A.D. 880 for 887. Æthelred, dux et patricius of Mercia, to the bishopric of Worcester; grant of 6 hides (mansiones) at Brightwell Baldwin and 8 at Watlington, Oxon., to pertain to the church at Readanoran (i.e. Pyrton, Oxon). Latin with English bounds and a list, in English, of six serfs formerly belonging to the royal vill at Bensington, Oxon.
Archive: Worcester
MSS: 1. BL Cotton Tib. A. xiii, 28v-29v (s. xi1)
2. BL Cotton Tib. A. xiii, 195r-196r (s. xi2)
Printed: Hearne, Heming, pp. 60-3, 438-40; K 311 and vol. iii. 400; Thorpe, pp. 133-4; B 547; Pierquin, Recueil, pt 2, no. 43.
Comments: Stevenson 1904, p. 300, if genuine, date must be 887; Grundy, Oxon., pp. 9-12, on bounds; PN Oxon., i. 1, 86, 94, 96, 116, 120, 121-2, 125, and ii. 484-5, on bounds; Stenton 1971, p. 260 n. 2, date probably 887; Davies 1972, pp. 469, 475, dubious; Finberg 1972, p. 510, cited with reference to list of serfs; O'Donovan 1973, p. 93, on date; Gelling, ECTV, no. 266, authentic, corrects Grundy's interpretation of bounds; Pelteret 1986, pp. 491-2, on list of serfs; Blair 1994, pp. 78, 112, 130, 133, 140-1, 198 n. 195, date 887 may not be reliable; Pelteret 1995, p. 168, on list of serfs; Faith 1997, p. 84, on list of serfs.
A.D. 883. (a) Æthelred, ealdorman of Mercia, with the consent of King Alfred and the whole Mercian witan, to Berkeley Abbey; grant of privileges in exchange for 12 hides at Stoke Bishop, Gloucs., and 30 gold mancuses. (b) Æthelred, ealdorman, to Cynulf, son of Ceoluht; lease, for three lives, of the land at Stoke Bishop, with reversion to the bishopric of Worcester. Latin and English with English bounds.
Archive: Worcester
MSS: 1. Lost original
2. BL Cotton Tib. A xiii, 50v-51v (s. xi1)
3. BL Cotton Vitell. C. ix, 129r (s. xvii; incomplete; ex 1)
Printed: Hearne, Heming, pp. 103-6 ex MS 2, p. 556 ex MS 3; K 313; Thorpe, pp. 129-32, with translation of English; B 551; Pierquin, Recueil, pt 2, no. 44; Harmer, SEHD, no 12 (pp. 20-2), with translation of English, pp. 53-4.
Translated: Taylor 1895, pp. 83-4.
Comments: Kerslake 1883, on bounds; Taylor 1894/1, pp. 301-2, on bounds; Harmer, SEHD, pp. 103-5; Stevenson 1914, p. 698 n. 44, authentic; Grundy, Gloucs., pp. 223-31, on bounds; Lindley 1959; Wilson 1959, pp. 302-4, on language; Everett 1961, on bounds; PN Gloucs., i. 3, iii. 132, 134, 143-5, on bounds; Stenton 1971, p. 260 n. 2, cited; Finberg, ECWM, no. 83, authentic; Finberg 1972, pp. 423, 499, on boundary marks; Keynes and Lapidge 1983, p. 228 n. 1, on Æthelred and Alfred; Sims-Williams 1990, pp. 137, 176, may mark the end of a dispute between Berkeley and the see of Worcester; Dumville 1992, p. 7, authenticity and authority of date not yet properly established; Wormald 1993, p. 20; Bullough 1996, p. 11 n. 39, on estate; Faith 1997, p. 104, cited.
A.D. 884 (Hrisbyri, ? Princes Risborough, Bucks.). Æthelred, lord of the Mercians, to Æthelwulf; grant of 5 hides (manentes) at Himbleton, Worcs., with appurtenant salt-workings etc. Latin with English bounds.
Archive: Worcester
MS: Somers Ch. 9 (lost)
Printed: Smith, Bede, p. 771 ex MS; K 1066 from Smith; B 552 ex Smith; Pierquin, Recueil, pt 3, no. 59.
Translated: Jones 1958, pp. 87-8.
