Siward Barn
Encyclopedia
Siward Barn was an 11th century English
thegn
and landowner-warrior. He appears in the extant sources in the period following the Norman Conquest of England
, joining the northern resistance to William the Conqueror by the end of the 1060s. Siward's resistance continued until his capture on the Isle of Ely
alongside Æthelwine, Bishop of Durham, Earl Morcar, and Hereward ("the Wake"). Siward and his confiscated properties in central and northern England
were mentioned in Domesday Book
, and from this it is clear that he was one of the main antecessors of Henry de Ferrers
, father of Robert de Ferrers
, the first Earl of Derby
.
Following his capture in 1071, he was imprisoned. This incarceration lasted until 1087, when a guilt-ridden King William, in expectation of his own death, ordered Siward's release. Firm evidence of Siward's later life is non-existent, but some historians have argued that he took up a career in the Varangian Guard
at Constantinople
, in the service of the Emperor Alexios I Komnenos
. The sources upon which this theory is based also allege that Siward led a party of English colonists to the Black Sea
, who renamed their conquered territory New England
.
writer Orderic Vitalis
, when describing William the Conqueror's stay at Barking
, says that Morcar
, formerly Earl of Northumbria
, and Edwine
, Earl of Mercia
, came and submitted to King William, followed by Copsi, Earl of Northumbria, along with Thurkil of Limis, Eadric the Wild
, and "Ealdred and Siward, the sons of Æthelgar, grandsons [or grand-nephews] (pronepotes) of King Edward".
Edward Augustus Freeman
and other historians have thought that this Siward was Siward Barn, arguing that Siward must have been a descendant of Uhtred the Bold, Earl of Northumbria, and Ælfgifu, daughter of King Æthelred the Unready
, King Edward's father. Historian and translator of Orderic, Marjorie Chibnall
, pointed out that this Siward is mentioned later in his Ecclesiastical History as a Shropshire
landowner, in connection with the foundation of Shrewsbury Abbey
. Ann Williams
likewise rejected this identification, identifying this Siward firmly with the Shropshire thegn Siward Grossus. According to Williams' reconstruction, Siward Grossus and his brother Ealdred were the sons of Æthelgar by a daughter of Eadric Streona
, Ealdorman of Mercia and Eadgyth, another daughter of King Æthelred, explaining the relationship Orderic believed they had with Edward the Confessor.
Another historian, Forrest Scott, guessed that Siward was a member of the family of Northumbrian earls, presumably connected in some way to Siward, Earl of Northumbria
. Margaret Faull and Marie Stinson, the editors of the Philimore Domesday Book
for Yorkshire
, believed that Siward was "a senior member of the house of Bamburgh and possibly a brother or half-brother of Earl Gospatric
". Another historian, Geoffrey Barrow, pointed out that Faull and Stinson gave no evidence for this assertion, and doubted the hypothesis because of Siward's Danish name.
In 1068, there was a revolt in the north of England against the rule of King William, few details of which are recorded. It was serious enough to worry King William, who marched north and began the construction of castles at Warwick
, Nottingham
, York
, Lincoln
, Huntingdon
and Cambridge
.
Earl Cospatric apparently fled to Scotland and in the beginning of 1069 King William appointed the Picard
Robert de Comines as the new earl of Northumbria.
During the winter the English murdered Earl William and Robert fitz Richard, the custodian of the new castle at York
, and trapped William Malet
, the first Norman sheriff
of York, in the castle. King William went north in the spring or summer of 1069, relieved the siege of Malet, and restored the castle, placing William fitz Osbern in charge. The leaders of the revolt were Edgar the Ætheling (claimant to the English throne), Gospatric of Northumbria, and, among others, Mærle-Sveinn, former sheriff of Lincoln, and many senior Northumbria nobles.
In the autumn of 1069, a fleet under the Danish king Sweyn Estridsson and his brother Earl Osbjorn arrived off the coast of England. It is from this point that Siward's involvement in the revolt is documented. Orderic Vitalis
related that:
What followed was William's most devastating punitive expedition, the so-called "Harrying of the North", conducted during the winter of 1069/70. After two minor engagements disadvantageous to the Danes, King William came to an agreement with Earl Osbjorn that neutralised them. William held Christmas court at the ruined city of York, and brought Waltheof and Gospatric back into his peace at the river Tees
.
