M.A., D.Litt., Litt.D., F.B.A.

THE HISTORICALBEARINGOF PLACE-NAMESTUDIES: THE PLACE OF WOMEN IN ANGLO-SAXON SOCIETY

ONE of the interesting features of Anglo-Saxon is the history number ofwomen whoimpressed themselves on the consciousness of their time. They appear in all periods fromthe to the eve of the NormanConquest, and foreworld legendary they occur in the religiousas well as the temporalsphere. The illustrious Hild ofWhitby, whomade herhousea nursery of bishops, standsformanyof hersex and order, whoseright of men and womenwas neverchallenged to rule communities by the nativeleadersof the Englishchurch. Amongwomen of the world,if the Old EnglishChronicle can be trustedand its authority in thissection is good-Seaxburg,the widow of Coenwalh after himfora year,late kingofWessex,reigned the wife of Offa,who in the seventhcentury. Cynethryth as thegreatexampleofa tyrannous passedintohistory queen, in herownday thatcoinswerestruck was ofsuchconsequence in hername. In thetenth theLady ofthe AEthelflaed century, at the head of a military Mercians, household, plannedand carried out a series of momentous campaigns. IElfgifuof the first wifeofCnut,after Northampton, ruling Norwaywith a severity whichmade 'AElfgifu's time' an evil memory in the North, the of men to her brought leading England accept son Harold as theirking. A generation later, the lady who was knownin at least seven countiesas Eddeve 'the fair', Eddeve ' the rich' or Eddeve ' the richand fair ', commanded a following of freelandowners whichwould have done credit to an earl. Thereis no doubtthatOld Englishsociety allowed to women, notonlyprivate but alsothewidest influence, liberty of intervention in public affairs. The prominence of these and otherwomenin the life of
I

This content downloaded from 64.141.84.23 on Fri, 28 Mar 2014 11:44:15 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

TRANSACTIONS

OF THE ROYAL HISTORICAL

SOCIETY

withthe vagueness contrast whichoverthe stateis in curious of the in Old law. On many women position English hangs the codes no information points give important Anglo-Saxon of any kind. On others, the information whichtheygive is confused, touched with homiletic, or over-concise.The is perhapsat its densestaroundthe fundamental obscurity of underwhichwomencould acquire question the conditions and enjoy the possessionof land. There is no doubt as to couldinherit land before theNorman thebare factthatwomen underwhichan inheriConquest. But on the circumstances tance would fall to them,thereis littleto be gathered from forOld Englishlegal history. They the primary authorities even in regardto the basic problems give no clear direction which centreround the daughter's rightto a share in her that on the most urgentof father'sland. It is significant these after theGesetze, Liebermann, editing problems, attempted no morethan the statement that ' on the evidenceofthe Old in Englishlaws, the exclusionof the sister by the brother the inheritance of landed property can neither be provednor For further like these,it is necessary to lighton questions the of enactments Old to materials pass beyond Englishkings of narrower and the range-to the wills,the privatecharters, royal diplomasof the Anglo-Saxon period. They have little to tell about the inheritance of unprivileged land-the land of the free peasant and the lesser thegn. But they give about the descent of estates held as valuable information 'bookland' underthe termsof a royal charter. One of the attachedto land thus held was the power liberties normally of bequeathingor otherwise the descent of the regulating to The was often used property. power keep the estate in the male line of its recipient. Therewas a strong preference forthe male line in the West Saxon royal house itself. In that his grandfather, his own will, kingAlfred remarks king ' had to his land the spear-side, not to the Egbert, bequeathed '.' But withregardto certainlands whichhad spindle-side been acquiredby the royalfamily sinceEgbert'sdeath, Alfred observesthat he is freeto bequeaththemto men or women as he wishes, and the history of manyestatesin the nexttwo centuries showsthat therewas no generalcustomadverseto of bookland by women. Even beforeking the inheritance Alfred's are on record. The time,cases of such inheritance most interesting of kingEgbert'sfewsurviving charters was
1
2

disproved'.1

Die Gesetze der Angelsachsen, II,

2, p. 390. F. E. Harmer, English historicaldocuments, p. 19.

