Re: Hundred Meaning?

In a message dated 30/10/2005 17:07:15 GMT Standard Time,
mickgNoSpam@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx writes:
As Wikpedia says:
A lathe was an administrative division of the county of Kent, in
England, from the Anglo-Saxon period until it fell entirely out of use
in the early twentieth century.

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http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/types/index.jsp
A lathe was an ancient administration division of Kent, these units are
recorded as intermediate between the county and hundred. These ancient divisions
still exist, but have no administrative significance. There are seven Lathes
in Kent; Aylesford, Milton, Sutton, Borough, Eastry, Lympne and Wye. The
Domesday Book reveals that in 1086 Kent was divided into the seven lathes or
'lest(um)' for administrative, judicial and taxation purposes (Jessup, 1958,
P.59) and these units remained important for another six hundred years. Each of
the seven lathes were divided into smaller areas called hundreds, although the
difference between the functions of lathes and hundreds remains unclear. The
fact that lathes are documented in the Domesday Book implies a pre-Conquest
date, and there is a general belief that they may originate from the 'early
phase of Jutish colonization of Kent' in the fifth century (Jessup, 1958,
P.59). Furthermore the Anglo-Saxon sources of Kent suggest that these divisions
may have been related to royal divisions as the early lathe system centred on
royal vils and their function may have been to provide food-rents and
military manpower to the king.
A Rape was an ancient administration division of Sussex, these units are
recorded as intermediate between the county and hundred. There are six Rapes in
Sussex; Arundel, Bramber, Chichester, Hastings, Lewes, and Pevensey. 'Each
rape was a castlrey, centred on a castle; each was in the hands of a single
tenant-in-chief; and each had its own sheriff, who answered to the
tenant-in-chief not the Crown: no royal sheriffs are recorded before the twelfth century'
(www.domesdaybook.net). The position of the rapes, each covering a parallel
strip of the county, created a a controlled line of communication from London
to the Channel. Amstrong points out that in view of the vital position of
Sussex, and its ability to control and defend the sea-routes between Sussex to
Normandy, the Normans had divided Sussex into these six rapes (Amstrong, p.50).
Though there is a view that the Normans only re-modelled the administrative
divisions of Sussex, references to rapes within the Domesday suggests an
Anglo-Saxon invention but their roots may be as early as Lathes
(www.domesdaybook.net).


Regards Stan Mapstone
www.mapstone.org

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