View source for Thegn

{{Short description|Medieval British and Scandinavian noble title}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

[[File:Godwin the thane seal first half 11th century.jpg|thumb|Ivory seal of Godwin, an unknown thegn{{dash}}first half of eleventh century, [[British Museum]]]]

In later [[Anglo-Saxon England]], a '''thegn''' or '''thane'''{{Sfn|Britannica|1998}} (Latin '''minister'''{{sfn|Licence|2020|p=99}}) was an aristocrat who ranked at the third level in lay society, below the king and [[ealdormen]].{{sfn|Keynes|2014|pp=459-461}} He had to be a substantial landowner. [[Thanage]] refers to the tenure by which lands were held by a thane as well as the rank; an approximately equivalent modern title may be that of [[baron]].

The term ''thane'' was also used in [[Early Middle Ages|early medieval]] [[Scandinavia]] for a class of retainers, and ''[[thane (Scotland)|thane]]'' was a title given to local royal officials in medieval eastern [[Scotland]], equivalent in rank to the child of an [[earl]].

== Etymology ==
{{Anglo-Saxon status}}

''Thegn'' is only used once in the laws before the reign of King [[Æthelstan]] (924–939), but more frequently in charters.{{Sfn|Holland|1911|p=743}} Apparently unconnected to the [[German language|German]] and [[Dutch language|Dutch]] word '' {{lang|de|dienen}}'' ('to serve'), [[H. M. Chadwick]] suggests "the sense of subordination must have been inherent... from the earliest time".{{sfn|Chadwick|1905|pp=84–85}} It gradually expanded in meaning and use, to denote a member of a territorial nobility, while thegnhood was attainable by fulfilling certain conditions.{{Sfn|Holland|1911|p=743}}

''[[An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary]]'' describes a thane as "one engaged in a king's or a queen's service, whether in the household or in the country". It adds: "the word... seems gradually to acquire a technical meaning... denoting a class, containing several degrees".{{Sfn|Holland|1911|p=743}}

== Origins ==<!-- The page "Gesith" redirects to this section. If you change the section name, please update the "Gesith" page. -->
[[File:Beowulf - ge sithum.jpg|thumb|right|The word ''gesith''/''gesiþ'' (plural ''gesithum''/''gesiðum''), the precursor of ''thegn'', used in the [[Old English]] epic poem ''[[Beowulf]]'']]

In the 5th century, [[Germanic peoples]] collectively known as [[Anglo-Saxons]] migrated to [[sub-Roman Britain]] and came to dominate the east and southeast of the island. Based on archaeological evidence (such as burials and buildings), these early communities appear to have lacked any social elite. Around half the population were free, independent farmers (Old English: {{lang|ang|[[Churl|ceorlas]]}}) who cultivated a [[Hide (unit)|hide]] of land (enough to provide for a family). [[Slavery in Britain|Slaves]], mostly native [[Celtic Britons|Britons]], made up the other half.{{Sfn|Morris|2021|pp=49–50}}

By the late 6th century, the archeological evidence (grander burials and buildings) suggests the development of a social elite. This period coincided with the [[Late Antique Little Ice Age]] and the [[Plague of Justinian]]. These events would have caused famine and other societal disruptions that may have increased violence and led previously independent farmers to submit to the rule of strong lords. The Old English word for ''lord'' is {{lang|ang|hlaford}} ({{gloss|loaf-guardian}} or {{gloss|bread-giver}}).{{Sfn|Morris|2021|pp=50–55}}

The early [[Law of Æthelberht|law codes of Kent]] use the Old English word {{Lang|ang|[[wikt:eorl|eorl]]}} ({{gloss|high born}}, {{gloss|noble}}) to describe a nobleman. By the 8th century, the word '''gesith''' ({{gloss|companion}}; Latin: {{lang|la|[[comes]]}}) had replaced {{Lang|ang|eorl}} as the common term for a nobleman.{{sfn|Loyn|1955|p=530}}{{Sfn|Williams|2008|p=5}} There were both land-owning and landless gesiths.{{sfn|Loyn|1955|p=532}} A landless gesith would serve as a [[Retinue|retainer]] in the {{Lang|la|[[Comitatus (warband)|comitatus]]}} of a king, queen, or lord. In return, they were provided protection (Old English: {{lang|ang|[[Mund (law)|mund]]}}) and gifts of gold and silver. Young nobles were raised with the children of kings to someday become their gesith.{{Sfn|Jolliffe|1961|p=14–15}} A gesith might be granted an estate in reward for loyal service.{{sfn|Loyn|1955|p=530}}