This content downloaded from 64.141.84.23 on Fri, 28 Mar 2014 11:44:15 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

PRESIDENTIAL

ADDRESS

made in favourof threesisters, who had inherited an estate of this kind fromtheirfather, but had lost theiranteriora scripsiuncula.' Documentsfromthe centurybeforethe Conquest,and thewillsand narrative which charters are characterespecially of womenpossessedof istic of this age, show large numbers land by virtueof grant,bequest or inheritance.They also show that thesewomenwere able to disposeof theirlanded whichwas not permitted to their with a freedom property successorsof the feudal age. A woman could alienate her or dower,thoughit would be well forsuch 'morning-gift', to be confirmed a transaction time, by the king. In Alfred's that she is freeto sell a particular woman a says explicitly estate 'because it had been her morning-gift '.2 In the it was possiblefor a womanto disinherit eleventhcentury, in favourof a femalerelative. Few her son, ostentatiously, outside the main streamof Old English history characters thantheladywhoreceived a deputation standoutmoreclearly ' HeresitsLeoffled, withtheoutburst thelocal shire-court from to whomafter mydeathI grantmyland and mykinswoman, my gold, my robes and my raiment,and all that I have. to the good menin and give my message Behave like thegns, the court,and tell themto whomI have givenmy land and That womenhad my property-andto my son, nothing.' 3 land is provedby manywillsofthis the powerofbequeathing ofbequestwasnotrestricted freedom showthattheir age,which to ecclesiastical to theirkin,but extendedto theirservants, The fact that the to and churches.4 king is often persons, asked to confirm these bequests merelyprovesthat he was ofland in any important interested changein the distribution ofmenwhomakethe same amonghis subjects. The number requestshowsthatit was notthesignofany speciallimitation imposedon the womantestator. as they ofthe pre-Conquest The royalcharters age, formal the position ofthe illustrate are,contain manypassageswhich ofthemare grants number womanlandowner. A considerable to women. Some of these womenseem to have been under but manyof them,to all appearance,were vows of religion, thatthe showincidentally in theworld. Othercharters living had been ownedby withwhichtheyare concerned properties the earliest ofthem womenat sometimein the past. Among
1 Birch, Cartularium Saxonicum, 41o. English historicaldocuments,p. 31. 3 A. J. Robertson, Anglo-Saxon charters,p. 152. 4 Ten out of the 39 documents printedin Miss D. Whitelock's Anglo-Saxon wills were made by women.
2
TRANS. 4TH S.-VOL. XXV. B

This content downloaded from 64.141.84.23 on Fri, 28 Mar 2014 11:44:15 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

OF THE ROYALHISTORICAL TRANSACTIONS SOCIETY 4 to WaterEaton near is a charter ofEdwardthe Elderrelating the history of the estate duringthe whichsketches Oxford, and EAthelswith, previous thirty years.1 It statesthatBurgred the king and queen of Mercia,had grantedthe village to Alhhun successor, ; thatAlhhun's bishop bishopofWorcester had exchangedit forotherland withCeolwulf II Werferth, had granted it to a woman kingofMercia; thatkingCeolwulf had sold it to a certain namedHungyth; and that Hungyth in the presenceof the Mercianwitan. The whole Wigferth tenorof the passage is against the idea that therewas any and grant to Hungyth, religiouspurposebehind Ceolwulf's the way in whichthe storyis told suggests that those who recordedit saw nothingremarkablein her acquisition of the estate, or, for that matter, in her alienation of it by

women among the English landowners of the Confessor's

sale. It is clear fromDomesday Book that therewere many

reign. Several of themhave lefttheirnames to the estates and Lovacott whichtheypossessed. The hamlets ofGoodcott in Devon obviously thewomen called derivetheirnamesfrom and Lufu their owners.2 who were Godgifu pre-Conquest in Dorset seems to be named afterAElfrun, the Afflington holderof one of the manorsintowhichthe place was divided in io66.3 The case of Tolpuddlein the same countyis more In Domesday Book, the village is described interesting.4 the of Abbotsbury among possessions Abbeyunderthe name Pidele-the nameofthe stream theplace is situated. which by The first syllableof the modernname, whichwas added in order to distinguish themanor other from placesnearthesame of name the ofUrk,a housethe wife stream, Tola, represents carle of kingCnut,who withher husband,or moreprobably afterhis death,gave Tolpuddleto the abbey. The addition had the curiousresultthat a Scandinavianwoman'sname; which is extremely rare even in Danish England, became associated witha manorin the heartofsouthern permanently Wessex.5 The place-names whichcontainthe namesof womenform a usefulsupplement to the documentary forthe preevidence
The place-names of Devon (English Place-Name Society), pp. 355, io8. A. Fdgersten, The place-names of Dorset, p. 117. SIbid., p. 179. 5 The name does not seem to be recorded in Swedish or in the West Scandinavian dialects, but was common in Old Danish (0. Nielsen, Olddanske Personnavne, p. Ioo). Two examples have been noticed in the English Danelaw.
8