Siward was at Wearmouth in the summer of 1070, with Edgar and Mærle-Sveinn, while William marched to the river Tyne
with his marauding army. Although William burnt down the church of Jarrow
, he left Edgar's party undisturbed. Siward must have gone to Scotland
in this year, for the Historia Regum
reports that in 1071 Morcar (previously earl of Northumbria) and Hereward went by ship to the Isle of Ely, and that "Æthelwine, bishop of Durham, and Siward, nicknamed Barn, sailing back from Scotland" arrived there too. This is also related by the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
, which confirms that:
, though other successors included Geoffrey de La Guerche and William d'Ecouis
. According to the Domesday Book, in "the time of Edward" (TRE), or rather on the day of the death of Edward the Confessor
, Siward held twenty-one manors in eight different English counties.
In Berkshire, Greenham
(£8), Lockinge
(£10) and Stanford in the Vale
(£30; now in Oxfordshire
); in Gloucestershire
, Lechlade
(£20); in Warwickshire, Grendon
(£2), Burton Hastings
(£4) and Harbury
(£2); in Derbyshire
, Brassington
(£6), Croxhall (£3), Catton (£3), Cubley
(£5), Norbury
and Roston
(£5), Duffield (£9), Breadhall (£4), "Wormhill" (waste) and Moreley (waste); in Nottinghamshire
, Leake
(£6) and Bonnington (s. 6); in Yorkshire
Adlingfleet
(£4); in Lincolnshire
, Whitton
(£10) and Haxey
(5); and in Norfolk
Sheringham
(£4) and Salthouse
(£2). Ann Williams doubted that the estates in Berkshire belonged to Siward Barn, noting the possibility that these estates belonged to Siward of Maldon.
The total value of his holdings is put at 142 libra ("pounds") and 6 solidi ("shillings"). Siward Barn ranks 21st out of all the English landowners in the time of King Edward below the rank of earl.
Nothing more is heard of Siward until 1087, the year of the death of William the Conqueror. The Chronicle of John of Worcester
relates that:
Two modern historians, however, have argued that Siward subsequently became a mercenary
in the service of the Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos
. A 13th century French chronicle
known as the Chronicon Laudunensis (or Chronicon universale anonymi Laudunensis, "the anonymous universal chronicle of Laon
") and the 14th century Iceland
ic text, the Játvarðar Saga
, a short saga
devoted to the life of Edward the Confessor, both relate a story about English warriors who sail to Constantinople in order to escape the dominion of the Normans, and found a colony in the Black Sea
called New England
. The Játvarðar Saga says that the leader of this expedition was one "Siward earl of Gloucester" (Sigurð jarl af Glocestr).
Siward and his force were said to have rescued Constantinople from a siege by "heathens", after which the emperor Alexios offered Siward and his men positions in the Varangian Guard
. According to both sources, Siward and some of the English expressed their desire to have a territory of their own, and so Alexius told them of a land over the sea that had formerly been part of the empire, but was now occupied by heathens. The emperor subsequently granted this land to the English, and a party led by Earl Siward sailed onwards to take control of it. The land, the sources allege, lay "6 days north and north-east of Constantinople", a distance and direction that puts the territory somewhere in or around the Crimea
and Sea of Azov
. Earl Siward, after many battles, defeated and drove away the heathens. The Chronicon Laudunensis says that this territory was renamed "New England", while the Játvarðar Saga claims that the towns of the land were named after English towns, including London and York. The Chronicon alleges that, later, the English rebelled against Byzantine authority and became pirates.
The theory that this Siward is Siward Barn was advocated by Jonathan Shepard
and Christine Fell. Shepard pointed out, although never called "Earl of Gloucester", Siward had holdings in Gloucestershire — the only substantial Siward in Domesday Book with property in that county — and was indeed a participant in resistance to the Normans. Shepard argued that the narrative in question referred not, as the Chronicon Laudunensis had asserted, to the 1070s, but to the 1090s, after Siward's release from prison. Fell, while acknowledging that there were two Siwards participating in resistance to William the Conqueror, Siward Barn and Siward of Maldon, pointed out that Siward Barn is more prominent in the literary sources and, unlike Siward of Maldon, had property in Gloucestershire. Two other historians who have since commented on the point, John Godfrey and Ann Williams, accepted that the identification is tenuous and remained neutral.