By the 10th century, Anglo-Saxon society was divided into three main social classes: slaves, {{lang|ang|ceorlas}} ({{gloss|free men}}), and {{lang|ang|þegnas}} ({{gloss|thegns}}, {{gloss|aristocrats}}).{{Sfn|Williams|2008|p=2}} ''Thegn'' (Old English: {{lang|ang|þeġn}}) meant servant or warrior, and it replaced the term ''gesith''.{{sfn|Loyn|1955|p=530}} Law codes assigned a [[weregeld]] or man price of 200 [[shilling]]s for a {{lang|ang|ceorl}} and 1,200s for a thegn.{{Sfn|Williams|2008|p=1}}

== Ranks and functions ==
The historian [[Ann Williams (historian)|Ann Williams]] states that thegns were divided into three ranks, [[ealdormen]] (later [[earl]]s), king's thegns, and lesser thegns,{{Sfn|Williams|2008|p=3}} but most authorities see thegns as a rank within the aristocracy below ealdormen.{{sfnm|1a1=Loyn|1y=1955|1p=539|2a1=Stafford|2y=2014|2p=156|3a1=Keynes|3y=2014|3p=459-460}}
Thegns were the backbone of local government and the military. [[Sheriff]]s were drawn from this class, and thegns were required to attend the [[shire court]] and give judgment. For these reasons, historian [[David Carpenter (historian)|David Carpenter]] described thegns as "the [[country gentry]] of Anglo-Saxon England".<ref>{{harvnb|Carpenter|2003|p=66}} quoted in {{harvnb|Huscroft|2016|p=28}}.</ref> Although their exact role is unclear, the twelve senior thegns of the [[hundred (division)|hundred]] played a part in the development of the English system of justice. Under a law of [[Ethelred the Unready|Aethelred]] they "seem to have acted as the judicial committee of the court for the purposes of accusation".{{sfn|Holdsworth|1903|p=7}} This suggests some connection with the modern [[jury trial]].

== Social mobility ==
Children inherited thegnly status from their father, and a thegnly woman who married a {{lang|ang|ceorl}} retained her noble status.{{Sfn|Williams|2008|p=1}} A successful thegn might hope to be promoted to earl.{{Sfn|Holland|1911|p=743}}

A prosperous {{lang|ang|ceorl}} could become a landlord in his own right and aspire to thegnly rank. In the legal tract ''[[Geþyncðo]]'', Archbishop [[Wulfstan (died 1023)|Wulfstan]] of York (1002–1023) detailed the criteria for attaining thegnhood: "And if a {{lang|ang|ceorl}} prospered, that he possessed fully five hides of his own, a ''belhus'' and a ''burhgeat'' [a defensible [[manor house]]], a seat and special office in the king’s hall, then was he henceforth entitled to the rights of a thegn."<ref>{{harvnb|Liebermann|1905|pp=456–458}}; {{harvnb|Whitelock|1955|loc=no. 52(A), p. 432}}; quoted in {{harvnb|Williams|2008|pp=2–3}}.</ref> The legal text ''Norðleoda laga'' ({{gloss|law of the Northern People}}) also included the five-[[Hide (unit)|hide]] qualification but added that the land had to be kept for three generations.{{Sfn|Williams|2008|p=4}}

Thegnhood was also attainable to the merchant who "fared thrice over the wide sea by his own means."{{sfn|Stubbs|1895|p=65}}