1 Cart. Sax., 607. 2

This content downloaded from 64.141.84.23 on Fri, 28 Mar 2014 11:44:15 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

PRESIDENTIAL

ADDRESS

Conquestwoman landowner.' Few of them can be closely it is probablethattheybelongto the dated; but, as a group, of Anglo-Saxon than the earliercenturies laterrather history. for example, the great Staffordshire Wulfrun, lady whose hah timn, or chiefmanor,has becomeWolverhampton, lived in the secondhalfofthe tenthcentury.2 It is suggestive that no namesof thistypeoccurin the writings of Bede, or in the oldest sectionsof the Anglo-SaxonChronicle. The first for whichthereis ancientauthority seems to be Bamburghin of whichappearsin kingAlfred's translation Northumberland, theHistoria Ecclesiastica in theform and according Bebbanburg, to the dubioustestimony ofNenniuswas derived from Bebbe, wife of .Ethelfrith king of the Bernicians.3 Names of this kind are rare in the earliest charters. Bognor in Sussex, ' Bucge'sbankorshore', occurs which is dated680, in a charter but was probablywritten in the tenthcentury.4 Fladbury in Worcestershire,' Flide's burh ', was the subjectof a grant of AEthelred by king Mercia,shortlyafter69o.5 The next undoubted case of a village-name thusformed seemsto be the unidentified in a westwhichis mentioned Cyneburgingctun midlandcharter of 840.8 It is not untilthe tenthcentury is well advanced that such formations begin to appear in appreciablenumbers. More than seventyof these names appear in Domesday Book. The numberwould have been much larger if the ofhamlets and villageshad beenmore Domesdayenumeration
1 It should be emphasised at this point that any list of these names which can be compiled at the present time is bound to be seriously incomplete. In dealing with the short formsof personal names which occur in countless and generally impossible, to distinguish place-names, it is always difficult, between the names of men and women. It is reasonable to assume that Bibury in Gloucestershiretakes its name froma woman called Beage because in the eighth century the place, which until then had no fixed name, was granted to a local nobleman etfilix suv que vocaturBeage (Cart. Sax., 166). Without this information,few scholars would have hesitated to derive the name from the masculine form Bega. The evidence which place-names supply forthe existence of the woman landowner comes almost entirelyfrom compound names which are proved to be feminineby the nature or arrangement of their elements. 2 Her name does not seem to have become permanentlyattached to the site until a century after her time. The first example of the compound Wolverhampton occurs in a late writ of William I. In Domesday Book, the place appears as ' Hantone ' and ' Handone '. 8 Historia Brittonum,ed. Mommsen, p. 2o6. According.to a northern tradition preserved in the late manuscript ' E ' of the Chroniclethe fortress was walled by the BerniciankingIda at about the middle of the sixth century. 4 Cart. Sax., 5o, Bucge is a short formof a femininename beginningor ending in the element Burg. 6 Cart. Sax., 76. On this name see below, pp. 8-9. * Cart. Sax., 430, Hist. MSS. Comm., Report on the manuscriptsof Lord Middleton, p. 208.

This content downloaded from 64.141.84.23 on Fri, 28 Mar 2014 11:44:15 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

