User:Williamwallacetooke/sandbox

Tuck and Tooke, of East Anglia: Norfolk, and Suffolk

The Tookes from Norwich appear to associate themselves (using their arms) with the landed Toke family of Godinton Kent, which claims descent from Robert de Toke, who was present with Henry III at the Battle of Northampton (1264).

Most Norfolk Tookes would be more of local origin. Dr. Robert Liddiard in his thesis Landscapes of Lordship: Norman Castles and the Countryside in Medieval Norfolk, 1066-1200 suggests there were "a maximum of five and a minimum of three individuals called Toki who held land in Norfolk on the eve of the [Norman] conquest".

One Toki (in particular) was rather prominent Toki 11 antecessor of William de Warenne. "Toki was one of England's wealthiest lords, ranking fortieth in terms of wealth as recorded in Domesday Book TRE." Toki and his family lost their position, after the fall of the Anglo-Saxons at the Battle of Hastings.

Lords and Communities in Early Medieval East Anglia describes that he was a King's Thane A Thane was "a rank of nobility in pre-Norman England, roughly equivalent to baron.". "The thanes in England were formerly persons of some dignity; there were two orders, the king's thanes, who attended the kings in their courts and held lands immediately of them, and the ordinary thanes, who were lords of manors and who had particular jurisdiction within their limits. After the [Norman] Conquest, this title was disused, and baron took its place.".

Landscapes of Lordship: Norman Castles and the Countryside in Medieval Norfolk, 1066-1200 l06W1200

"a maximum of five and a minimum of three individuals called Toki who held land in Norfolk on the eve of the [Norman] conquest"

It was in this year (1070) Frederic, the brother of William’s soon-to-be wife Gundreda was killed fighting Hereward the Wake in the Fens. Frederic’s lands in Norfolk passed to William through Gundreda and nineteen manors listed under William of Warenne’s name in Doomsday are styled as being of Frederic’s. In the twelfth century, these are referred to as Warenne “old land”.

It is also the case that William acquired land following the general round of dispositions of English secular and ecclesastical magnates in 1070 - 71, following the failure of the English revolt. In 1086 William was in possession of a number of holdings formerly of Aelfgifu the mother earls Edwin and Morcar who probably forfeited soon after the fall of her sons in 1071

As we as we have already seen, the first Norfolk land to come into Warenne possession was the land of his brother-in-law Frederic. Frederic in turn had received the land of an Anglo-Saxon thegn named Toki.

Castle Acre castle was the subject of extensive archeological excavations in the 1970s;

The sequence of building from Norman “country house” to a mid-twelfth century fortress is therefore well known. Less well-known is the fact that below the count Norman castle of the 1070s there was an earlier wooden structure that it's best interpreted as a late Anglo-Saxon manor house. As Toki held the manor in 1066 this is in all probability his residence. Certainly was a wealthy manor by this stage, it's TRE value being a hundred (100) shillings. The majority of Toki’s holdings were in Norfolk, and so it is to be expected the Toki would have had a Norfolk caput. This is not to argue that Toki did not have other residences elsewhere but Acre was a large manor relatively central in relation to Toki’s other holdings and it stood on two major communication routes, the river Nar and the Roman road the Peddler’s way, and so therefore must be a good candidate for an English caput on these grounds alone. While this is clear evidence of continuity of site, the full significance of this arrangement is only fully appreciated when Toki’s status before the conquest is examined.

Toki must have been one of the most important thegns in East Anglia during the reign of Edward the Confessor. In total there are thirty-four references to the name Toki in the Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire Domesday book. The majority of these holdings (twenty-three in total) were in the possession of William of Warenne in 1086. With these entries it is certain that a single man is referred to. He is styled “free man”, “a thane” and most importantly the “King Edward’s thegn”, reference to his pre-Conquest status. As a King's thegn, if the 11th century Gethynctho is to be believed, Toki would have had “church and kitchen”, a bell-house and a burh-gate, that is a thegnly residence touches those excavated at Goltho and Sulgrave. Evidence that Toki’s manor house may have been a substantial structure is suggested by the identification of pre-Norman ramparts beneath the bailey banks of Castle Acre with the strong suspicion that they are of Late Saxon date. In many respects, William of Warenne's early Norman manor house may have been similar to that of Toki.

