I - Unidentified pre-Conquest abbots and abbesses

Summary

See above, pp. 12–16. In a sense all abbs. who sign most Pre-Conquest charters are unidentified, in that normally their house is not named. But where reasonably probable identification (or choice of identification) can be made, an abb. is not included in the following list.

Names in brackets only occur in charters of doubtful authenticity, and may be fictitious – not (most probably) in the sense that the forger, or some copyist, invented them, but that they have either been imported from a different period or context to embellish a list of signatories, or are seriously corrupt.

Ægfridus occ. in Ely Calendar (Cambridge, Trinity Coll. MS O.2.1, f. K1ov) under 28 Oct. See Ely, St Albans.

Ælfhere, Æluere occ. 1018, 1019, 1019, 1022, 1023, 1026, 1031 (Kemble, nos. 728–30 (cf. OS Facs., II, Exeter no. 10); EHD, 1, 553ff.; Kemble, nos. 734, 739, 743, 744). See Bath.

Ælfnoth occ. 974 (Birch, nos. 1303–4).

* Ælfnoth, Æthelnoth (presumably different from above) occ.999, 1002, 1005, 1007, 1014,1019 (Kemble, nos. 703, 707, 714, 1303, 1309, 730; cf. 729: ‘Filnoth’). Cf. Muchelney, Winchester, New Minster.

(Ælfred occ. 974 in Kemble, no. 686, but the earliest MS reads Ælfweard.)

* Ælfsige, Æthelsige occ. (Æthel–) 974, 988, (Æl–) 990 (ΧI) (two of the name), 994 (Birch, no. 1303; Kemble, nos. 664, 712, 686 – see p. 232 n.3) – and see Ely, to which one of the pair probably belonged. Later references to pairs (999–1012) are probably to Ely and Winchester, New Minster, or Peterborough: but in MS ₁ of Kemble, no. 703 (see Appendix) one Ælfsige is identified as abb. ‘Ceas, the other as of Ely.