Bourne Archive: FNQ: Hereward XXVIII

http://boar.org.uk/ariwxo3FNQsupXXVIII.htm Latest edit 17 Jan 2010

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De Gestis Herwardi Saxonis.

XXVIII.

Qualiter vindicavit se de abbate de Burch¹.

Postquam ergo prædictus abbas de Burch redemptione triginta M librarum de manu Herwardi liber effectus est² ; et nepos ejusdem abbatis atque alii omnes quos acceperant, per quendam cognatum Herwardi, Siwardum Album nomine, quem dudum hospitio honorifice susceperat, ob reverentiam ejusdem abbatis dimissi essent ; sui fœderis non recordantes nec beneficii recompensationem addiderunt iterum debellare Herwardum et suos. Pro quo memoratus abbas plures ecclesiæ suæ possessiones multas militibus erogavit ut haberent præsto militare auxilium ad expugnandum Herwardum, ex quibus ei statim ipse abbas infestabatur, ac illos eum pro servitio terræ persequi constituit. Ut autem audivit Herwardus sermones istos, et imminere sibi supplicium pro beneficio, non diu demoratus sed nocte eadem vindicantes se cum suis in Burch secessit, ac totam villam igne devastans omnem thesaurum ecclesiæ deprædavit, atque abbatem persequutus est licet latitando cum suis evaserit.

The Exploits of Hereward the Saxon.

XXVIII

How Hereward took vengeance upon the Abbot of Burgh¹.

After the aforesaid abbot of Burgh by a ransom of thirty thousand pounds * had been delivered from the hand of Hereward², and the nephew of the same Abbot and all the others whom they had captured had been dismissed by one of Hereward’s kinsmen, Siward the White by name, (whom he had lately treated with great hospitality,) out of respect for the Abbot ; remembering neither their covenant nor the benefit received, they recompensed Hereward by making war upon him and his men. For which purpose the Abbot spoken of granted many of the possessions of the church to soldiers on condition that they supplied forthwith military assistance to subdue Hereward, in respect to the trouble the abbot experienced through him ; and he arranged that they should attack Hereward as service for their lands³. But when Hereward heard those reports, and that a penalty was hanging over him for his kindness, he did not long delay, but the same night, to avenge themselves, went with his men to Burgh, and laid waste the whole town with fire, plundered all the treasure of the church, and overtook the Abbot, although he with his men would have escaped by hiding themselves.

* ↑ [Sweeting’s note] Manifestly some error.

Commentary.

This account is a little at variance with that of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (ASC 1070). In its sequence and apparent timing, it is here placed after the siege of Ely. There it immediately preceded the siege. As was noted in the commentary on Chapter I (note 3), this is not a history; there is no particular reason why its events should be presented in chronological order. Thorold’s taking over as abbot in 1069 provides an earliest date for these events (terminus a quo).

In the ASC version, William permitted the plundering of all monasteries in England. The Danish king and forces arrived in the Humber. Some at least, English forces rallied to him. A Danish bishop with forces, went to Ely and some Fenland forces rallied with them there. The monks of Peterborough were faced with an attack by Hereward, as the Norman, Thorold had been made abbot. Thorold and his followers had arrived by way of Stamford (TF0307). Hereward’s men were shut out of Peterborough but burnt their way in and pillaged the abbey. According to ASC, they then took the plunder to Ely and gave it to the Danes there. The Danes then drove the Ely monks out and Thorold arrived with 160 soldiers, presumably seeking to recover Peterborough’s treasures. He found the place burnt out and Hereward gone.

Following Swein’s comming to terms with William, the Danes abandoned their would-be allies in the fens and the booty was dispersed between Ireland, Norway and Denmark.

As to the reason for Herward’s dispute with the abbot, the ASC account glosses over any dealings about the ransom. In effect, Hereward objected to the new, Norman abbot.

1. Peterborough: the abbey church is now the Cathedral.

2. It is easy to see why Sweeting made the above note*. In the 1070s £30,000 was a huge sum. For example, the Domesday survey of 1086 valued all the holdings in Bourne, including outlying property in another parish, at a total of £14 16s. The ransom was hence, 2,027 times the assessed annual income from the whole of Bourne. However, it begins to look just a little more realistic when it is set against the assessed value of Peterborough Abbey’s property. It was 416 times the assessed value of all that in Lincolnshire and 361 times the combined values of such property in Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire.

3. To a modern mind, this may give an impression that the land was a bribe. Indeed, that may be what Leofric wished to imply but it is the way that the feudal system worked: the abbot was their lord and in return for the use of land in his charge, they provided military service. See Enfeoffment and Fiefdom.

It is interesting to observe that though Odger the Breton is listed in Domesday, as the principal owner of Bourne in 1086, his successor, Hugh d’Envermeu was a knight of the Abbot of Peterborough. Hugh’s wife is believed to have been Hereward’s daughter. She shared her mother’s name, Torfrida. We thus have a glimpse of the way in which Hereward’s ancestral lands may have been restored to his family as a result of the accord reached in Chapter XXXVI. However, since the inheritance was in a female line, the family name connection was soon lost, though the Wake Family into which it subsequently passed, seems to have been happy to associate Hereward with their name. Hereward is still used as a forename in that family.

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