The Diplomas of King Æthelred

Butlers and dish-bearers in Anglo-Saxon courts: household officers at the royal table

“…Roughly speaking -and considering all limitations due to the nature of the source and to the shortcomings of transmission -the rank of an individual or a category of officials is deemed to be reflected in the frequency of their appearance and their position within a witness list. 73 As our appendix shows, officers of the mouth in late Anglo-Saxon courts generally attested charters in the middle of the lists, after the royal family, bishops and ealdormen, but at the head of thegns, that is, before the indiscriminate number of ministri without any special employment. Their position was exactly the same as that of burand hraeglþegnas, which means that they were probably thought of as a unified group of 'household officials'.…”

Fiscal policies and the institution of a tax state in Anglo‐Saxon England within a comparative context1

“…per hide (around 120 acres). 101 It is possible that this was preceded by earlier attempts to establish a land tax. Tantalizing inconclusive references point towards a land tax in c. 973, 994, and 1006/7, 102 and royal councillors may have been aware of the national land taxes levied by Charles the Bald, as King of the West Franks in 866 and as Carolingian emperor in 877, to pay off the Vikings.…”

“…110 Reflecting in 993 upon the mistakes of his youth (between c. 984 and 993), King AEthelred II admitted that he had seized estates from religious houses 'on the advice of greedy councillors'. 111 Land was taken from pre-eminent religious communities, such as Rochester Cathedral and the Old Minster at Winchester, with the result that Dunstan, archbishop of Canterbury (959-88), adopted a course which was even more extreme than excommunication, namely he cursed AEthelred II formally. 112 Dunstan's use of cursing looks extraordinary to us, but it may be among the factors that contributed to AEthelred II's change of heart.…”

The politics of remorse: penance and royal piety in the reign of AEthelred the Unready

“…Keynes has argued that, among many other indicators, the congruence of thought and expression concerning the king's youthful errors indicates that these were productions of the royal chancery. 53 As Stafford has stressed, these charters emanate from the great political assemblies of the reign and it is reasonable to suppose that their issuance was a matter of public interest. Not only does S 876, the Abingdon privilege, refer to the public discussions at the Pentecost meeting, but other charters indicate the role of collective consultation in the adjudication of property disputes.…”