Anglo-Saxons
Anglo-Saxon is a term used by historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Great Britain beginning in the early 5th century AD, and the period from their creation of the English nation to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Era denotes the period of...
thegn
Thegn
The term thegn , from OE þegn, ðegn "servant, attendant, retainer", is commonly used to describe either an aristocratic retainer of a king or nobleman in Anglo-Saxon England, or as a class term, the majority of the aristocracy below the ranks of ealdormen and high-reeves...
and landowner-warrior. He appears in the extant sources in the period following the Norman Conquest of England
Norman conquest of England
The Norman conquest of England began on 28 September 1066 with the invasion of England by William, Duke of Normandy. William became known as William the Conqueror after his victory at the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066, defeating King Harold II of England...
, joining the northern resistance to William the Conqueror by the end of the 1060s. Siward's resistance continued until his capture on the Isle of Ely
Isle of Ely
The Isle of Ely is a historic region around the city of Ely now in Cambridgeshire, England but previously a county in its own right.-Etymology:...
alongside Æthelwine, Bishop of Durham, Earl Morcar, and Hereward ("the Wake"). Siward and his confiscated properties in central and northern England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
were mentioned in Domesday Book
Domesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
, and from this it is clear that he was one of the main antecessors of Henry de Ferrers
Henry de Ferrers
Henry de Ferrers was a Norman soldier from a noble family who took part in the conquest of England and is believed to have fought at the Battle of Hastings of 1066 and, in consequence, was rewarded with much land in the subdued nation.His elder brother William fell in the battle. William and Henri...
, father of Robert de Ferrers
Robert de Ferrers, 1st Earl of Derby
Robert I de Ferrers, 1st Earl of Derby was born in Derbyshire, England, a younger son of Henry de Ferrières and his wife Bertha Roberts . His father, born in Ferrières, Normandy, France accompanied William the Conqueror during his invasion of England...
, the first Earl of Derby
Earl of Derby
Earl of Derby is a title in the Peerage of England. The title was first adopted by Robert de Ferrers, 1st Earl of Derby under a creation of 1139. It continued with the Ferrers family until the 6th Earl forfeited his property toward the end of the reign of Henry III and died in 1279...
.
Following his capture in 1071, he was imprisoned. This incarceration lasted until 1087, when a guilt-ridden King William, in expectation of his own death, ordered Siward's release. Firm evidence of Siward's later life is non-existent, but some historians have argued that he took up a career in the Varangian Guard
Varangian Guard
The Varangian Guard was an elite unit of the Byzantine Army in 10th to the 14th centuries, whose members served as personal bodyguards of the Byzantine Emperors....
at Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
, in the service of the Emperor Alexios I Komnenos
Alexios I Komnenos
Alexios I Komnenos, Latinized as Alexius I Comnenus , was Byzantine emperor from 1081 to 1118, and although he was not the founder of the Komnenian dynasty, it was during his reign that the Komnenos family came to full power. The title 'Nobilissimus' was given to senior army commanders,...
. The sources upon which this theory is based also allege that Siward led a party of English colonists to the Black Sea
Black Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...
, who renamed their conquered territory New England
New England (medieval)
New England was a colony allegedly founded in the mid-to-late 11th century by English refugees fleeing William the Conqueror. Its existence is only attested in two sources, dating from the 13th and 14th centuries. Namely, the French Chronicon Universale Anonymi Laudunensis and the Icelandic...
.
Origins
Identifying Siward's origin is difficult for historians because of the large number of Siwards in England in the mid-11th century. Other notable Siwards include Siward of Maldon and Siward Grossus, both men of substance with landholdings larger or comparable to Siward Barn's. The Anglo-NormanAnglo-Norman
The Anglo-Normans were mainly the descendants of the Normans who ruled England following the Norman conquest by William the Conqueror in 1066. A small number of Normans were already settled in England prior to the conquest...
writer Orderic Vitalis
Orderic Vitalis
Orderic Vitalis was an English chronicler of Norman ancestry who wrote one of the great contemporary chronicles of 11th and 12th century Normandy and Anglo-Norman England. The modern biographer of Henry I of England, C...
, when describing William the Conqueror's stay at Barking
Barking
Barking is a suburban town in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, in East London, England. A retail and commercial centre situated in the west of the borough, it lies east of Charing Cross. Barking was in the historic county of Essex until it was absorbed by Greater London. The area is...
, says that Morcar
Morcar of Northumbria
Morcar was the son of Ælfgār and brother of Ēadwine. He was himself the earl of Northumbria from 1065 to 1066, when he was replaced by William the Conqueror with Copsi....
