Irene Preston's Historical Writing
SAXON WOMEN
In early Britain the women would fight alongside the men and the wives
of the chieftains were often accepted as leaders, and were treated as
equals. Alfred the Great created a burghal system across Wessex. When he
died in 899 his daughter Ethelfred worked alongside her brother Edward
to keep the Danes at bay. She had married the chieftain of Mercia and
upon his death was accepted as their leader, and was called Lady of the
Mercians. She carried on with her father’s work and built several more
burghs including one at the weir in Warwick. In 1066 William the
Conqueror gave Warwickshire to one of his leaders who built a new motte
and bailey a few miles from the old one and took the name of Henry de
Newburgh. The family held it until 1242 and it is known as Warwick
Castle.
In old English the word mann was used as we use mankind to denote the
human species and both sexes. In a will dated about 969, land passed
from the first mann to the second mann even though it was his daughter.
After the signing of the Magna Charta widows benefited by having the
choice of remaining a widow and keeping her own property. She could not,
however, marry again without the permission of the King, or from the
person she held the land for.