History of the estates of Bromley and Fawkham, 980-987
History of the estates of Bromley and Fawkham, Kent, in the time of King Eadgar1 and immediately afterwards,2 980–9873. Textus Roffensis, ff. 162v–163v. Translated from Old English and edited by Dr Christopher Monk.
Transcription
162v (select folio number to open facsimile)
De Falchehan, ⁊ Bromleage.4
þus wæron ða land,5 æt Bromleage ⁊ æt
Fealcnaham, þam cinge Eadgare gereht,
on Lundenbyrig, ðurh Snodinglandes land-
bec. ða þa preostas forstælon þam biscope on
Hrofesceastre, ⁊ gesealdan heo Ælfrice Æsc-
wynne sunu, wið feo dearnunga, ⁊ heo Æscwyn
Ælfrices modor sealde heo ær ðider in, ða
geacsode se biscop þæt ða becc forstolene wæron,
bæd þara boca ða geornlice, under ðam þa ge-
watt Ælfric, ⁊ he bæd ða lafe syððan, oð man
gerehte on cinges ðeningmanna gemote ðære
stowe ⁊ ðam biscope ða forstolenan becc Snodig-
landes, ⁊ bote æt ðære ðyfðe, þæt wæs on Lun-
dene, þær wæs se cing Eadgar, ⁊ se arcebiscop
Dunstan, ⁊ Aðelwold biscop, ⁊ Ælfstan biscop,
⁊ oðer Ælfstan, ⁊ Ælfere ealdorman, ⁊ fela
cynges witena, ⁊ man agæf ða into ðære
stowe ðam biscope ða becc, ða stod ðara wydewan
are, on ðæs cinges handa. ða wolde Wulfstan
se gerefa niman þa are to ðæs cinges handa,
Bromleah, ⁊ Fealcnaham. ða gesohte seo wy-
dewe ða halgan stowe, ⁊ ðane biscop, ⁊ agæf ðam
cinge Bromleages boc, ⁊ Fealcnahames, ⁊ se
byscop gebohte ða becc ⁊ ða land æt ðam cinge
on Godeshylle,6 mid fiftigan mancesan goldes,
⁊ hund teontigan, ⁊ ðrittigum pundum, þurh fore-
spræce, ⁊ costnunge, into Sanctę Andrea,7 siððan
ða lefde se biscop ðare wydewan, ðara lande
bryces, under ðam ða gewatt se cing. Ongan
ða syððan Byrhtric ðare wydewan mæg, ⁊ heo
to ðam genedde þæt hy brucan ðara landa on
reaflace, gesohtan ða ðane ealdorman Eadwi-
ne, ⁊ þæt folc ðe wæs Godes anspreca, ⁊ geneddan
ðane biscop be ealre his are agiftes ðara
boca, ne moste he beon þara ðreora nanes
wyrðe ðe eallum leodscipe geseald wæs on wedde,
Tale, ne teames, ne ahnunga. þis is seo gewitnesse ðæs ceapes: Eadgar cing,
⁊ Dunstan arcebiscop, ⁊ Oswald arcebiscop, ⁊ Aðelwold biscop,
Æðelgar biscop, ⁊ Æscwi biscop, ⁊ Ælfstan biscop, ⁊ oðer Ælf-
stan biscop, ⁊ Sideman biscop, ⁊ ðæs cinges modor Ælf-
ðryð, ⁊ Osgar abbod, ⁊ Ælfere ealdorman, ⁊
Wulfstan on Dælham, ⁊ Ælfric on Ebbesham,
⁊ seo duguð folces on Westan Cænt, þær þæt
land, ⁊ þæt læð to lið.
Translation
Concerning Fawkham and Bromley:
Thus were given the lands at Bromley and at Fawkham8 to King Eadgar at London by means of the charters of Snodland.9
Then the priests stole them from the bishop of Rochester and sold them to Ælfric, son of Æscwyn, for secret money. Beforehand Æscwyn, mother of Ælfric, had given them up to [Rochester].10 And then the bishop realised that the charters were stolen. He then earnestly pleaded for the charters; meanwhile Ælfric died, and he later intreated [Byrhtwaru] his widow,11 until the stolen Snodland charters were given to [Rochester] and the bishop, as well as compensation for the theft, at a moot of the king’s thegns in London. There was Eadgar the king, Dunstan the archbishop, bishop Athelwold, bishop Ælfstan and the other Ælfstan, ealdorman Ælfere, and many of the king’s witan.12 And then those charters were restored to the bishop of [Rochester];13 and then the property of the widow rested in the king’s hand.
Then Wulfstan the reeve wished to take the property, Bromley and Fawkham, into the king’s hand.
However, the widow sought out the holy place and the bishop, and returned to the king the charter of Bromley and of Fawkham. And, at Gadshill,14 the bishop bought the charters and the land from the king with fifty mancuses of gold and one hundred and thirty pounds,15 by means of intercession and tribulation, for St Andrew’s;16 then afterwards the bishop permitted the widow use of the land. Meanwhile, the king died.