, formerly Earl of Northumbria
Earl of Northumbria
Earl of Northumbria was a title in the Anglo-Danish, late Anglo-Saxon, and early Anglo-Norman period in England. The earldom of Northumbria was the successor of the ealdormanry of Bamburgh, itself the successor of an independent Bernicia. Under the Norse kingdom of York, there were earls of...
, and Edwine
Edwin, Earl of Mercia
Edwin was the elder brother of Morcar, Earl of Northumbria, son of Ælfgār, Earl of Mercia and grandson of Leofric, Earl of Mercia. He succeeded to his father's title and responsibilities on Ælfgār's death in 1062...
, Earl of Mercia
Earl of Mercia
Earl of Mercia was a title in the late Anglo-Saxon, Anglo-Danish, and early Anglo-Norman period in England. During this period the earldom covered the lands of the old Kingdom of Mercia in the English Midlands....
, came and submitted to King William, followed by Copsi, Earl of Northumbria, along with Thurkil of Limis, Eadric the Wild
Eadric the Wild
Eadric the Wild , also known as Eadric Cild, was an Anglo-Saxon magnate of the West Midlands who led English resistance to the Norman Conquest, active in 1068-70.-Background:...
, and "Ealdred and Siward, the sons of Æthelgar, grandsons [or grand-nephews] (pronepotes) of King Edward".
Edward Augustus Freeman
Edward Augustus Freeman
Edward Augustus Freeman was an English historian. His reputation as a historian rests largely on his History of the Norman Conquest , his longest completed book...
and other historians have thought that this Siward was Siward Barn, arguing that Siward must have been a descendant of Uhtred the Bold, Earl of Northumbria, and Ælfgifu, daughter of King Æthelred the Unready
Ethelred the Unready
Æthelred the Unready, or Æthelred II , was king of England . He was son of King Edgar and Queen Ælfthryth. Æthelred was only about 10 when his half-brother Edward was murdered...
, King Edward's father. Historian and translator of Orderic, Marjorie Chibnall
Marjorie Chibnall
Marjorie Morgan MacCallum Chibnall is an English historian, medievalist and Latin translator.Born at Atcham in Shropshire in 1915, she is an Emeritus Fellow of Clare Hall, University of Cambridge , and had previously taught at the University of Southampton and the University of Aberdeen as well...
, pointed out that this Siward is mentioned later in his Ecclesiastical History as a Shropshire
Shropshire
Shropshire is a county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. It borders Wales to the west...
landowner, in connection with the foundation of Shrewsbury Abbey
Shrewsbury Abbey
The Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, commonly known as Shrewsbury Abbey, was a Benedictine monastery founded in 1083 by the Norman Earl of Shrewsbury, Roger de Montgomery, in Shrewsbury, the county town of Shropshire, England.-Background:...
. Ann Williams
Ann Williams (historian)
Ann Williams is an English medievalist, historian and author. Before retiring she worked at the Polytechnic of North London, where she was Senior Lecturer in Medieval History. She is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and a Research Fellow at the University of East Anglia...
likewise rejected this identification, identifying this Siward firmly with the Shropshire thegn Siward Grossus. According to Williams' reconstruction, Siward Grossus and his brother Ealdred were the sons of Æthelgar by a daughter of Eadric Streona
Eadric Streona
Eadric Streona was an ealdorman of the English Mercians. His name a loose translation of the Anglo-Saxon "the Grasper." Streona is historically regarded as the greatest traitor of the Anglo-Saxon period in English history....
, Ealdorman of Mercia and Eadgyth, another daughter of King Æthelred, explaining the relationship Orderic believed they had with Edward the Confessor.
Another historian, Forrest Scott, guessed that Siward was a member of the family of Northumbrian earls, presumably connected in some way to Siward, Earl of Northumbria
Siward, Earl of Northumbria
Siward or Sigurd was an important earl of 11th-century northern England. The Old Norse nickname Digri and its Latin translation Grossus are given to him by near-contemporary texts...
. Margaret Faull and Marie Stinson, the editors of the Philimore Domesday Book
Domesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
for Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
, believed that Siward was "a senior member of the house of Bamburgh and possibly a brother or half-brother of Earl Gospatric
Gospatric, Earl of Northumbria
Gospatric or Cospatric , , was Earl of Northumbria, or of Bernicia, and later lord of sizable estates around Dunbar...