A great deal of information on Toki’s land holdings on the eve of the Conquest is provided by Doomsday Book and permits some assessment of his social position. It is important here to make sure which references in the Domesday book explicitly refer to Toki the king’s thegn. Those manors owned by William of Warenne in 1086 must refer to the same individual but in addition to this King William, Count Alan, Rodger Bigod, Walter Giffard, Ralph Baynard, Peter of Valognes, Aubrey de Vere and Hardwin of Scales all possessed land that had once been owned by an individual named Toki before the Conquest.

Analysis of all the occurrences of the name Toki in the Norfolk Doomsday suggests that there are a maximum of 5 and a minimum of three individuals called Toki who held land in Norfolk on the eve of the Conquest. To begin with, there is the land of Toki (Toki 1) the antecessor of William of Warerre, whose lands came to William from Toki via Frederic, plus the small tenement in West Wrattling riding in Cambridgeshire held by Toki TRE, and by Hardwin of Scales in 1086; this last entry can be included because land in West Wrattling also belong to William’s antecessor. A second Toki (Toki 2) held land in Broome which is referred to as (liber homo Haroldi commendatus tantum) whose land had passed to Rodger Bigod in 1086. He may also have been the Toki who have land in Blakeney under Harold TRE, which passed to Walter Giffard; as well as the Toki who held Belstead in Suffolk “as a free men only under commendation” (liber homo commendatus tatum) and whose land pass to Aubrey de Vere; because although Doomsday does not say to whom Toki was commended, it does state that the soke of Belstead lay in East Bergholt, a manor held by Earl Harold TRE. Roger Bigod also held Shadingfield in Suffolk TRE by Godwine filius Toka,and who was then commended to Earl Gyrth, Harold's brother. Roger also held two liberi homines in Stoven, which commended to Godwine filius Tuka TRE. Given the connection both with Roger Bigod and with Gyrth, this Godwine is probably the son of Toki 2. Godwine continued to hold Shadingfield of Rodger Bigod in 1086, and is probably the same Godwine who held a liberi homines in Shipmeadow of Roger Bigod at the same date. Godwin Tokesone also appears in Norfolk; eleven liberi homines held by him and another Godwine, also commended to Earl Gyrth, were held in 1086 by Eudo FitzSpirewic. A third Toki (Toki 3) held Hales as a liberi homo of Stigand, may be the Toki who held land at Toketorp under (sub) Stigand. It is quite possible that Toketorp took its name from the Doomsday tenant. The fourth Toki is a liberi homo who was the antecessor of Peter de Valognes, and who held at Holkham and Hesterton in Norfolk in TRE and the fact that both tenements went to the same sucessor suggests that they belonged to the same man TRE. The final Toki (Toki 5) held Stiffkey and Wells in Norfolk and was among those lands administered for the King by Goderic Dapifer TRW.

Of Tokis 1-5 there is no evidence that Toki 4 and 5 are in any way connected with Toki 1 and are therefore unlikely to be Warenne antecessor. However since William of Warenne also held lands in Toketorp, although no TRE tenant is named for them, it is not impossible that Toki 1 commend himself to Stigand before, or more likely after, the Conquest. There is also some evidence that Toki 1 and 2 are the same man, and here the evidence rests on whether the Goodwine son of Toki 2 was also the son of Toki 1. An indication that this may be indeed by the case, comes from the Doomsday entry for Western Coleville in Cambridgeshire. Western Coleville was held by William of Warenne TRW and had been held by Toki 1 TRE. Two sokemen however were commended to Godwine cild “Young Godwine”. The suffix cild (young) was not yet particularly common in Old English society and usually referred to men of some status. Godwine cild appears twice in the Cambridgeshire Domesday book and he was commended to Edeva the Fair and also appears as the man of Edeva. In each case his lands had passed to Alan of Brittany and two of his men were held by John son of Waleran at Fulbourn in 1086 and claimed by Alan. Particularly interesting are two stokemen of Edeva the Fair at West Wratting in Cambridgeshire, one of whom owed cartage, service to the Sheriff. Toki 1 also held land in West Wratting, land which likewise owed one cartage and it is thus possible that Godwine cild was a son of Toki 1. However, it is also possible that Toki 1 and Toki 2 both had sons called Godwine and while this perhaps seems unlikely, the possibility cannot be discounted.