Then, afterwards, Byrhtric, a kinsman of the widow, set about persuading her that they obtain the lands by force.17 Then they sought out Eadwine the ealdorman along with the people, who were God’s accuser, and they compelled the bishop, on forfeit of all his property, to return the charters; nor was he to be worthy of any of those three things which were given to all people on pledging: neither talu,18 nor team,19 nor proof of ownership.20
This is the list of witnesses of the transaction: King Eadgar, Archbishop Dunstan,21 Archbishop Oswald,22 Bishop Athelwold,23 Bishop Æthelgar,24 Bishop Æscwig,25 Bishop Ælfstan,26 the other Bishop Ælfstan,27 Bishop Sideman,28 Ælfthryth the king’s mother,29 abbot Osgar, ealdorman Ælfere,30 Wulfstan of Dalham, Ælfric of Epsom, and the honourable folk of West Kent, where also that land and property lie.
Footnotes
1 King Eadgar, r. 959-75.
2 Title from A. Campbell (ed.), Charters of Rochester (Oxford University Press, 1973), p. 53. Campbell briefly discusses the story behind this charter, and related charters, at pp. xx–xxii. For a more detailed account, see Colin Flight, ‘Four vernacular texts from the pre-Conquest archive of Rochester Cathedral’, Archaeologia Cantiana 115 (1995), pp. 121–153: online here [accessed 12.02.18].
3 Date assigned by Campbell. Flight argues reasonably for a date in the 990s: ‘Four vernacular texts’, pp. 128–29.
4 The rubric was not written by the principal scribe, as can be determined by comparing letter forms, such as ‘h’ and ‘g’. The spelling for Fawkham in the rubric, i.e. ‘Falchehan’ (‘-n’ is likely an error for ‘-m’), appears to be contemporary with the writing of Textus Roffensis (c.1123), since it differs from the spelling offered in the charter, ‘Fealcnaham’, which dates to the late tenth century. ‘Falchehan/m’ is not offered in Judith Glover, The Place Names of Kent (B. T. Batsford Ltd, 1976), p. 72.
5 ‘Þus wæron ða land…’.
6 The ‘y’ in ‘hylle’ as been altered from an ‘i’.
7 ‘Sanctę Andrea’: the text switches to Latin for ‘Saint Andrew’.
8 Pronounced Faykum: Judith Glover, The Place Names of Kent (B. T. Batsford Ltd, 1976), p. 72.
9 Charters: literally, ‘land-books’, Old English landbec. Subsequently referred to simply as becc ‘books’.
10 Literally, ‘to that place’; similar phraseology is used in the original where ‘[Rochester]’ appears elsewhere in the translation.
11 Named in a related will, which appears in Textus Roffensis at folios 144r–145r (Old English) and 145v–147r (Latin copy).
12 Witan, the king’s council.
13 ‘those charters’, referring specifically to ‘the charters of Snodland’ above. It seems, somewhat confusingly, that what follows in the account, below, is that either the widow hands over other charters relating specifically to Bromley and Fawkham, or the narrator is not being strictly chronological but is rather clarifying the whole process of how ‘those charters’ ended up back with the bishop of Rochester.
14 Perhaps Gads Hill, Gillingham.
15 ‘Mancus. A[nglo-]S[axon] term referring to one eighth of a (monetary) pound, i.e. 30d [pennies] or 2s 6d; it was a unit of account, not a coin. It was used in England from the late 8[th century].’ A Dictionary of Medieval Terms and Phrases, ed. Christopher Corèdon with Ann Williams (D. S. Brewer, 2005).
16 St Andrew’s, the cathedral church of Rochester, and by extension the monastery.
17 Literally, ‘in robbery, plunder’, Old English on reaflace.
18 ‘Talu. An accusation; also a claim, i.e. to a piece of land.’ Dictionary of Medieval Terms and Phrases.
19 ‘Team. Right of a lord to supervise the vouching for the quality of goods and the presenting of evidence of the right to sell presented goods.’ Dictionary of Medieval Terms and Phrases. In the context, team here appears to relate to the right to produce assurances that the land was obtained honestly.
20 Old English ahnung, variant of agnung, ‘Agnung. Ownership, possession; also proof of ownership’: Dictionary of Medieval Terms and Phrases.
21 Of Canterbury, r. 960–88.
22 Of York, r. 972–92.
23 Of Winchester, r. 963–84.
24 Of Selsey, r. 980–88.
25 Of Dorchester, r. c.977–1002.
26 Of Rochester, r. 964–95.
27 Of London, r. 961–c.996.
28 Of Crediton, r. 973–77.
29 Queen Consort of England (crowned 973), Edgar’s wife, and therefore not ‘the mother of’ King Eadgar, but the mother of his successor, their son, King Æthelred ‘the Unready’. The writer is writing from his own time perspective, which helps us to date this charter to after 978, when Æthelred succeeded to the throne.
30 Of Mercia, 956–83.