". Another historian, Geoffrey Barrow, pointed out that Faull and Stinson gave no evidence for this assertion, and doubted the hypothesis because of Siward's Danish name.
From York to Ely
Warwick
Warwick is the county town of Warwickshire, England. The town lies upon the River Avon, south of Coventry and just west of Leamington Spa and Whitnash with which it is conjoined. As of the 2001 United Kingdom census, it had a population of 23,350...
, Nottingham
Nottingham
Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group...
, York
York
York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...
, Lincoln
Lincoln, Lincolnshire
Lincoln is a cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England.The non-metropolitan district of Lincoln has a population of 85,595; the 2001 census gave the entire area of Lincoln a population of 120,779....
, Huntingdon
Huntingdon
Huntingdon is a market town in Cambridgeshire, England. The town was chartered by King John in 1205. It is the traditional county town of Huntingdonshire, and is currently the seat of the Huntingdonshire district council. It is known as the birthplace in 1599 of Oliver Cromwell.-History:Huntingdon...
and Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
.
Earl Cospatric apparently fled to Scotland and in the beginning of 1069 King William appointed the Picard
Picardy
This article is about the historical French province. For other uses, see Picardy .Picardy is a historical province of France, in the north of France...
Robert de Comines as the new earl of Northumbria.
During the winter the English murdered Earl William and Robert fitz Richard, the custodian of the new castle at York
York
York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...
, and trapped William Malet
William Malet (Norman conquest)
William Malet is one of the very few proven Companions of William the Conqueror known to have been present at the Battle of Hastings in 1066, as recorded by the contemporary chronicler William of Poitiers...
, the first Norman sheriff
Sheriff
A sheriff is in principle a legal official with responsibility for a county. In practice, the specific combination of legal, political, and ceremonial duties of a sheriff varies greatly from country to country....
of York, in the castle. King William went north in the spring or summer of 1069, relieved the siege of Malet, and restored the castle, placing William fitz Osbern in charge. The leaders of the revolt were Edgar the Ætheling (claimant to the English throne), Gospatric of Northumbria, and, among others, Mærle-Sveinn, former sheriff of Lincoln, and many senior Northumbria nobles.
In the autumn of 1069, a fleet under the Danish king Sweyn Estridsson and his brother Earl Osbjorn arrived off the coast of England. It is from this point that Siward's involvement in the revolt is documented. Orderic Vitalis
Orderic Vitalis
Orderic Vitalis was an English chronicler of Norman ancestry who wrote one of the great contemporary chronicles of 11th and 12th century Normandy and Anglo-Norman England. The modern biographer of Henry I of England, C...
related that:
The Ætheling, Waltheof, Siward, and the other English leaders had joined the Danes ... The Danes reached York, and a general rising of the inhabitants swelled their ranks. Waltheof, Gospatric (Gaius Patricius), Mærle-Sveinn (Marius Suenus), Elnoc, Arnketil, and the four sons of Karle were in the advance guard and led the Danish and Norwegian forces.
What followed was William's most devastating punitive expedition, the so-called "Harrying of the North", conducted during the winter of 1069/70. After two minor engagements disadvantageous to the Danes, King William came to an agreement with Earl Osbjorn that neutralised them. William held Christmas court at the ruined city of York, and brought Waltheof and Gospatric back into his peace at the river Tees
River Tees
The River Tees is in Northern England. It rises on the eastern slope of Cross Fell in the North Pennines, and flows eastwards for 85 miles to reach the North Sea between Hartlepool and Redcar.-Geography:...
.
Siward was at Wearmouth in the summer of 1070, with Edgar and Mærle-Sveinn, while William marched to the river Tyne
River Tyne
The River Tyne is a river in North East England in Great Britain. It is formed by the confluence of two rivers: the North Tyne and the South Tyne. These two rivers converge at Warden Rock near Hexham in Northumberland at a place dubbed 'The Meeting of the Waters'.The North Tyne rises on the...
with his marauding army. Although William burnt down the church of Jarrow
Jarrow
Jarrow is a town in Tyne and Wear, England, located on the River Tyne, with a population of 27,526. From the middle of the 19th century until 1935, Jarrow was a centre for shipbuilding, and was the starting point of the Jarrow March against unemployment in 1936.-Foundation:The Angles re-occupied...
