Grants by Ealhburg, Eadweald, and Ealhhere to Canterbury Cathedral
Overview
This charter outlines an agreement between Ealhburg and Eadweald concerning land in Kent. It specifies the annual contributions from the estate to the community at Christ Church (Canterbury). Ealhburg enjoins her kinsman Eadweald, in the name of God and all His saints, to uphold this commitment during his lifetime and to instruct his heirs to continue it thereafter, as long as Christianity endures. The charter emphasizes that whoever possesses this land must provide the specified contributions in the sight of God and all His saints, and any failure to do so will bear upon the soul of the defaulter.
The identities of Ealhburg, Eadweald, and Ealhhere are not known for certain; however, linguistic characteristics provide clues that this charter may originate from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Kent. Scholars suggest that these three individuals were Kentish nobility, as there was a Kentish earl named Ealhhere who signed charters from 841 to 850. Additionally, there is a record of the same Ealhhere fighting against the Danes and dying in battle in 853.
This is the agreement between Ealhburg and Eadweald with regard to the land at Bourn, as to what is to be given annually from the estate to the community at Christ Church, on behalf of Ealhburg, Ealdred, Eadweald, and Ealawyn: namely, forty “ambers” of malt, two hundred and forty loaves, a wey of cheese, a wey of lard, a full-grown bullock, four sheep, ten geese, twenty hens, and four “fothers” of wood. And I, Ealhburg, enjoin upon my kinsman Eadweald, in the name of God and of all His saints, that he observe this duly during his lifetime, and command his heirs to observe it afterwards, so long as Christianity endures. And whoever has the land is to give twenty gesufl* loaves to the church every Sunday for the souls of Ealdred and Ealhburg.
This is the pious charge which Ealhhere has enjoined upon his daughter Ealawyn with regard to three ploughlands at Finglesham: one hundred pence are to be given annually to the community at Christ Church. And whosoever has possession of this land is to give this money in the sight of God and of all His saints, and whosoever fails to perform this, be it on his soul, and not on the soul of him who has commanded it to be done.
*a certain kind of bread.
Further Research & Sources
Bosworth, Joseph. “ge-sufel.” In An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary Online, edited by Thomas Northcote Toller, Christ Sean, and Ondřej Tichy. Prague: Faculty of Arts, Charles University, 2014. https://bosworthtoller.com/16220.
Harmer, Florence E. Select English Historical Documents of the Ninth and Tenth Centuries. Cambridge University Press. 1914.