TRANSACTIONS

OF THE ROYAL HISTORICAL

SOCIETY

forexample,is not mennearlycomplete. Elson in Gosport, tionedin DomesdayBook,but its name,which'means ' Ethelswith'st~n', occursin a tenth-century charter.' There are the of not before this which are recorded names many type but twelfth or thirteenth are of Old century, clearly English which prevailedin the origin. Under the social conditions Normanage, few Englishwomen were in a positionto leave in theirnames to manorsor villages. Names such as Aylton in Herefordshire-' SussexEdburton ?Ethelgifu'stUn', ' Eadburg's tin ', Chellington in Bedfordshire-' C~olwynn's tan', or Harvington in Chaddesley Corbet,Worcestershiretn to the Old safelybe referred English time. It is easier to in the conditions namesofEnglishwomen could which imagine a date in of a at later kind, appear place-names topographical such as Goodwoodin Sussex-' Godgifu's wood', Whaberley in Worcestershire-' clearing', Adneyin ShropHweetburg's shire-' ?adwynn's island', or Wilberfossin Yorkshire'Wilburg's ditch'. But the numberof cases in whichsuch to have arisenafter is so small namesare known the Conquest thatthesenamesalso are best takenas Old Englishsurvivals. In any case, for historical purposes,they are much less than the names whichcombinea woman'sname interesting with a word denoting a place of settlement-ham, burh, tin, or and in Danish worth, England,byor thorp. Thereare wz-c, cases in whichit is hardto decidethenatureofthe settlement described withother by sucha name. It is onlya comparison names of the same kind,and a reviewof local circumstances which makeit probable thatwfc in theHertfordshire AEthelflmede wic meant a dairy-farm,2 and that the original Cynehilde in which has become Kenilworth, was a farmstead worth, of theseterms Arden.3 But in regardto the moreimportant ofsettlement, themeaning is plainer. Thereis direct evidence of all, whichat first that tan,the commonest meantno more than 'enclosure', had acquiredthe sense of 'village' before theend oftheseventh place-names, century.4 In innumerable thiswordis preceded by the name of a man or womanin the
1 Cart. Sax., 865, where the name appears in the compound ,Ethelswithelea. tuninga 2 The place-names of Hertfordshire (E.P-N.S.), p. 181. The site is now represented by Beauchamps in Layston. 3 There seems to have been a doublet of Kenilworth in the Cynilde worth which occurs as a boundary-pointnear Whittingtonin Worcestershire. 4 A law of Hlothhere prescribes that a man who wishes to clear himself fromthe charge of stealing a slave must produce a number of freewitnesses, of whom one must come fromthe tun to which he himselfbelongs. Liebermann, Gesetze,I, pp. 9, Io.

'Herewynn's

n', though ignored by Domesday Book, can

This content downloaded from 64.141.84.23 on Fri, 28 Mar 2014 11:44:15 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

PRESIDENTIAL

ADDRESS

case.' Few examplesoccurin the earliest authorities, genitive but by the eleventh the typehad ariseneverywhere. century In Derbyshire alone, more than thirtyof these names are mentioned in DomesdayBook. Historically, theyare important because theyshow that in the Old Englishperiodit was not unusual for an individual to hold a position of such withina village that his or her name became prominence attached to it. The nature of this position is a difficult cases between question. It may well have variedin different the ownership of the village with all its lands and informal precedence amonga groupof peasantproprietors.Whatever it must have been permanent, and recognised, its character, the villageitself, but also by the men of the not onlywithin country. surrounding in DomesdayBook, thenamesofthistyperecorded Among more than thirtycontain the names of women. There are isolatedexamplesin mostpartsof England. In Nottinghamand Kneetoncontainthe feminine shire,Darlton,Kinoulton, and Cangifu,of which the last names Daorlufu,Cynehild, in and Knayton,YorkKniveton, Derbyshire, appears again and Wiston shire. In Suffolk, contain Alpheaton, Dennington, Denegifu,A1fhild, and Wigswith. In Sussex, Binderton, and Walbertoncontain Beornthryth, Warbleton, Waerburg, and Wealdburg. Waerburgappears again in Warburton, Cheshire. In Berkshire, Elton in Welfordis derivedfrom from Radgifu. ,Ethelflad; Eddington near Hungerford, Wollaton in Devon is derivedfromWulfgifu; Offerton in in Shropshire, from from Ealhfled; Wollerton Worcestershire, in Cheshire, fromWynnfled; WilWulfwynn; Willington burton in Cambridgeshire, from in Essex, ; Abberton Wilburg from iRadburg. The onlycountyin whichthereis anything of thesenamesis Kent,wherethe a concentration resembling feminine names ,Elfgyth, Bilswith, Hringwynn, S&gifu,Sigeand Garwynn have givenrise to fled, Ceolwaru, AEthelwaru, the place-names Bilsington, Elvington, Sevington, Ringleton, But even Siffleton, Chilverton, Elverton,and Garrington.2 without the Kentishexamplesthereare enoughnamesof this kindto suggest thatin Old English timesit was notuncommon fora womanto be the lady of a tmin.
I e.g., Eadnothestun, and Beadurices tun,now representedby Deorlafestun, Ednaston in Derbyshire, Darlaston in Staffordshire,and Barcheston in Warwickshire. * The history of these Kentish names was first worked out by J. K. Wallenberg in The place-names of Kent (1934). Chilverton and Elverton are not, apparently, recorded before the thirteenthcentury,but there does not seem to be any reason forseparatingthem fromthe othernames of this group.