, he left Edgar's party undisturbed. Siward must have gone to Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
in this year, for the Historia Regum
Historia Regum
The Historia Regum is a historical compilation attributed to Symeon of Durham, which presents material going from the death of Bede until 1129. It survives only in one manuscript compiled in Yorkshire in the mid-to-late 12th century, though the material is earlier...
reports that in 1071 Morcar (previously earl of Northumbria) and Hereward went by ship to the Isle of Ely, and that "Æthelwine, bishop of Durham, and Siward, nicknamed Barn, sailing back from Scotland" arrived there too. This is also related by the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is a collection of annals in Old English chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The original manuscript of the Chronicle was created late in the 9th century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of Alfred the Great...
, which confirms that:
Bishop Æthelwine and Siweard Bearn came to Ely and many hundred men with them".It was at Ely that Siward and all the other notables, save Hereward, were captured by King William.
Confiscation and release
By 1086, perhaps soon before or after his capture, many of Siward's lands were given to the Norman warrior Henry de FerrersHenry de Ferrers
Henry de Ferrers was a Norman soldier from a noble family who took part in the conquest of England and is believed to have fought at the Battle of Hastings of 1066 and, in consequence, was rewarded with much land in the subdued nation.His elder brother William fell in the battle. William and Henri...
, though other successors included Geoffrey de La Guerche and William d'Ecouis
William d'Ecouis
William d'Ecouis was a knight who accompanied William the Conqueror on his invasion of England in 1066...
. According to the Domesday Book, in "the time of Edward" (TRE), or rather on the day of the death of Edward the Confessor
Edward the Confessor
Edward the Confessor also known as St. Edward the Confessor , son of Æthelred the Unready and Emma of Normandy, was one of the last Anglo-Saxon kings of England and is usually regarded as the last king of the House of Wessex, ruling from 1042 to 1066....
, Siward held twenty-one manors in eight different English counties.
In Berkshire, Greenham
Greenham
Greenham is a village and civil parish in Berkshire, England. It was recorded in the Domesday Book as Greneham.It is situated just to the south-east of Newbury and is in the West Berkshire district of England....
(£8), Lockinge
Lockinge
Lockinge is a civil parish in Oxfordshire in England, consisting of the villages of East Lockinge and West Lockinge, as well as the hamlet of Betterton, which is also a lost settlement. It is located between the town of Wantage and the village of Ardington. In 1974 it was transferred from Berkshire...
(£10) and Stanford in the Vale
Stanford in the Vale
Stanford in the Vale is a large village and civil parish about south-east of Faringdon and north-west of Wantage in the Vale of White Horse. It was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred the Vale of White Horse to Oxfordshire....
(£30; now in Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
); in Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....
, Lechlade
Lechlade
Lechlade, or Lechlade-on-Thames, is a town at the southern edge of the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire, England. It is the highest point at which the River Thames is navigable. The town is named after the River Leach that joins the Thames near here....
(£20); in Warwickshire, Grendon
Grendon, Warwickshire
Grendon is a Village and Civil Parish in North Warwickshire it situated three miles west of Atherstone and five miles east of Tamworth.- Old Grendon :...
(£2), Burton Hastings
Burton Hastings
Burton Hastings and Stretton Baskerville is a village in Warwickshire. It lies about four miles south-east of Nuneaton and is named after the Hastings family who held the manor until 1529. Burton Hastings is often used by commuters who work in nearby towns....
(£4) and Harbury
Harbury
Harbury is a village and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon district of Warwickshire, England. In the 2001 census it had a population of 2,485....
(£2); in Derbyshire
Derbyshire
Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...
, Brassington
Brassington
Brassington is a village 16 miles north-north-west of Derby, between Wirksworth and Ashbourne, and has a population of about 580.The name, spelled Branzingtune in the Domesday Book, is thought to mean "Brand's people's place"...
(£6), Croxhall (£3), Catton (£3), Cubley
Cubley, Derbyshire
Cubley is a parish of two closely linked villages six miles south of Ashbourne in Derbyshire. St Andrews Church is in Cubley parish. Great Cubley and Little Cubley are known collectively as Cubley. The church lies roughly equidistant from the two, but is technically in Great...
(£5), Norbury
Norbury
Norbury is a town in the London Borough of Croydon, also crossing the London Borough of Merton. It shares the postcode London SW16 with nearby Streatham. Norbury is south of Charing Cross.-History:...
and Roston
Roston
Roston is a hamlet in Derbyshire, England. It is located north of Rocester. The Roston Inn is at the junction of Mill Lane and Lid Lane in the hamlet. Roston is in the parish of Norbury with Roston....