The following totals therefore represent a bare minimum of what Toki may have possessed TRE. The references from William of Warenne’s holdings form the core of the calculations, but those entries that refer to Toki specifically as a thegn are also included. In terms of land Toki is found to have land valued at 100 pounds 13s (shillings) 4d in 1066 in Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire with the majority of its manors lay in Norfolk. This is a very substantial amount of wealth for a single individual of the thegnly class. For Norfolk and Suffolk his lands were assessed that more than 39 carucates and, at least in 1086, attached to this land were eighteen liberi homines and 165 sokemen, These figures demonstrate that Toki was one of the most important men in the county before the Conquest. In Clark’s survey of the landed wealth of the English aristocracy TRE Toki is placed 34th out of 90 in the table of major landowners below the rank of earl. When it is considered that the Liber Eliensis states that 40 pounds worth of land was required to acquire the rank of procer (magnatt or superior thegn) then Toki’s status is underlined.

What happened to Toki after 1066 is a mystery. If Frederic was killed in the Fens in 1070 than Toki must have been dispossessed at some point between late 1066 and this date. He could have been killed at Hastings, outlawed soon after 1066; alternately he may survive the Conquest and been killed or dispossessed after the failure of the English revolt in 1069. The later is certainly a possibility, and it has been suggested that Toki may have been involved in the Fenland rebellion of 1070.

What is particularly interesting is that before 1066 Godwine Toki’s son had commended himself to an earl and in turn had other men commended to him; he had clearly reach the rank of median thegn. Assuming for a moment that he was indeed the son of the Warenne antecessor, we may speculate on the effect that the Norman conquest had upon this particular family. Godwin could have no doubt have expected to have inherited some of his father's land (all of it if he were the only heir), since Cnut’s laws state that provided a man performed the obligations that went with his land, his heirs could inherit all land and property. Yet in1086 we find the son of a king's thegn, who had achieved median thegn status himself holding one carucate and ten acres from a foreign lord on what was once the periphery of father's estate. As we have seen Toki's land valued at over 100 hundred pounds in 1066, but twenty years later the lands of his son (assuming that this is the case) were worth only 24s (shillings). Godwine was clearly not destitute but the reduction of what can be termed familial wealth is neverless dramatic.

If the identification above is correct, then the fact that that Toki’s son was already exercising lordship highlights not only his importance, but also that of his family. At this point we return to the place of William of Warenne’s antecessor within Norfolk on the eve of the Conquest, and how this affected William’s decision over where to build his castle. It may be suggested that William’s choice of Acre was dictated, at least in part, by the position of Toki's manor house, but probable site of his caput. If so, then whatever the chronology of events between 1066 and c.1075, Castle Acre stands remarkable example of continuity of high-status settlement across the Conquest years. By the 1070s memories of Toki were probably still strong and the impact of a new stone castle built on the side of his former manor house would have constituted a potent and visible statement to the local population that a new master had arrived and were going to stay. We can surmise that there must have been tenurial continuity as well as continuity of site. We have already seen that most of Toki’s manors in 1066 were owned by William of Warenne in 1086. As the site of the manor house, Acre was doubtlessly the location where Toki’s tenants paid their manoral dues. It must also have been the case that some of the tenants of Toki were tenants William of Warenne twenty years later. As such, in the 1070s and 1080s they would have come to the same site, owing similar obligations as they had before the Conquest. On these occasions they would have been presented by a large stone built hall, rather than a wooden structure and discharged their obligations to a Norman rather than Englishman. Yet, the caput was on the same site, even if their rents were not the same. The new stone building would have underlined the fact they had a new landlord, but it is probably fair to say that the Norman Conquest did not result in a tenurial or administrative revolution.