This content downloaded from 64.141.84.23 on Fri, 28 Mar 2014 11:44:15 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

TRANSACTIONS OF THE ROYAL HISTORICAL

SOCIETY

themostwidely-distributed ofplacetiin is among Although it is not prominent in the local nomenclature name elements, of the earliest times. So faras can be seen,in the age of the the word and for many generations thereafter, settlement, for of used habitation was not an important place generally h1m tiinbut hcm. On the otherhand,it is doubtful whether of new place-names was much employedin the formation at latest, theendoftheeighth and it is therefore after, century, that the word occasionally of some interest appears in comthecases as to which bination witha woman'sname. Among thereis no seriousdoubt,Babrahamand Wilbraham in Cambridgeshirecontain the femininenames Beaduburg and in Essex containsIEschild; Hardham Wilburg; Asheldham in Sussex, Heregyth; Worldhamin Hampshire,Waerhild; Alpraham in Cheshire,Ealhburg; Abram in Lancashire, in Yorkshire, Eadburg; Hubberholme Hiinburg. In view of formed therarity oflate place-names theseexamples from hdm, can reasonably be acceptedas an additionto the evidencefor of land by womenin the pre-Alfredian the ownership age. that in at least ten place-names, It is more remarkable the archaicBamburgh, a woman'sname is comapart from poundedwith the elementburh. Harburyin Warwickshire means the burhof a womannamed Hereburg. Biburyand containthe feminine in Gloucestershire namesB~age Tetbury and Tette. Heytesburyand Alderburyin Wiltshireare derived from Heahthr5thand AEthelwaru.Adderburyin in BerkOxfordshire, Fladburyin Worcestershire, Bucklebury and Alberburyin shire, Queniboroughin Leicestershire, womencalled Eadburg,Fliede, werenamed from Shropshire, and Cwane, Alhburg. The originalmeaning of Burghild, orplace ofdefence. Apartfrom was fortress, burh thespecialin the modern ised usage whichsurvives 'borough', the word was applied to ancientfortsof stone or earthwork, and to defences which could houses surrounded be held by against an enemy. It is oftendifficult to determine the sensewhich it bears in a particular and it is unlikely that it place-name, had the same meaningin all the names which have been of this groupof names feature quoted. The mostinteresting of that one and in them, is probablyin others,burhmeant a fortnor a defensible neither house, but a monastery. In ofthelate seventh a charter which comesfrom Malmescentury the estateafterwards knownas genuine, burybut is probably and now,as Tetbury, Tettanbyrig, is described as 15 cassati, or hides,propeTettanmonasterium.1
1 Cart. Sax., 58.

This content downloaded from 64.141.84.23 on Fri, 28 Mar 2014 11:44:15 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

