Hold (title)
Appearance
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Cyning (king) |
Ealdorman (Earl after c.1000) |
Hold / High-reeve |
Thegn (thane) |
Thingmen / housecarl (retainer) |
Reeve / Verderer (bailiff) |
Ceorl (churl, free tenant) |
Villein (serf) |
Cottar (cottager) |
Þēow (thrall, slave) |
Hold (or Hauld) was a title of nobility, used in early medieval Scandinavia and the English Danelaw.
History
[edit]Holds were described as "noblemen of exalted rank" in Viking Northumbria by Frank Stenton, with a wergild of 4000 thrymsas, equivalent to a king's high-reeve.[1] Hold is described as a title just below the earl in Oxford Dictionary of Surnames.
References
[edit]- ^ Stenton, Frank M. (1971). Anglo-Saxon England (3rd ed.). Clarendon Press. p. 509. ISBN 978-0-19-280139-5.
External links
[edit]- Eystein Eggen 2005 (Norwegian, Aftenposten)