Ealdorman

Ealdorman (/ˈɔːldərmən/, Old English pronunciation: [ˈæ͜ɑɫ.dorˌmɑn])[1] was an office in the government of Anglo-Saxon England. During the 11th century, it evolved into the title of earl.

A mention of ealdormen in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle

Early use

The Old English word ealdorman was applied to high-ranking men. It was equated with several Latin titles, including princeps, dux, comes, and praefectus. The title could be applied to kings of weaker territories who had submitted to a greater power. For example, a charter of King Offa of Mercia described Ealdred of Hwicce as "subregulus ... et dux ('underking and ealdorman')."[2]

In Wessex, the king appointed ealdormen to lead individual shires.[2] Under Alfred the Great (r.871–899), there were nine or ten ealdormen. Each West Saxon shire had one, and Kent had two (one for East Kent and one for West Kent).[3]

10th century

In the 10th century, the kings of Wessex successfully unified England into one kingdom, and ealdormen became the local representatives of the monarch.[2] The ealdorman commanded the shire's fyrd (army), co-presided with the bishop over the shire court, and enforced royal orders. He had a right to the "third penny": one-third of the income from the shire court and one-third of the revenue from tolls and dues levied in the boroughs. The king could remove ealdormen.[4][5]

Starting with Edward the Elder (r.899–924), it became customary for one ealdorman to administer three or four shires together as an ealdormanry.[6] One ealdormanry covered Wessex east of Selwood and another covered Wessex west of Selwood.[2] By 965, Mercia had four or five ealdormen and Northumbria only one.[7] The boundaries of the ealdormanries are unknown, and they may not have covered the entire kingdom. It is possible that the king kept some areas under his personal jurisdiction.[4]

In the 11th century, the term eorl, today's earl, replaced that of ealdorman, but this reflected a change in terminology under Danish influence rather than a change in function.[8]

Notable ealdormen

See also

  • Alderman
  • Earls, ealdormen and high-reeves of Bamburgh
  • Starosta, the Slavic equivalent of ealdorman

Citations

  1. "ealdorman". Collins English Dictionary.
  2. Stafford 2014, p. 156.
  3. Loyn 1984, p. 75.
  4. Powell & Wallis 1968, p. 6.
  5. Lyon 1980, pp. 62–63.
  6. Lyon 1980, p. 63.
  7. Loyn 1984, p. 77.
  8. Stafford 2014, p. 157.

References

  • Loyn, H. R. (1984). The Governance of Anglo-Saxon England, 500–1087. Governance of England. Vol. 1. Stanford University Press. ISBN 9780804712170.
  • Lyon, Bryce (1980). A Constitutional and Legal History of Medieval England (2nd ed.). W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 0-393-95132-4. 1st edition available to read online here.
  • Powell, J. Enoch; Wallis, Keith (1968). The House of Lords in the Middle Ages: A History of the English House of Lords to 1540. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. ISBN 0297761056.
  • Stafford, Pauline (2014). "Ealdorman". In Lapidge, Michael; Blair, John; Keynes, Simon; Scragg, Donald (eds.). Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England (2nd ed.). Wiley Blackwell. pp. 156–157. doi:10.1002/9781118316061. ISBN 9780470656327.

Further reading

  • Banton, N., "Ealdormen and Earls in England from the Reign of King Alfred to the Reign of King Æthelred II", D.Phil. thesis, University of Oxford, 1981
  • Loyn, Henry R. "The term ealdorman in the translations prepared at the time of King Alfred." English Historical Review 68 (1953): 513–25.
  • Stenton, Sir Frank M. Anglo-Saxon England; 3rd ed. London: Oxford University Press, 1971.
  • Williams, Ann. Kingship and Government in Pre-Conquest England, c. 500–1066. Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1999 ISBN 0-333-56797-8
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