Lords and communities in early medieval East Anglia by Andrew Wareham

Pages: 92

Ælfsige of Landwade and his wife Leofeva, both dependants of Eadgifu the Fair, had granted three and a half hides at Burwell to Ramsey Abbey c. 1043x65, and they were then let out to Ælfsige’s kinsman, Godwine.

Godwine provided ward and watch at Burwell for the king’s service. In order to carry out his duties, Godwine was perhaps granted the use of the tower at Burwell, which would also have served to maintain his gentry status along with the five hides which he, his wife and his brother held under Eadgifu the Fair. Godwine, who received Burwell, is perhaps to be identified with Godwine cild, putative son of the wealthy Norfolk lord, Toki the king’s thegn.The Burwell leasehold agreement did not, however, work to the long-term enrichment of Ramsey Abbey because Godwine’s property was seized by Ralph I, earl of East Anglia (c. 1066–70).

Yet before the Norman Conquest, a two-storied solar block had per- haps maintained the status of Godwine through the goodwill of the monks of Ramsey.

100 Chron. Rames., iii, c. 107/cxviii, pp. 174–5. 101 Domesday Book, i, fol. 195b. 102 Ibid., fols. 193b, 195b. 103, p. 240; R. Liddiard, “Landscapes of Lordship”: Norman Castles and the Countryside in Medieval Norfolk, 1066–1200, British Archaeological Reports, British ser. cccix (Oxford, 2000), pp. 230–1. For discussion of Toki’s interests, see below, Chapter 6, pp. 102–3. 104 VCH Cambs., x, p. 341; Chron. Rames., iii, c. 107/cxviii, p. 175.

Pages: 102

Toki was one of England’s wealthiest lords, ranking fortieth in terms of wealth as recorded in Domesday Book TRE. Yet there is no evidence to suggest that he held public office or had close connections with the royal court beyond witnessing two royal charters and the ties which his putative son Godwine cild established with Eadgifu the Fair and Archbishop Stigand. Yet even these ties can be connected as much with the aim of establishing bonds of friendship with powerful neighbours in a regional context as with the strengthening of ties with the royal court.

By contrast the Warenne dynasty provides one of the best examples of a noble house whose interests were closely bound up with the royal family.

70 Clarke, English Nobility, pp. 348–9. 71 On charters, see Keynes, ‘Atlas of Attestations’, table lxxv (2 of 2) citing S 998–9; Liddiard, Landscapes of Lordship, pp. 29–31 provides a discussion of five lords named Toki in Norfolk Domesday Book,showing that Toki 1 (antecessor of William de Warenne) is to be identified with Toki 2 (father of Godwine cild). 72 On the local East Anglia connections and national ties of Stigand, see N.P. Brooks, The Early History of Canterbury: Christ Church from 597 to 1066, Studies in the Early History of Britain (Leicester, 1984), pp. 304–10.

Pages: 105

Although all of Toki the thegn’s estates in Norfolk descended to William de Warenne, including Castle Acre, those estates made up one-quarter of the Warenne family’s estates in Norfolk TRW.

93 Domesday Book, ii, fols. 157a-72b; Clarke, English Nobility, p. 349.

Pages: 108

On the lordship and honor of Castle Acre there was a somewhat different pattern of succession to estates, but no great variance in the pursuit of economic strategies. Toki the thegn’s estates were concentrated in Norfolk within a ninety-kilometre square block. His holdings accounted for around thirty-four per cent of the demesne ploughteams on the lands of William de Warenne, and with only two exceptions, on each of Toki’s estates the demesne: peasants’ ploughteams ratio stood at 1:1 or 2:1. Castle Acre, Harpley and Heacham were among the handful of estates in Norfolk which were exempt from taxation, and Harpley, Heacham and West Walton had large teams of bordars working demesne ploughteams and tending the flocks. In addition, these estates benefited from favourable environmental conditions in north-west Norfolk, as sea levels fell and embankments were created to manage the freshwater outflows running out from the peat fens, enabling specialization in the raising of livestock.