Comments: Wanley, Catalogus, p. 302, no. 9, MS of suspect age and authenticity; Smith, Bede, p. 771, suspicious; PN Bucks., p. 171 n.; Grundy, Worcs. 1927, pp. 147-51, on bounds; Parsons 1934; Forsberg 1950, p. 211, on bounds; Davies 1972, p. 470, on a formula; Finberg, ECWM, no. 265, authentic; Hooke 1981/1, pp. 136, 149, on details of saltworkings; Sawyer 1983, p. 296, on meeting-place; Hooke 1990, pp. 129-34, on bounds; Hart 1992, p. 460 n. 19, citing Gelling, meeting-place may be Risborough, Herefords.
A.D. 888 (Droitwich, Worcs.). Æthelred, procurator of Mercia, to Wulfgar, minister; grant of 15 hides (manentes) at Walden, Herts. Latin,
Archive: St Albans
MSS: 1. Brussels, Bibliothèque Royale, 7965-73 (3723), 162v (s. xvii)
2. BL Cotton Nero D. i, 151rv (s. xiii)
Printed: K 1068 ex MS 2; Luard, Additamenta, pp. 11-12 ex MS 2; B 557 ex MS 2; Pierquin, Recueil, pt 3, no. 60 ex MS 2.
Comments: Stevenson 1914, p. 699 n. 44, p. 703, suspicious; Stenton 1971, p. 260 n. 2, not completely reliable; Whitelock 1975, p. 16, not free from suspicion but some genuine basis; Gelling, ECTV, no. 167, authentic basis, presumably St Paul's Walden; Hooke 1981/1, pp. 129, 149; Pelteret 1986, p. 483, in connection with estate history; Dumville 1992, p. 3 n. 15, authentic, p. 18; Keynes 1993, pp. 260, 266, on MS 1; Blair 1994, p. 97, on background.
A.D. 901 (Shrewsbury). Æthelred and Æthelflæd, rulers of Mercia, to the community of the church of Much Wenlock; grant of 10 hides (cassatae) at Stanton Long and 3 hides (manentes) at Caughley in Barrow, Salop., in exchange for 3 hides (manentes) at Easthope and 5 at Patton, Salop. They also grant a gold chalice weighing 30 mancuses in honour of Abbess Mildburg. Latin.
Archive: Much Wenlock
MS: BL Cotton Ch. viii. 27 (s. ix/x; BM Facs., iii. 1)
Printed: K 330; B 587, Earle, pp. 159-61; Pierquin, Recueil, pt 2, no. 50.
Translated: Stevenson 1911/1, pp. 5-6.
Comments: Bond 1878, p. 7, contemporary; Stenton 1955, p. 45, cited with reference to latinity; Finberg, ECW, pp. 251-2, on place-name Wenlock; Chaplais 1968, p. 315 n. 3, one of earliest original chirographs now extant (= 1973, p. 63 n. 3); Stenton 1971, p. 326, cited; Finberg, ECWM, no. 430, authentic, and addendum, pp. 239-40; Sawyer, Burton, pp. 1, 2, original; PN Shrops., i. 113-14, 233, 267-8, 270, 303-4; Campbell 1989, p. 28, cited; Sims-Williams 1990, p. 145, original; BA Facs., p. 12, on crosses in margin; Hart 1992, p. 570 n. 4; Lapidge 1993, p. 13, on latinity.
Note. Upper portion of chirograph (.... ME CRUCIS + for ? SIGNUM ALME CRUCIS).
A.D. 883 x 911. Æthelred, dux Merciorum, to Cuthulf, minister; renewal of the grant by King Burgred of 10 hides (manentes) at Marlcliff in Cleeve Prior, Worcs., the ancient landbook having been carried off by 'pagans' (Vikings); with a note that the beneficiary later granted the land to the church of Worcester. Latin with English bounds.
Archive: Worcester
MS: BL Cotton Tib. A. xiii, 147rv (s. xi2)
Printed: Hearne, Heming, pp. 326-8; K 304 and vol. iii. 398-9; B 537; Pierquin, Recueil, pt 2, no. 38; Hooke 1990, p. 155, bounds only.
Comments: Grundy, Worcs. 1927, pp. 52-4, on bounds; PN Warwicks., p. 202 n. 1, on bounds; Robertson, Charters, p. 296, not completely reliable; Ker 1948, pp. 59, 67-8, untrustworthy; Drögereit 1952, p. 63 n. 23, doubtful; Stenton 1971, p. 259 n. 2, cannot be genuine in its present form, the inclusion of subscriptions of King Burgred and Queen Æthelswith has implications for Æthelred's status; Finberg, ECWM, no. 270, authentic basis, present text not a charter but a memorandum of the renewed grant, cf. no. 259; Keynes 1980, p. 32 n. 53; Hook 1990, pp. 155-8, on bounds, estate is in Cleeve Prior; Keynes 1993/2, p. 312 and n. 50, not genuine in received form but circumstantial details cannot be wholly invented.