==Households==
{{Further|Medieval household}}

A noble household included a number of retainers, termed {{Lang|ang|cniht}} ({{gloss|young man}}, {{gloss|retainer}}; from which the modern word ''[[knight]]'' derives) or {{Lang|ang|huscarl}} ({{gloss|[[housecarl]]}}, {{gloss|man of the household}}). Thegnly wills can be used to reconstruct noble households. Thurstan Lustwine's will, written {{circa|1043}}, left land to his {{Lang|ang|cnihtes}} and his two [[chaplain]]s (who in addition to religious duties would also have performed secretarial work). The will of a noblewoman named Leofgifu left land to her three stewards, two [[Reeve (England)|reeves]], a chaplain, and her {{Lang|ang|cnihtes}}. Another household officer identified in wills is that of [[Hunter|huntsman]] ({{Lang|ang|hunta}}).{{Sfn|Williams|2008|pp=63 & 66}}

Just as king's thegns served in the [[Royal Households of the United Kingdom#Anglo-Saxon period (871–1066)|royal household]], lesser thegns served as the [[Dish-bearers and butlers in Anglo-Saxon England|seneschals]], [[Chamberlain (office)|chamberlains]], and stewards of king's thegns and ealdormen. These were considered honourable posts rather than servile positions. Vagn, the leader of [[Leofric, Earl of Mercia|Earl Leofric's]] housecarls, owned 54 [[Hide (unit)|hides]] of land with his main [[Manorialism|manor]] at [[Wootton Wawen]] ({{gloss|Vagn's Wootton}}). High ranking men such as Vagn would have formed the inner circle of the lord's household.{{Sfn|Williams|2008|p=67}}

== Post-conquest England ==
[[File:Map of thegn runestones.jpg|thumb|[[Scandinavia]]n [[runestone]]s of ''thegns'' are marked in red, those using the junior position "drengr" in blue]]

In 1066, there were an estimated 5,000 thegns in England.{{Sfn|Huscroft|2016|p=29}} After the [[Norman conquest of England]] in 1066, [[William the Conqueror]] replaced the Anglo-Saxon aristocracy with Normans, who replaced the previous terminology with their own names for such social ranks. Those previously known as thegns became part of the knightly class.{{Sfn|Holland|1911|p=743}}

== Runestones ==

During the later part of the tenth and in the eleventh centuries in [[Denmark]] and [[Sweden]], it became common for families or comrades to raise memorial [[runestones]]. Approximately fifty of these note that the deceased was a thegn. Examples of such runestones include [[Södermanland Runic Inscription 170|Sö 170]] at Nälberga, [[Norra Härene Runestone|Vg 59]] at Norra Härene, [[Velanda Runestone|Vg 150]] at Velanda, [[Gunderup Runestone|DR 143]] at Gunderup, [[Glavendrup stone|DR 209]] at Glavendrup, and [[Rydsgård Runestone|DR 277]] at Rydsgård.

== See also ==
*[[Abthain]]
*[[Fyrd]]
*[[Thain]]
*[[Thane (Scotland)]]
*[[Trinoda necessitas]]