After the Norman Conquest this commitment to demesne-oriented agriculture was maintained, with small increases in the numbers of bordars and sheep on the estates formerly held by Toki. The limits of growth on those estates, though, had perhaps been reached, and between TRE and TRW the value of Toki’s former estates increased by only nineteen per cent, whereas on the rest of the Warenne honor they rose by thirty-nine per cent. Toki’s estates were an important part of the honor of Castle Acre, but in terms of offering returns they were overshadowed by the estates which had been acquired through the exchange of Lewes and other transactions.

As a consequence of those transactions the Warenne family acquired a far more extensive block of estates concentrated around Castle Acre when compared with the organization of Toki’s lordship. Consolidation of landholding in the construction of a new lordship may have contributed to a collective rise in the valuation of these estates between TRE and TRW. Such developments may have been complemented by the use from the late 1070s on the honor of Warenne of inventory accounting, which in the late 1080s appear to have provided William de Warenne II with quite an accurate figure for the worth of his property.

It may then have been the application of accountancy skills, linked to the establishment of the Cluniac priory at Castle Acre, which enabled the Warenne dynasty to manage the lordship which it constructed around Castle Acre. In short, the consolidation and investment in demesne resources on networks of estates grouped around seigneurial centres of lordship lay behind micro-economic transformations in the decades before and after 1066.

106 For a useful survey of these connections, see A.K. Astbury, The Black Fens (Cambridge 1958). 107 The exchange is referred to in different ways; e.g. Domesday Book, ii, fols. 157a, 163a, 164b, 166b; see also J.F.A. Mason, William I and the Sussex Rapes (Bexhill, 1966) 108 Orderic, vi, p. 13; G. Duby, ‘Economie dominaile et économie monétaire: le budget de l’abbaye de Cluny entre 1080 et 1155’, Annales vii (1952), pp. 155–71; Wareham, ‘ “Feudal Revolution” ’, pp. 318–19.

Pages: 132-3

From Table 19 Landed interests of king’s thegns in East Anglia TRE it appears that Toki held £102 of the cumlative £377 total. Most (four) held between £44 to £72. Godwine, although not a King's Thegn held 42£...

King Edward the Confessor’s thegns, Toki, Guthmund, Ingware, Leofwin of Bacton, Godwine, Ketil Alder and Ulf held widely distributed estates in East Anglia, mirroring the dispersal of royal and ecclesiastical estates. Although the interests of the king’s thegns were now framed, according to Domesday Book, within a regional rather than a national context, they were still operating within a surprisingly wide geographical area. Such patterns can be associated with local administrative duties within the East Anglia, and perhaps also with connections to ecclesiastical frameworks of power. Other evidence supports that hypothesis. The king’s thegn Guthmund, brother of the abbot of Ely, needed to control forty hides of land in order to establish his status as a procer, thereby facilitating his matrimonial designs upon the daughter of a noble house.

This was achieved by transferring thirteen carucates and hides from the resources of Ely Abbey to complement the thirty-six carucates and hides which he already held, with his estates being collectively valued at £91 TRE. The account can be compared with the description of the matrimonial tribulations of the fenland nobleman Edwin son of Æthulf in the early tenth century; he had called upon the support of Archbishop Oda in order to secure the king’s approval for marriage to a noblewoman of high status. In this comparison during the early tenth century royal approval appears to have been the chief factor in enabling a nobleman to marry well, but in the second quarter of the eleventh century, suitability appears to have turned on the extent of landed wealth in a regional context, and hence led to the forging of ties with great monastic houses. Wealth had replaced court connections as the means to securing a prestigious marriage. This in turn suggests that the power and status of the king’s thegns Guthmund and Ketil Alder may not have been based upon their connections with the royal court but rather upon their ties with local public institutions and the abbeys of Ely and Bury St Edmunds respectively. (Guthmund based his power around Haughley, which developed into the caput of Haughley honor held by de Montfort family until 1107).

Another model is perhaps provided by the interests of the king’s thegns Toki and Godwine. Toki established a lordship around Castle Acre (discussed above), benefiting from the economic boom in cattle-raising in the siltland fens. Although he may have had connections with Eadgifu the Fair, there is no evidence of his establishing close links with great monastic houses. Godwine controlled a great manor in the heart of the brecklands, with half of the ploughteams lying on demesne, complemented by around 2,100 sheep. The absence of any freemen on this estate supports the view that demesne flocks may well have been pastured on the common grazing-grounds.

