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Inquest of Sheriffs (1170) – William D’Aubigny II Earl of Arundel’s Manor.


‘When the earl returned from France, the men of the earl’s demesne again paid 10 marks, namely 5 marks to Richard the chamberlain (of Buckenham), and 5 marks to the Jew of Rising. Once again Richard, son of Atrac, and his fellows gave 3½ marks, namely 2 marks to Richard the chamberlain, and 20 shillings to Deulebeny the Jew.

Again, the men of the earl’s demesne paid 8½ marks, and Richard and his fellows gave 3 marks for one socage* to redeem the earl’s lands from the Jews; and this they did of their own free will. Deulebeny, the Jew of Rising, received these moneys.

These are the sums of money which the burgesses of [Castle] Rising have paid to their lord, the earl, since the king crossed overseas.

 Socage is feudal tenure of land in return for agricultural or other non-military services or for payment of rent


William Mercer 22s. 5d.    

Wulnoth  16d.

Richard Fisher  8s.1d.    

Swene Mercer  22s. 5d.

William, son of Leif 5s.    

Manduerus              17s. 10d

Richard Lorimer 40d.    

Hardekinus                  5marks,  6s. 6d.

William Hardegrey 12d.    

Richard Mercer 9s.

Roger Miller  13d.    

William Skinner 18d.

Hangot   10d.    

Hervey   2s.

Osbert Gendry  4d.    

Airicus  (Ælfric) 28d.

Geoffrey Mercer 2s.    

Acerus   8d.

Robert Bucel  26s.    

John Large  3s.

Edwin   7d.    

Richard, son Ivetta 9s.3d.

Alan Bishop  17d.     

William Swan  9s. 4d.

Asslac   8d.    

Hubert Testor  2s.11d.

Osbert   8d.    

Anchetinus Cook 18s.8d.

Ivetta   19d.    

Gommanus  11d.

Adam, son of Elviva 4s.8d    

Hacetus  3s.6d..

Wulfet   6d.    

Eudo and his fellows 3½ marks

Siolf   5d.    

John   5d.

Roger Florast  4s.6d.    

Seman   16d.

Ralph   28d.


They paid all of these sums to the earl of Arundel of their own free will to redeem his land from the Jews. They paid them to Nicholas the steward.


Douglas, D. C. & Greenaway, G. W. (eds), 1968. English Historical Documents 1042 – 1189. Eyre & Spottiswood. London. pp441-444


“These returns written on scraps of parchment were found in the Public Record Office in 1889 and identified by J.H. Round as fragments of the original returns to the inquest (No48). Hubert Hall who printed the text in The Red Book of the Exchequer, Rolls series (1896) II, App rejected this identification, but Round’s  arguments are now generally accepted. ....... Many of the returns illustrate the feudal relations that existed between tenants-in chief and their sub-tenants, and it is plain that the scope of the inquest included fiscal relations between private land-holders as well as between the crown and its tenants-in-chief. This text is considered the best surviving copy.”


[Fred’s comments  -  This appears to be a very early[1170] ( and one of the best in England) list of tenants of the parish of Rising. It was made within 20 years of the erection of the Castle and Church. It also shows how rents could be used by the Lord of the Manor to recover debts incurred by him. In this case the money had been levied on William D’Albini II by King Henry II for his wars in France. I assume that in order to get the money quickly D’Albini had turned to Duelbeney, the Jew of Rising for the money and was now levying his “subjects” for their rent to pay the debt. The list itself is fascinating for what it tells us of the inhabitants at the time. The present-day habit of people having a first and last name was in its infancy and used to differentiate different individuals. I suspect John Large’s surname was there to differentiate him from the other John (second from bottom). There are several second names which could be occupations – Mercer, Skinner, Cook, Fisher, although I doubt that Alan Bishop was actually a bishop!!  Other second names are more puzzling. Where do the names Swan, Testor, Lorimer, Hardegrey, Gendry* and Bucel come from? Most of the first names look like typical Norman or biblical names (Richard, William, John, Geoffrey, Adam, Robert, Hubert) others Anglo-Saxon or Norse - (Swene, Eudo, Wulnoth, Wulfet), yet others are Latinized (Romanized?)names – (Manduerus, Hardekinus, Anchetinus, Gommanus, Hacetus, Acerus) and others difficult to classify. Some may be transcription errors. What might this list tell us about the male residents of the village at the time? Thirty-nine men are recorded as paying rents, although the entry Eudo and his fellows suggests others may have been included in the payments.. At Domesday, Rising had 87 freemen, villagers and. smallholders and only 3 serfs, so perhaps the list comprises most of the adult male residents of the village in 1170. So if the women and children are added this would suggest a population size of 150 to 250, a decline since Domesday.

If Duelbeney was referred to as the Jew of Rising, presumably he too lived in the village. I have a recollection that he was caught up in the Pogrom of Lynn in 1190 and was killed (This is confirmed by Norman).]


*July 2012 Ann noted that Swann  may refer to Swain, a servant or attendant and Lorimer  was a maker of spurs and metal work for horses. Gendry could refer to Gentry. Testor may have been so called because he had a big head.