A hundred was the division of a shire for administrative, military and judicial purposes under the common law. Originally, when introduced by the Saxons between 613 and 1017, a hundred had enough land to sustain approximately one hundred households headed by a hundred-man or hundred eolder.
What is a hundred in English history?
hundred, unit of English local government and taxation, intermediate between village and shire, which survived into the 19th century. Originally, the term probably referred to a group of 100 hides (units of land required to support one peasant family).
What does hundred mean in place names?
A hundred is an administrative division that is geographically part of a larger region.
What is a hundred house?
Hundred House, on a drovers’ route in the post-medieval era, consisted of no more than an inn, a chapel, a farm and perhaps a single house in the mid-19th century, developing around an area of common land.
What is a shire in England?
Definition of shire
1 : an administrative subdivision especially : a county in England. 2 : any of an old breed of large heavy draft horses of British origin having heavily feathered legs.
What were shires and hundreds in Anglo-Saxon England?
In the Anglo-Saxon state there was a hierarchy of courts in each shire and borough. Local courts were known as ‘hundred’ courts. The king appointed the officials in charge of these courts.
What was a Wapentake?
The term wapentake is of Scandinavian origin and meant the taking of weapons; it later signified the clash of arms by which the people assembled in a local court expressed assent. Danish influence was strong in those English counties where wapentakes existed.
What are the hundreds of Derbyshire?
The Hundreds of Derbyshire were the geographic divisions of the historic county of Derbyshire for administrative, military and judicial purposes. They were established in Derbyshire some time before the Norman conquest. In the Domesday Survey of 1086 AD the hundreds were called wapentakes.
What does the name Hilder mean?
dweller on a slope
English (mainly Sussex and Kent): topographic name from Middle English hilder ‘dweller on a slope‘ (from Old English hylde ‘slope’).
Who is Anglo-Saxon?
Who were the Anglo-Saxons? Anglo-Saxon is a term traditionally used to describe the people who, from the 5th-century CE to the time of the Norman Conquest (1066), inhabited and ruled territories that are today part of England and Wales.
What is a county called in England?
shire
In the United Kingdom the county, or shire, has historically been the principal subdivision of the country for political, administrative, judicial, and cultural purposes. Each of the constituent countries of the United Kingdom—England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales—is divided into a number of historic counties.
Why is everything in England called a shire?
“Shire” is just the Anglo-Saxon equivalent of the old French word “county”, so Yorkshire, for example, means “County of York”. A couple of them you have to manipulate a bit, presumably because Lancastershire and Chestershire were a bit of a mouthful; but it’s still fairly obvious where the name came from.
Why are there so many shires in England?
Origins. The system was first used in the kingdom of Wessex from the beginning of Anglo-Saxon settlement, and spread to most of the rest of England in the tenth century, along with the West Saxon kingdom’s political domination. In Domesday (1086) the city of York was divided into shires.
Why did the king create shires and hundreds?
However, earls owned such large areas that they were not able to collect every tax or punish every crime in their lands. Therefore, kings had created a more detailed system of local government that was very effective – the shires and the hundreds.
What is the difference between a peasant and a Ceorl?
Peasants did a set amount of work for the local lord as well as work- ing the land to support themselves and their family. If they did not work for the lord the lord could take away their land. ‘Ceorls’ peasants were free to go work for another lord if they wanted to.
How big is a shire land?
The Shire was quite densely populated in certain areas, with many villages and a few towns, but it still was open enough to allow for wide forested areas and marshes. The total amount of land calculated in square miles was 21,400, which likely excluded the Westmarch.
What was Derbyshire called in Viking times?
The Vikings renamed the area Derby which means ‘Field of the Deer’ and borders were opened up for trading.
What did Derbyshire used to be called?
The origins of Derbyshire
Derbyshire is first mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in 1048 in Manuscript D, known as the “Northern Recension“.
Why is it called Scarsdale hundred?
The new pub’s name is derived from the late Saxon period when counties were divided into administrative districts called hundreds. Planning permission has also been granted for a drive-through Taco Bell restaurant on part of the existing Damon’s car park.
Where does the name Hilder come from?
The origins of the Hilder name come from when the Anglo-Saxon tribes ruled over Britain. The name Hilder was originally derived from a family having lived in the village of Hildersley, a tithing in Gloucester.
Do Saxons still exist?
While the continental Saxons are no longer a distinctive ethnic group or country, their name lives on in the names of several regions and states of Germany, including Lower Saxony (which includes central parts of the original Saxon homeland known as Old Saxony), Saxony in Upper Saxony, as well as Saxony-Anhalt (which