9 could There is otherevidencethat burhand monasterium on Trymin Gloucesterbe used interchangeably. Westbury in an original charter of Offa, and shireappearsas Uuestburg of 804 preserved in Heming's in a document as Westmynster refersto the Worcester cartulary.1The usage presumably the monasticbuildings,and it enclosurewhich surrounded of severalothernames, the mostnaturalexplanation provides in which the word burhwas used to such as Malmesbury, house.2 It probablyaccounts denotethe site of a religious for the appearance of the word in the name of Fladbury, in a charter of the early as a monasterium whichis described witha woman'sname,burh century.3 In composition eighth is more likelyto have meant 'monastery' than 'fortress', thatFladbury and Tetbury and it maywellbe a mereaccident be are the only names in this series which can definitely foundation.4 with an early religious connected In every county,Domesday Book recordsmany placedenoted features suchas nameswhichoriginally topographical or Some of these names trees, springs,woods, clearings. containthe names of women. Buckdenin Huntingdonshire, in Suffolk, 'Bucge's valley', and the lost Hatheburgfelda 'Heathuburg's open ground', are examples. Eythornein ', though not mentionedin Kent, 'Heahgyth's thorn-tree a had as earlyas the become village-name DomesdayBook, ninthcentury.5The Old EnglishlMah, 'clearing', is perhaps ofall theelements which the commonest occurin thesenames, withthe name of a woman. and it is frequently compounded of preAmongthe names of this kind whichare certainly in and in Alveley Shropshire Aveley Essex Conquestorigin, name MElfgyth thefeminine contain contains ; Avelyin Suffolk Bealdthryth; Audley Elfwynn; Balterleyin Staffordshire,
PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS
2 in Somerset,in which the firstelement is a saint's name, is Congresbury probably another example. 3 In an endorsement by bishop Ecgwine of Worcester to a charter of .Ethelred of Mercia grantingFladbury to the seventh-century bishop Oftfor. Cart. Sax., 76. is compounded 4 There are several place-names in which the word mynster with a personal name, but the only case in which the name is that of a woman of Cart. Sax., 535. The first element in this seems to be the Bebingmynster name is clearly the Old English Bebbe. The site has been identified with Beaminster in Dorset, but the medieval forms of the latter name do not agree very well with this suggestion. In Alvechurch, Worcestershire cyrcan. Cart. Sax., 1320), and Peakirk, Northamptonshire(et (AElfgythe Pegecyrcan.Kemble, Codex Diplomaticus, 726), a woman's name is associated with the Old English cyrice,' church '. Nothing is known about the iElfgyth of Alvechurch,but there is no reason to doubt that the Pege of Peakirk was the well-recordedsister of St. Guthlac of Crowland. 5 Cart. Sax., 318,

1 Cart. Sax., 274, 313.

This content downloaded from 64.141.84.23 on Fri, 28 Mar 2014 11:44:15 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

10

TRANSACTIONS

OF THE ROYAL HISTORICAL

SOCIETY

in Norfolk, in Staffordshire, ; Cyneburg Ealdgyth; Kimberley Anslow in Staffordshire, in Wilthr5th; Wilderley Shropshire, thesenames,it can at least ?answith. Without overstressing the partwhichwomenhad played be said that theyillustrate of woodlandfor tillage duringthe later in the reclamation of the Old Englishperiod.' centuries The best recordednames of this type come fromthe clausesofOld Englishcharters. Theyhave not yet boundary thispointofview,but a casual from beenstudied exhaustively search is enough to show the numberand varietyof the withthe namesof women. whichwerecompounded elements of feature whether therewas any common It is doubtful the. not associated or other was which somewhere countryside witha woman'sname. Femininenames occurin connexion
with mere, 'pool', wiella, 'spring ', fliot, burna, and geldd, ' stream' or ' watercourse', mutha, ' creek ', dic, ' ditch ',

' bridge 'tree ', stocc,' stump', stdn,' stone', bricg, trWow, ', ' hill' ' bece and ', ' ', ', denu, valley 'path beorg, weg, way stig, 'wooded hill', grdf,'brushwood or ' mound', hyrst, ', worthig, generally'homestead', hamm,generally'water-meadow', oflong andford.2 Mostnamesofthiskindcomefrom regions of name but the was established cultivation, Wynburge spar 3 was a hill near torr a Sussexswine-pasture, Meavy Edswythe 4 beneath Dartmoor,and Eanburgemere 5 was near Wootton Forest. Names formed in the original Bernwood Underwood in all the parts in this way had arisenby the tenthcentury
1 The name Anslow, which does not occur in Domesday Book, appears in in a fourin the boundaries of Wetmoor, Staffordshire, the formEansythelege Historical teenth century copy of a charter of ZEthelredII (Staffordshire Collections, William Salt Society, 1916, p. 124). 2 As no systematic collection of these names seems to have been made, it may be useful to give a selection of them here. (In the references, CD stands, for Kemble, Codex Diplomaticus, and CS, for Birch, Cartularium Saxonicum.) Eanburge mere near Wootton Underwood, Bucks., CS 452; Cynezbynne wylla near Ardley, Oxon., CD 1289; Hunburge fleot in South MonastiHams, Devon, CS 451 ; Beadgitheburna near Bilston, Staffordshire, con AnglicanumVIII 1444; Eanflede gelad near Hinksey, Berks, CS 1002 ; Eanflede mutha near Reculver, Kent, CS 880; Sigwynnedic near Fovant, Wilts., CD 687; Beornwunnetreownear Creedy, Devon, CS 1331 ; Winburge stoc near Eynsham, Oxon., CD 714; Byrngythe stan near Wolverhampton, CD 650; Wulfgythe Staffordshire, bricg, near Mickleton, Gloucestershire, CD 714 ; ,Ethelburge weg near Bath, CS 1257 ; AXthelflmde stignear Phepson, becenear Oldbarrow,Worc., CS 124 ; Beornwynne Worc., CS 937 ; Ceoldrythe denu near Pershore,Worc., CS 1282 ; Mwagnhilde beorhnear Taynton, Oxon.; Bouquet, Recueil des historiensde la Gaule ... xi, p. 655; Cyneburga? hyrst near Droxford,Hants., CS 742 ; Denegithegraf near 'Newton', Northants., CS 712; Heatheburheweorthyg near Pershore, Worc., CS 1282; Wihtlufe hamm near Lyford, Berks., CD 746; Sithrithe ford near Weston on Trent, Derbyshire, Charter in William Salt Library, Stafford. 3 CS 5 CS 452. 834. * CD 744.