37 Table 22 based on Clarke, English Nobility, pp. 311–16, 318–19, 348–9, 355–6; Domesday Book, ii, fols. 321a, 322b, 427a. 38 For a general discussion, see J. Campbell, ‘Some Agents and Agencies of the Late Anglo-Saxon State’, idem, The Anglo–Saxon State (London, 1992), pp. 201–25. 39 Lib. El., ii, c. 97, p. 167. 40 Clarke, English Nobility, pp. 312–14. 41 Ibid. 42 Chron. Rames., ii, c. 25/xxiii, p. 49. 43 Sanders, English Baronies, pp. 120–1. 44 See above, Chapter 6, pp. 108–9. 45 Liddiard, Landscapes of Lordship, p. 30; Clarke, English Nobility, p. 103. 46 Account based on Domesday Book, ii, fols. 402b–3a. 47 Ibid., ii, fol. 402b.

Old work...

Tooke is said to be derived "from the Old Swedish (pre 7th century Old Scandinavian origin) personal name "Tuke", itself claimed to be short form of "Thorkettill" translating as "Thor's cauldron", although some say the derivation is from "Tiodgeir", meaning "people-spear".".

The Old-Swedish source of Tooke seems to be confirmed by its distribution in England. Tooke is overwhelmingly prevalent in Norfolk , then Suffolk; areas that were part of the Viking [Danelaw]. References to Thor hit a "high popularity during the Viking Age". Compared with their Anglo- Saxon neighbours, the Vikings favoured Thor, instead of Woden. Also, Tooke is derived from "Old Swedish" (pre 7th century Old Scandinavian origin) rather than the related "Old English".

Tuck is far less localized, it's largest concentration is also Norfolk, but it is found throughout England. It is also far more common a name than Tooke.

The Tookes from Norwich, appear to associate themselves (using their arms) with the landed Toke family of Godinton Kent, which claims descent from Le Sire de Tuke (Le Seigneur de Touque(s)). "The Seigneur served under William the Conqueror at the Battle of Hastings. Touques is a river in Normandy that flows into the sea."

Most Norfolk Tookes would be more of local origin. There was a Toka/i "francigena" possibly foreigner (another word is used for Freeman, Frank, or Frenchman)", and his family who held numerous lordships of the manor in Norfolk in the reign of Edward the Confessor . He was a freeman, i.e. was born outside of the feudal obligations of England. One Domesday Book (1086) reference is: “liber homo Stingandi Toka Francigine”. Toka held directly from Stigand, and Gyrth Godwinson, members of the Anglo-Saxon power structure (at it's end). Toka lost his position after the fall of the Anglo-Saxons at the Battle of Hastings.

"Thorkettill" translated as "Thor's cauldron" is a reference to the Norse myth that thunder was made by Thor riding around in a chariot full of kettles.

"According to Helene Adeline Guerber, "in Southern Germany the people, fancying a brazen chariot alone inadequate to furnish all the noise they heard, declared it was loaded with copper kettles, which rattled and clashed, and therefore often called him, with disrespectful familiarity, the kettle-vendor."".

Also in the Norse sagas there is a story in which Thor is looking for a "kettle large enough to brew ale for all the Æsir at one time.".

Even in Tolkien Took is mentioned. Bilbo Baggins, Frodo Baggins and Meriadoc Brandybuck are all descendants of the Took line of the Thains of the Shire.

There was a Toka/i "francigena" "Francigena was a foreigner of any nation" (another word is used for Frank, or Frenchman), and his family who held numerous lordships of the manor in Norfolk in the reign of Edward the Confessor. One Domesday Book (1086) reference is: “liber homo Stingandi Toka Francigine”. Toka held directly from Stigand, and Gyrth Godwinson, members of the Anglo-Saxon power structure (at its end). "Toki was one of England's wealthiest lords, ranking fortieth in terms of wealth as recorded in Domesday Book TRE." Toka and his family lost their position, after the fall of the Anglo-Saxons at the Battle of Hastings.