Location:
England
Coordinates:
51.0000, -1.5000
Events at Wessex (11)
690
ID: 5823
Ine of Wessex codifies hide system - establishes 'hide' as standard land unit (120 acres, enough to support one family), basis for taxation and military service
ID: 5823
694
ID: 5824
Ine's laws define thegn status - nobleman holding 5 hides of land, owes military service, wergild (man-price) of 1200 shillings vs 200 for ceorl
ID: 5824
695
ID: 5825
Laws establish ceorl rights - free peasant owning his own land (typically 1 hide), can bear arms, attend folk-moot, but lower wergild than thegn
ID: 5825
725
ID: 5826
Bede describes shire system - 'scir' means share or division, originally divisions of kingdoms, each with own folk-moot court
ID: 5826
850
ID: 5827
Hundred system develops - subdivision of shires, theoretically 100 hides, with hundred-moot court meeting monthly for justice
ID: 5827
871
ID: 5828
Alfred organizes fyrd system - every 5 hides must provide one armed man for militia, thegns serve as mounted warriors
ID: 5828
880
ID: 5829
Burghal Hidage established - Alfred assigns hides to maintain fortified burghs, 1 man per 4 feet of wall, revolutionary defense system
ID: 5829
890
ID: 5813
Alfred the Great reorganizes shire system - establishes shire reeves (scir-gerefa) as royal officials to oversee justice and tax collection in each shire
ID: 5813
900
ID: 5830
Ealdorman role formalized - high nobleman governing one or more shires for king, leads shire fyrd, presides at shire-moot with bishop
ID: 5830
965
ID: 5851
Oswald reforms Worcester more gradually - uses persuasion rather than force to replace secular clergy with monks
ID: 5851
975
ID: 5855
Aelfhere of Mercia leads anti-monastic reaction - restores expelled secular clergy, seizes monastic lands, violent confrontations
ID: 5855