This content downloaded from 64.141.84.23 on Fri, 28 Mar 2014 11:44:15 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

PRESIDENTIAL

ADDRESS

II

ofEnglandfrom whichcharters have survived.' Examplesof are coman earlierdate are rare,because charters themselves detailedboundaries rare, and charters containing paratively are veryrare indeed. But the names whichhave been preservedsuggestthat the part whichwomenhad taken in the of newlands forsettlement had been by no means occupation inconsiderable. of an estateis drawnfor the boundary In manycharters, of an adjacent property, of its course the border along part its owner's The line is said to whichis identified name. by pass andlang Wynsiesmearce,or andlang Wistanesgemere. at whose names are thus recorded, Amongthe landowners least ten were women. They are scatteredover Berkshire, and WarwickKent,Essex,Oxfordshire, Wiltshire, Hampshire, is otherwise shire.2 The onlyone of themof whomanything knownis Eadgifu,the boundaryof whoseland is mentioned to Levertonin Berkshire.3The neighin a charter relating of takes its name village Edingtonnear Hungerford bouring froma woman called Eadgifu,and there is no reason to doubt that she was identical with the woman of this charter. Thereis nothing name whoappearsin the Leverton to suggest that she was a moreimportant personthan the other women of this group,and thereseems no particular in the fact that she alone has givenname to a significance village. have so farbeenquotedare all ofEnglish The nameswhich origin. Most of thembelongto Wessex or English Mercia. For the positionof womenin Danish England thereis less evidence. Few collectionsof early chartershave survived fromthe Danelaw, and forthe northern part of this region thereis little documentary materialearlierthan Domesday
1 To the examples recorded in charters, there may be added a number of ancient hundred-names which are formed from the names of women. A complete list is given by O. S. Anderson,The English hundred-names (I939), iii, 206. Among the most interestingare Auronhellein Sussex-' AElfrun's in Gloucestershire-' Ceolfloed'sthorn', Winburgetreowin hill ', Celfledetorn Worcestershire-' Wynnburg's tree ', Redbornstoke in Bedfordshire-' Rwdburg's place', and Underditch in Wiltshire-' Wynnthryth'sdyke'. to the boundary of a woman's land occur in Cart. Sax., 2Phrases referring mearconeastan . . . op Eadgife mearce(' Oswaldingtun ', Kent) ; 753, zElfgythe Cart. Sax., 984, on AElfledemearce (Padworth, Berkshire); Cart. Sax., 1077, be Byrhtswypemearce (Kilmiston, Hampshire); Cart. Sax., IIoI, andlang ,Elfwennemearce (Vange, Essex) ; Cod. Dip., 636, to ?Elflede gemare (Clyffe Pypard, Wiltshire); Cod. Dip., 641, on Wilburgeimare (Tisbury,Wiltshire); Cod. Dip., 724, on ,Elfledegemwro (Bishopton,Warwickshire); Cod. Dip. 792, andlang stremeso6 Eadgife gemaere(Leverton, Berkshire); Cod. Dip., I307, on Leofrune Oxfordshire); OrdnanceSurvey facsimiles,ii, gemere (Whitchurch, Winchester College 4, to Leofwinnemearce (Drayton, North Hampshire). 3 Cod. Dip., 792.