A.D. 884 x 901. Æthelred, ealdorman, and Æthelflæd, to the church of St Peter, Worcester; grant of rights at Worcester. English.
Archive: Worcester
MS: 1. BL Cotton Tib. A. xiii, 1v-2r (s. xi1)
2. BL Cotton Vesp. A. v, 148v (s. xvi)
Printed: Hearne, Heming, pp. 3-5, ex MS 1; K 1075 ex MS 2; Thorpe, pp. 136-9, with translation, ex MS 2; B 579 ex K and MS 2; Harmer, SEHD, no. 13 (pp. 22-3), with translation, pp. 54-5; Wyatt 1919, pp. 111-12; Sweet, Second Reader, p. 221 (no. 31).
Translated: Whitelock, EHD, no. 99 (pp. 540-1); Brown 1984, pp. 127-8 (no. 155).
Comments: Harmer, SEHD, pp. 106-7; Stenton, V.C.H. Worcs., iv. 377, genuine; Tait 1936, pp. 19-23; Harmer 1950, p. 339 n. 4, pp. 343-4; Harmer, Writs, p. 410, on reference to tolls; Clarke and Dyer 1969, pp. 28-9; Stenton 1971, pp. 326, 528-9; Finberg, ECWM, no. 268, authentic; Sawyer 1977, pp. 147, 155-6, cited; Sawyer 1978, pp. 192, 229, cited; Whitelock, EHD, p. 540; Hooke 1980, p. 39; Hooke 1981/1, pp. 134, 139; Hooke 1990, pp. 102-3; Kelly 1992, p. 17, cited; Baker and Holt 1996, pp. 130, 132, on topography.
A.D. 800 for ? 914. Æthelflæd, lady of the Mercians, to Ealhhelm; grant of 2 hides (manentes) at Stantun (? Stanton by Newhall, Derbys.), in return for 60 swine and 300 solidi. Latin.
Archive: Burton
MS: Aberystwyth, N.L.W., Peniarth 390, 173r = p. 345 (s. xiii med.)
Printed: B 583; Sawyer, Burton, no. 1.
Comments: Hart 1973, p. 116, identifies beneficiary with ealdorman attesting S 1441; Hart, ECNE, no. 100 and p. 167, authentic, suggests Stantun may be Stanton in the Peak, Derbys.; Sawyer, Burton, pp. 1-2, seems to be authentic, although abbreviated and miscopied, 914 most plausible date, rejects Hart's identification of beneficiary and estate, for estate see also S 768; Hart 1992, p. 570 n. 4, rejects Sawyer's date, suggests c. 900 more likely.
A.D. 878 for 915 (Weardburg, 16 Sept.). Æthelflæd, ruler of the Mercians, to Eadric, minister; grant of permission to acquire 10 hides (manentes) at Farnborough (Warwicks. or Berks.), bought from Wulflaf. The orginal landbook, granted by King Offa to Bynna, Wulflaf's great-great-grandfather (abavus), had been destroyed in a fire. Latin.
Archive: Abingdon
MS: BL Cotton Claudius B. vi, 14rv (s. xiii)
Printed: K 343; Stevenson, Chron. Abingdon, i. 44-6; Thorpe, pp. 174-5; B 632; Kelly, Abingdon, no. 20.
Comments: Plummer 1899, pp. 119-20, spurious; Stenton 1913, p. 24, partly authentic but tampered with, refers to Farnborough, Berks.; Stevenson 1914, p. 698 n. 44, spurious, dates 916; Robinson 1923, pp. 39, 46-8, corrupt copy of authentic early 10th-century document, identifies beneficiary; O'Donovan 1973, pp. 94-5, 113, dates 915; Whitelock 1975, p. 17 n. 3, correct date 915; PN Berks., ii. 501; Gelling, ECTV, no. 32, authentic basis, texts and witnesses tampered with; Sawyer, Burton, pp. 1, 2, 4-5; Keynes 1980, p. 32 n. 53, cited; Keynes 1993/2, pp. 313-14; Coates 1998, Weardburg located at Gwespyr in Llansa, Flintshire; Kelly, Abingdon, no. 20, authentic, but date miscopied, probably refers to Farnborough, Warwicks.
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