==References==

=== Citations ===

{{reflist|colwidth=20em}}

=== Sources ===
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book | last = Chadwick | first = Hector Munro | author-link = Hector Munro Chadwick | title = Studies on Anglo-Saxon Institutions | publisher = Cambridge University Press | year = 1905 | pages = | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=tWcIAQAAMAAJ}}
* {{cite book | last = Carpenter | first = David | author-link = David Carpenter (historian) | title = The Struggle for Mastery: Britain 1066–1284 | publisher = Penguin Books | series = [[Penguin History of Britain]] | year = 2003 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=FLbdk_L9TYQC | isbn = 0140148248}}
* {{cite book | last = Huscroft | first = Richard | title = Ruling England, 1042-1217 | publisher = Routledge | edition = 2nd | year = 2016 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=tKNYCwAAQBAJ | isbn = 978-1138786554}}
* {{cite book | last = Holdsworth | first = William Searle | author-link = William Searle Holdsworth | title = A History of English Law | publisher = Methuen & Co. | volume = 1 | year = 1903 | place = London | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=vfsyAAAAIAAJ}}
* {{Cite EB1911 |wstitle=Thegn |volume=26 |page=743 |first= Arthur William |last=Holland|date=1911 |short=1}}
* {{cite book | last = Jolliffe | first = J. E. A. | title = The Constitutional History of Medieval England from the English Settlement to 1485 | publisher = Adams and Charles Black | edition = 4th | year = 1961 | url = https://archive.org/details/constitutionalhi0000joll |url-access=registration}}
* {{cite encyclopedia|last= Keynes |first=Simon  |title=Thegn |pages=459–461|year=2014|editor1-first= Michael|editor1-last= Lapidge|editor2-first= John|editor2-last= Blair|editor3-first= Simon|editor3-last= Keynes |editor4-first= Donald|editor4-last= Scragg |encyclopedia=The Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England|edition=2nd| publisher= Wiley Blackwell |location=Chichester, West Sussex |isbn=978-0-470-65632-7}}
*{{cite book|last= Licence|first=Tom  |title=Edward the Confessor: Last of the Royal Blood |publisher= Yale University Press|location= New Haven, Connecticut |year=2020|isbn=978-0-300-21154-2}}
* {{cite book | last = Liebermann | first = F. | author-link = Felix Liebermann | title = Die Gesetze der Angelsachsen | publisher = M. Niemeyer | volume = 1 | year = 1905 | place = Halle}}
* {{cite journal |last=Loyn |first=HR | author-link = H. R. Loyn |title=Gesiths and Thegns in Anglo-Saxon England from the Seventh to Tenth Century |journal=The English Historical Review |date=1955 |volume=70 |issue=277| pages=529–549|doi=10.1093/ehr/LXX.CCLXXVII.529 |jstor = 558038}}
* {{cite book | last = Morris | first = Marc | author-link = Marc Morris (historian) | title = The Anglo-Saxons: A History of the Beginnings of England: 400–1066 | publisher = Pegasus Books | year = 2021 | isbn = 978-1-64313-312-6}}
* {{cite encyclopedia|last= Stafford |first=Pauline  |title=Ealdorman |pages=156-157|year=2014|editor1-first= Michael|editor1-last= Lapidge|editor2-first= John|editor2-last= Blair|editor3-first= Simon|editor3-last= Keynes |editor4-first= Donald|editor4-last= Scragg |encyclopedia=The Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England|edition=2nd| publisher= Wiley Blackwell |location=Chichester, West Sussex |isbn=978-0-470-65632-7}}
* {{cite book | last = Stubbs | first = William | author-link = William Stubbs | title = Select Charters and Other Illustrations of English Constitutional History, from the Earliest Times to the Reign of Edward the First | publisher = Clarendon Press | edition = 8th | year = 1895 | place = Oxford | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=zkgzAAAAIAAJ}}
* {{cite encyclopedia | title = Thane | encyclopedia = Encyclopedia Britannica | url = https://www.britannica.com/topic/thane-feudal-lord | date = 20 July 1998 | ref = {{harvid|Britannica|1998}}}}
* {{cite book | editor-last = Whitelock | editor-first = Dorothy | editor-link = Dorothy Whitelock | title = [[English Historical Documents]] c. 500–1042 | publisher = Eyre and Spottiswood | year = 1955 | place = London | volume = 1}}
* {{cite book | last = Williams | first = Ann | author-link = Ann Williams (historian) | title = The World Before Domesday: The English Aristocracy, 900–1066 | publisher = Continuum | year = 2008 | place = London | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=lYCvAwAAQBAJ | isbn = 9781847252395}}
{{refend}}

== Further reading ==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book | last = Stubbs | first = William | author-link = William Stubbs | title = The Constitutional History of England, in Its Origin and Development | publisher = Clarendon Press | volume = 1 | year = 1874 | place = Oxford | pages = 149–158 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=zycIAAAAQAAJ}}
* {{cite journal | last = Sukhino-Khomenko | first = Denis | author-link = | title = Thegns in the Social Order of Anglo-Saxon England and Viking-Age Scandinavia: Outlines of a Methodological Reassessment | journal = Interdisciplinary and Comparative Methodologies | volume = 14 | pages = 25–50 | year = 2019 | url = https://www.helsinki.fi/assets/drupal/2022-12/rmn_14_methodologies.pdf | issn = 1799-4497 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20240630032851/https://www.helsinki.fi/assets/drupal/2022-12/rmn_14_methodologies.pdf | archive-date = June 30, 2024 | url-status = live}}
{{refend}}

[[Category:Anglo-Saxon society]]
[[Category:Anglo-Saxon thegns| ]]
[[Category:Anglo-Norse England]]
[[Category:Viking Age in Sweden]]