This content downloaded from 64.141.84.23 on Fri, 28 Mar 2014 11:44:15 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

12

TRANSACTIONS OF THE ROYAL HISTORICAL

SOCIETY

of an indethe clearest description Book.' Nevertheless, whichhas come downfrom early pendentwomanlandowner Englandrelatesto thispartofthe country. In thestatement Domesofdisputed claimsto land at the end ofthe Yorkshire named a the whole land of woman it that asserted is day,2 Asa oughtto belongto RobertMalet,'because she had her and powerofBernulf from thelordship land separateand free so that he could herhusband,even whentheylived together, it. Morenorsale ofit, norcouldhe forfeit makeneither gift with all her land, she withdrew over aftertheirseparation, and possessedit as lady.' The passage agrees remarkably about the position withthe generaltenorof Norseliterature the authority ofa public and it carries in the north, ofwomen ifnot of a riding. It is perhapsmore court-of a wapentake, into is not introduced to note that the statement important would There of a Book as the record Domesday legalanomaly. ofAsa overherland if it to the rights have been no reference raised by her had not been for the practicalcomplications fromher husband. departure In view of this passage,it is naturalto expectthat here of the North,there and thereamongthe early place-names ofland by women shouldbe tracesofthe ownership who,like Asa, bore names of Scandinavianorigin. The place-names so faras it goes, but their are in pointare few, which evidence, the onlyclearexamples is conclusive. South of the Humber, in Lincolnin Nottinghamshire and Raventhorpe areGunthorpe shire, which contain the femininenames Gunnhildrand at least eightof these names Ragnhildr. But in Yorkshire, and Gunnnames Ingirithr are well recorded. The feminine in the West Ridingand Gunbyin hildroccurin Ingerthorpe in theEast Ridingis a doublet theEast Riding. Raventhorpe in Lincolnshire. Helperthorpe in the East of Raventhorpe the Riding and Helperbyin the NorthRidingeach contains nameHjalpr,and in each case thisnameappears rarefeminine in the correct form genitive Hjalpar. The same Scandinavian of Burythorpe in the East occurs in genitive early spellings Riding and Thorlbyin the West Riding,whichare derived from the feminine names Bjqrg and Thorhildr. Hinderskelfe ofland belonging in theNorthRidingmeanstheledgeor shelf to a womancalledHildr,and in thisnamealso thetruegenitive
1 It may be noted that in regard to Scandinavian, as to English names, it is oftenhard to distinguishbetween masculine and feminineforms. There is nothing, for example, in Touetun, the Domesday spelling of Towton in Yorkshire, to show whether the firstelement is the masculine T6fi or the feminineT6fa. Ambiguities like this are frequent. 2 Domesday Book, I, fo. 373.

This content downloaded from 64.141.84.23 on Fri, 28 Mar 2014 11:44:15 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

PRESIDENTIAL

ADDRESS

13

in -ar has been preserved. Apartfrom whichis Ingerthorpe, each of these not mentioned beforethe late twelfth century, names is recordedin Domesday Book, and one of them is knownto have arisenwithina hundred years of the Danish settlement in Yorkshire. Helperbyis mentioned in a list of for the see of York Osketel, properties acquired by archbishop intowhichthe namesof When all is told,the place-names a minute of the place-names womenenterform of proportion all England. It wouldbe easy to exaggerate their significance. thereare enoughof themto carrya fewmodest Nevertheless, the Norman generalisations.Theyshowthatbefore Conquest it was not unusualforwomen, like men,to leave theirnames to villages,hamlets, and parcelsof land brought into cultivaorforest. Theyimply tionfrom thata considerable brushwood numberof womenpossessedestates which can properly, if be as described as a manors. whole, Regarded untechnically, that womenwere associatedwith they give the impression men on termsof roughequalityin the commonlife of the countryside.They suggest,in fact, that the independence whichwomenhad enjoyedin the Migration Age was never of lost the Old centuries completely Englishhistory. during
1 A. J. Robertson, Anglo-Saxon charters,p. II2.

who died in 971.'

This content downloaded from 64.141.84.23 on Fri, 28 Mar 2014 11:44:15 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions