Durham E-Theses Conquest or colonisation: The Scandinavians in Ryedale from the ninth to eleventh centuries Carr, Sarah Ann How to cite: Carr, Sarah Ann (2001) Conquest or colonisation: The Scandinavians in Ryedale from the ninth to eleventh centuries, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/4233/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk 2 Conquest or Colonisation: The Scandinavians in Ryedale from the Ninth to Eleventh Centuries Sarah Ann Carr Abstract This thesis is concerned with assessing the impact of Scandinavian settlement upon the territorial organization of the Ryedale region of Yorkshire during the late Anglo-Saxon period. The Ryedale region was selected as the focus of the thesis due to its location within the Danelaw, the number and density of Scandinavian place-names and the amount of archaeology and sculpture from the late Anglo-Saxon period within the area. In order to examine the impact of Scandinavian settlement, two models of territorial organization have been defined, firstly that of continuity based on the 'Multiple Estate' model, secondly that of considerable upheaval as a result of the conquest by armies of Danes, Irish-Norse and the kingdom of Wessex. This thesis examines how the available evidence from Ryedale, supplied by place-names, Domesday Book and other contemporary documents, archaeology and sculpture, and boundaries and other topography, argues both for and against the two defined models. The results of the study suggest that, despite the period of upheaval, which was evident during the late Anglo-Saxon period, at least two of the Domesday estates within Ryedale were of some antiquity, possibly dating from the early Anglo-Saxon period. These estates had survived the power struggles of the Irish-Norse kingdom of York, the reconquest of the Danelaw by the kings of Wessex and the events of the mid-eleventh century, following the Norman Conquest. Although the Scandinavians changed the way the land was assessed, divided and owned, the changes that resulted from their settlement were essentially linked to the introduction of new of place-names and terms of administration for a pre-existing territorial organization. Conquest or Colonisation: The Scandinavians in Ryedale from the Ninth to Eleventh Centuries Submitted by Sarah Ann Carr to the University of Durham as a thesis for the degree of Master of Arts in History in the Faculty of Social Sciences, 2001 The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published in any form, including Electronic and the Internet, without the author's prior written consent All information derived from this thesis must be acknowledged appropriately. The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published without their prior written consent and information derived from it should be acknowledged. 2 i» HAY 2001 Table of Contents Chapter 1: Introduction 1 Historical Background Reasons for Carrying Out Research Region of Study Chapter 2: Models for Early Medieval Settlement and their Significance 10 for Viking Studies Chapter 3: The Evidence in Relation to the Multiple Estate Model 40 Chapter 4: The Evidence in Relation to the Upheaval Model 96 Chapter 5: Conclusion 146 Appendices 153 1. Place-Names in Domesday Book 154 2. Place-Names in Non-Domesday Sources 156 3. Domesday Book Vill Entries 158 4. Land Holders in 1066 162 5. Map of Ryedale region illustrating Domesday vills 164 Bibliography 165 List of Figures 1.1. Map of Yorkshire showing area of study 8 2.1 Model of a multiple estate after Jones and Aston 16 2.2 Model of Middle Saxon Shift 19 3.1 Map of Ryedale region illustrating distribution of Domesday 45 vills and relationship to land holding 3.2. Map of Ryedale region illustrating topography of possible 64 early Anglo-Saxon settlement sites in the west of the region, based on place-name evidence. 3.3 Map of Ryedale region illustrating topography of possible 66 early Anglo-Saxon settlement sites in the north-west of the region, based on place-name evidence. 3.4 Map of Ryedale region illustrating topography of the berewicks 92 of Domesday estates centred at Kirkbymoorside and Hovingham 4.1 Map of Ryedale region illustrating estate of Nunnington with 100 sokeland in adjacent vills 4.2 Map of Ryedale region illustrating topography of Scandinavian 113 place-names 4.3 Map of Ryedale region illustrating distribution of unitary manors 127 4.4 Sundial at Great Edstone showing inscription 131 4.5 Sundial at Kirkdale showing inscription 131 Declaration I declare that all material in this thesis which is not my own work has been identified and that no material is included for which a degree has previously been conferred upon me. Chapter 1: Introduction 2 ...And in his days came for the first time three ships: and then the reeve rode thither and tried to compel them to go to the royal manor, for he did not know what they were, and they slew him. These were the first ships of the Danes to come to England.1 This statement from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for the year 789 marked the beginning of a period of turmoil and upheaval for the Anglo-Saxons. During the next 300 years the shores of England would be subjected to invasions by boatloads of Scandinavians bent on plunder, conquest and settlement. In what way, and to what extent, the Scandinavians changed the landscape of the country they found upon their arrival is a matter of some conjecture. There are essentially two hypotheses proposed by scholars who study this problem - firstly, that the Scandinavians were assimilated into a pre-existing, and rather ancient, territorial structure, or secondly, that a new structure of land holding and patronage was created as a result of the interaction of the Anglo-Saxons and the Scandinavians. Both of these hypotheses have been the basis of considerable debate over the past 100 years, as will be discussed in chapter two. The purpose of this thesis is to assess the extent of the influence that the Scandinavians had on the settlement structure of the existing population by focusing on one particular region within the area of England settled by the Scandinavians. Both of the above hypotheses will be considered as possible models through the application of each to the Ryedale region, in the light of the available evidence for the period spanning the ninth to eleventh centuries. The effect of the settlement of part of the Danish 'Great Army' in Yorkshire in 876, the conquest of the kingdom of York by the Norwegians of Dublin c. ' Anglo-Saxon Chronicle trans, and ed. G. M. Garmonsway (London: J. M. Dent and Sons Ltd, 1953), p. 54. 3 919, and its reconquest by the kings of Wessex, and the reign of Cnut in the eleventh century will all be considered as factors of Scandinavian settlement. From this work it may be possible to propose to what degree there was assimilation of the Scandinavians into the existing population, and at what level and to what extent the two groups interacted. Historical Background The factors behind the expansion of the Danes and Norwegians into the lands west and south of them have been variously put as population pressures in their homelands, increase of royal authority, development of technology which allowed them to build boats for long sea journeys, changes in land ownership resulting in a growing population of footloose younger sons, or the lure of easy wealth in the undefended monasteries of Christian Western Europe.2 All of these may have played their part, but essentially the activities which the Scandinavians were involved in were much the same as many other Dark Age societies.3 The bias with which the Scandinavian invaders and settlers are viewed today is very much the result of how they were seen by their contemporaries, who were quite often also their victims. The evidence from Scandinavia suggests that land had become a rare commodity,4 so the development of 2 P. H. Sawyer, The Age of the Vikings, 1st edn (London: Edward Arnold, 1962), pp 197-206; 2nd edn (London: Edward Arnold, 1971), pp. 205-6,207-8; Julian D. Richards, Viking Age England (London: B. T. Batsford/English Heritage, 1991), p. 14; Henry R. Loyn, Anglo-Saxon England and the Norman Conquest (Harlow: Longman Group Ltd., 1962), pp. 49-50; John Marsden, The Fury of the Northmen: Saints, Shrines and Sea-raiders in the Viking Age (London: Kyle Cathie, 1993), pp. 14-9; 3 Sawyer, Age of the Vikings, 1st edn, pp. 194-6,2nd edn, p. 203; Marsden, Fury of the Northmen, p. 17. For a critique of Sawyer's views see Guy Halsall, 'Playing by whose rules? A further look at Viking atrocity in the ninth century', Medieval History, 2, 2 (1992), pp. 2-12. 4 Loyn, Anglo-Saxon England and the Norman Conquest, p.