THE DOMESDAY SURVEY 



* Cristina,' who appears as the holder of two manors in Warwick- 

 shire and one in Oxfordshire, was sister to Eadgar ^Etheling, king for a 

 moment of the English, and to Margaret Queen of Scots. Of her 

 valuable and extensive estate at Long Itchington it is expressly recorded 

 that ' the king ' (presumably William) gave it her, 1 though why he should 

 have so handsomely provided for this daughter of the native royal house 

 we do not know. Her name is followed by those of two of her humbler 

 country-women who are entered as holding their land of the Conqueror's 

 ' alms.' A few Englishmen also are named as holding of the king, but 

 these will best be considered in connection with the fate of English 

 thegns in Warwickshire. 



Richard the forester, whose name is entered as if he were a serjeant 

 rather than a baron, 3 was the forester of Cannock Chase and held a fief 

 in Staffordshire and Warwickshire larger than those of some of the 

 barons ; in Staffordshire, indeed, his lands are entered amongst those of 

 the other tenants-in-chief. It should be observed that in the Warwick- 

 shire Domesday he is thrice styled Richard the huntsman (venator) ; for the 

 offices of forester and huntsman were closely connected. In the neigh- 

 bouring county of Northamptonshire the baronial family of Engaine 

 combined a hunting tenure with a forestership in fee, and the Waleran 

 'venator' of Domesday in Hants and Wiltshire was also a forester in 

 fee. We learn a good deal from the 'Testa de Nevill, under Warwickshire, 

 about Richard and his descendants 3 down to Hugh de Loges who held 

 his office under Henry III., and are also given some detailed information 

 on his manors. It is expressly stated that he founded the church of 

 Chesterton and that his son and successor gave it to Kenilworth Priory. 



At Kenilworth itself Richard had a holding entered separately from 

 the rest of his fief on account of its being a member of the king's manor 

 of Stoneleigh. 4 Its entry is immediately preceded by that of another 

 ' member ' held by ' Albert the clerk.' This is that Albert of Lotha- 

 ringia who enjoyed the favour of William as of Edward, and whom 

 Domesday shows us variously styled, with interests in Herefordshire, 

 Rutland, Beds, Middlesex, Surrey, Kent, and at Windsor itself. 8 



Having now dealt with the bulk of those who held their lands in 

 Warwickshire of the king himself, we will glance at two of their under- 

 tenants who deserve special notice. Saswalo, who held of Henry de 

 Ferrers the great manor of Lower Eatington, was undoubtedly the 



1 We read in 'The laws of Edward the Confessor' (assigned to the reign of Henry I.) that Cris- 

 tina's land was given her by Edward and was afterwards held by Ralf de Limesi (' Cui Cristine rex 

 Eadwardus dedit terram quam habuit postea Radulfus de Limesi ' (Die Gesetze der Angelsachstn. By 

 F. Liebermann [1903], Erster band, p. 661;). The statement as to Edward seems to be mistaken, for 

 two of her manors had belonged to Earls ^(Elfgar and Eadwine, but her Warwickshire lands, as Dugdale 

 observed, certainly came into Limesi's hands. 



1 In the schedule of names he heads a group as ' Richard and other thegns and Serjeants of the 

 King,' and he occupies in the text a corresponding position. 



3 ' Willelmus Bastardus quando perquisivit Angliam dedit cuidam scrvienti suo Ricardo Cheven 

 (sic) tres partes de Cestreton cum aliis feodis pertinentibus ad Castreton (sic) ad custodiendam forestam 

 suam de Kanocper x marcas solvendas domino Regi pro ballia forestae,' etc. (pp. 86, 87, 51, 62, 93). 



See p. 294 below. 



See The Commune of London and other Studies, pp. 36-8. 



I 28l 36 



