"Next were the Thanes, the professional military in service to either the King or one of his Ealdormen. Those who served the King were accorded a higher status but any Thane could earn a place in the King’s household by virtue of his military service. The duties of the Thane were primarily to provide the kingdom with a solid foundation for the army. When not actively engaged in fighting it was the responsibility of the Thane to oversee the local infrastructure, military and civil. Thanes also held lands in their own right....It was possible for a Ceorl to attain the rank of Thane by acquiring 5 hides of lands. A hide was an area of land sufficient to feed an average family, roughly 120 acres depending on local conditions. If the rank of Thane could be sustained for three generations it became hereditary."
"On the other hand, Wormald (1978, 35, 91-92) haspointed out that the terms
gesithcund
and
earlcund
demonstrate the existence of nobility by birth as early the seventh century. Also from the seventh century onwards, the status of freemen changed as a consequence of the introduction of land charters, shifting the meaning of 'freedom' from the right to be granted the protection of the law to the power toleave an estate (Pelteret 1995, 251)."
(Just some quick material found after a 10 second Google search)
Nosotros, I know the point you are trying to make. It is wrong to assume that feudal social/land obligations existed throughout the entire Dark/Middle Ages. However, it is equally wrong to buy into the premise the pre-Norman English society was freer and more mobile. There is conflicting evidence offered up by well-regarded scholars to support both sides. Close examination of source material yields a confusing picture of post-Migration/pre-Norman social structure and obligations. However there is ample material to support the existence the three background scenarios you so adamantly and quite rudely object to in your first post.
"Your father was a free man who was paying rent to his overlord and owed him labour services in exchange for the given land." - NOPE, never happened in pre-Norman Britain.
* while this scenario more appropriately belongs in feudal society it is not unheard of in Anglo-Saxon England by any means. There is good evidence that the category of 'Freeman" was subdivided into many subsets based on economic and class rank. Some freemen owned their land. Some freemen were subject to debts and could not hold onto their own land. Some freemen were broke (manumitted slaves come to mind) and worked for other landowners. It was common for Ceorls to rent land from thanes etc. in exchange for goods/services. NOPE this never happened in pre-Norman Britain is not correct.
"Your father was an unfree peasant who was tied to his lord's estate for all his life." - NOPE, never happened in pre-Norman Britain.
* This scenario is not only 100% plausible but was extremely common. I assume that the Brytenwalda team means slave when they say "unfree peasant". Slavery was a big deal and estates (such as a thane's hide land) were often farmed by such slaves. Unfree peasant could also refer to a freeman who went into debt and sold himself into slavery. This also happened and would result in attachment to a particular estate. I really don't see anything wrong with this scenario.
"Your father was of lower noble class and possessed five hands of land. He owed military service to the king..." - NOPE, never happened in pre-Norman Britain.
* This is also clearly a correct scenario. A very general hierarchy would go from King ---> Ealdorman ---> Thane ---> Ceorl ---> Slave. The hierarchy is more detailed than that but this will do for now. A lower noble in possession of 5 hides could very well be a thane. Most thanes owed military service to their Ealdormen rather than to the king directly however. But the Ealdorman owes his service to the king so the thane also owes service to the king by proxy. Again, your statement that this never happened is clearly wrong.
I just took a quick scan of my bookshelf to offer some good reading material for this period
The Anglo-Saxon World (Oxford U. press)
The Ecclesiastical History of the English People by Bede (Oxford U. press)
The Anglo-Saxons (edited by James Campell)
Anglo-Saxon England by Stenton
The Dark Ages by Michael Wood
Anglo-Saxon Thane AD 449-1066 (Osprey publishing)
Saxon, Viking and Norman (Osprey publishing)
Arthur and the Anglo-Saxon Wars (Osprey publishing)