(£5), Duffield (£9), Breadhall (£4), "Wormhill" (waste) and Moreley (waste); in Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire is a county in the East Midlands of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west...
, Leake
East Leake
East Leake is a large village and civil parish in the Rushcliffe district of Nottinghamshire, England, although its closest town and postal address is Loughborough across the border in Leicestershire. It has a population of around 7,000. The original village was located on the Sheepwash Brook. ...
(£6) and Bonnington (s. 6); in Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
Adlingfleet
Adlingfleet
Adlingfleet is a village in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that forms part of the civil parish of Twin Rivers. It is situated approximately to the east of Goole town centre.-History:...
(£4); in Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...
, Whitton
Whitton, North Lincolnshire
Whitton is an English village and civil parish of about 170 inhabitants in North Lincolnshire. It is located at the northern termination of the Cliff range of hills, on the south shore of the Humber, about below Trent Falls, and west of Barton-upon-Humber...
(£10) and Haxey
Haxey
Haxey is a village and civil parish within North Lincolnshire, England. It is situated to the northwest of the city of Lincoln and in 2001 had a total resident population of 4,359....
(5); and in Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
Sheringham
Sheringham
Sheringham is a seaside town in Norfolk, England, west of Cromer.The motto of the town, granted in 1953 to the Sheringham Urban District Council, is Mare Ditat Pinusque Decorat, Latin for "The sea enriches and the pine adorns"....
(£4) and Salthouse
Salthouse
Salthouse is a village and a civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It is situated on the salt marshes of North Norfolk. It is north of Holt, west of Sheringham and north of Norwich. The village is on the A149 coast road between King's Lynn and Great Yarmouth. The nearest railway station...
(£2). Ann Williams doubted that the estates in Berkshire belonged to Siward Barn, noting the possibility that these estates belonged to Siward of Maldon.
The total value of his holdings is put at 142 libra ("pounds") and 6 solidi ("shillings"). Siward Barn ranks 21st out of all the English landowners in the time of King Edward below the rank of earl.
Nothing more is heard of Siward until 1087, the year of the death of William the Conqueror. The Chronicle of John of Worcester
John of Worcester
John of Worcester was an English monk and chronicler. He is usually held to be the author of the Chronicon ex chronicis.-Chronicon ex chronicis:...
relates that:
On his [King William's] return [from France] fierce intestinal pains afflicted him, and he got worse from day to day. When, as his illness worsened, he felt the day of his death approaching, he set free his brother, Odo, bishop of Bayeux, earls Morkar and Roger, Siward called Barn, and WulfnothA similar account is in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, recension E, though specific names are omitted. This unfortunately is also the last notice of Siward in any near-contemporary, reliable source.Wulfnoth GodwinsonWulfnoth Godwinson was a younger brother of Harold II of England, the sixth son of Godwin.He was given as a hostage to Edward the Confessor in 1051 as assurance of Godwin's good behaviour and support during the confrontation between the earl and the king which led to the exile of Godwin and his...
, King HaroldHarold GodwinsonHarold Godwinson was the last Anglo-Saxon King of England.It could be argued that Edgar the Atheling, who was proclaimed as king by the witan but never crowned, was really the last Anglo-Saxon king...
's brother (whom he had kept in custody since childhood), as well as all he had kept imprisoned either in England or Normandy. Then he handed the English kingdom over to William [Rufus], and granted the Norman duchy to Robert [Curthose], who was then exiled in France. In this way, fortified by the holy viaticumViaticumViaticum is a term used especially in the Roman Catholic Church for the Eucharist administered, with or without anointing of the sick, to a person who is dying, and is thus a part of the last rites...
, he abandoned both life and kingdom on Thursday, 9 September, after ruling the English kingdom for twenty years, ten months, and twenty-eight days.
Varangian and colonist?
Mercenary
A mercenary, is a person who takes part in an armed conflict based on the promise of material compensation rather than having a direct interest in, or a legal obligation to, the conflict itself. A non-conscript professional member of a regular army is not considered to be a mercenary although he...
in the service of the Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos
Alexios I Komnenos
Alexios I Komnenos, Latinized as Alexius I Comnenus , was Byzantine emperor from 1081 to 1118, and although he was not the founder of the Komnenian dynasty, it was during his reign that the Komnenos family came to full power. The title 'Nobilissimus' was given to senior army commanders,...
