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Over 500 references survive to payment in return for control over land in Anglo-Saxon England. This article considers these documents as a source for social developments. Issues which are explored include the identities of buyers and sellers, changes in the roles of these groups over the period, and the likely aims and concerns of different individuals and institutions who paid for land. A chronology is developed for the participation of various groups in land payments. Payments emerge as a significant component in definitions of status and strategies of land management, albeit closely interwoven with other forms of transaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the relationship between Anglo-Saxon England and the Roman tradition of literacy and record-keeping, with a particular focus on the former's lack of polyptyques during this period. The economic conditions of England, including its agrarian practices, the assessment of land for taxation and the decline in the social and economic status of peasants, are discussed. The social theory on the impact that the 1066 Norman Conquest had on England, including in the relationship between landlords and peasantry, land tenure, tenancy and rent, is also discussed.

This article discusses the possible locations of the Frenessican Sea, a body of water that is referred to in the ninth-century text "Historia Brittonum." Efforts to situate this sea within accounts of Northumbrian political history are considered. The possibility that the term Frenessican is a corruption of the Latin term freneticum, meaning enraged or maddened, that describes the North Sea is considered. The relevance to this evidence for the assessment of the historical geography of Northern Britain is noted. Corresponding evidence regarding the translation of the place name Din Gioaroi is considered.

Explores the meaning of midwife, a woman attendant on childbirth. Possible source of evidence of professed midwives in Britain's Anglo Saxon period.

The article looks at the adoption of Ringmere, a battle site from 1010 between the Danes and the English, as Hringmaraheiðr in several Norse sagas and poems. The author attempts to chart the history and exact location of Ringmere, believed to be near Thetford, England. The etymology of the name is discussed, with special attention given to "hring" as a word for a district or meeting place. The article mentions other English towns that incorporate "ring" into their names, such as Ringmer Hundred in Sussex and Rigslow Hundred in Kent.