. A 13th century French chronicle
Chronicle
Generally a chronicle is a historical account of facts and events ranged in chronological order, as in a time line. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and local events, the purpose being the recording of events that occurred, seen from the perspective of the...
known as the Chronicon Laudunensis (or Chronicon universale anonymi Laudunensis, "the anonymous universal chronicle of Laon
Laon
Laon is the capital city of the Aisne department in Picardy in northern France.-History:The hilly district of Laon, which rises a hundred metres above the otherwise flat Picardy plain, has always held strategic importance...
") and the 14th century Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
ic text, the Játvarðar Saga
Játvarðar Saga
The Játvarðar Saga , is an Icelandic saga about the life of Edward the Confessor, King of England . It was compiled in the 14th century, in Iceland, using a number of earlier English sources as well as the French Chronicon Universale Anonymi Laudunensis...
, a short saga
Saga
Sagas, are stories in Old Norse about ancient Scandinavian and Germanic history, etc.Saga may also refer to:Business*Saga DAB radio, a British radio station*Saga Airlines, a Turkish airline*Saga Falabella, a department store chain in Peru...
devoted to the life of Edward the Confessor, both relate a story about English warriors who sail to Constantinople in order to escape the dominion of the Normans, and found a colony in the Black Sea
Black Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...
called New England
New England (medieval)
New England was a colony allegedly founded in the mid-to-late 11th century by English refugees fleeing William the Conqueror. Its existence is only attested in two sources, dating from the 13th and 14th centuries. Namely, the French Chronicon Universale Anonymi Laudunensis and the Icelandic...
. The Játvarðar Saga says that the leader of this expedition was one "Siward earl of Gloucester" (Sigurð jarl af Glocestr).
Siward and his force were said to have rescued Constantinople from a siege by "heathens", after which the emperor Alexios offered Siward and his men positions in the Varangian Guard
Varangian Guard
The Varangian Guard was an elite unit of the Byzantine Army in 10th to the 14th centuries, whose members served as personal bodyguards of the Byzantine Emperors....
. According to both sources, Siward and some of the English expressed their desire to have a territory of their own, and so Alexius told them of a land over the sea that had formerly been part of the empire, but was now occupied by heathens. The emperor subsequently granted this land to the English, and a party led by Earl Siward sailed onwards to take control of it. The land, the sources allege, lay "6 days north and north-east of Constantinople", a distance and direction that puts the territory somewhere in or around the Crimea
Crimea
Crimea , or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea , is a sub-national unit, an autonomous republic, of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name...
and Sea of Azov
Sea of Azov
The Sea of Azov , known in Classical Antiquity as Lake Maeotis, is a sea on the south of Eastern Europe. It is linked by the narrow Strait of Kerch to the Black Sea to the south and is bounded on the north by Ukraine mainland, on the east by Russia, and on the west by the Ukraine's Crimean...
. Earl Siward, after many battles, defeated and drove away the heathens. The Chronicon Laudunensis says that this territory was renamed "New England", while the Játvarðar Saga claims that the towns of the land were named after English towns, including London and York. The Chronicon alleges that, later, the English rebelled against Byzantine authority and became pirates.
The theory that this Siward is Siward Barn was advocated by Jonathan Shepard
Jonathan Shepard
Jonathan Shepard is a British historian specializing in early medieval Russia, the Caucasus, and the Byzantine Empire. He is regarded as a leading authority in Byzantine studies and on the Kievan Rus. He specializes in diplomatic and archaeological history of the early Kievan period...
and Christine Fell. Shepard pointed out, although never called "Earl of Gloucester", Siward had holdings in Gloucestershire — the only substantial Siward in Domesday Book with property in that county — and was indeed a participant in resistance to the Normans. Shepard argued that the narrative in question referred not, as the Chronicon Laudunensis had asserted, to the 1070s, but to the 1090s, after Siward's release from prison. Fell, while acknowledging that there were two Siwards participating in resistance to William the Conqueror, Siward Barn and Siward of Maldon, pointed out that Siward Barn is more prominent in the literary sources and, unlike Siward of Maldon, had property in Gloucestershire. Two other historians who have since commented on the point, John Godfrey and Ann Williams, accepted that the identification is tenuous and remained neutral.