Norman Conquest Encyclopedia
Hide
The hide was a measure of land used in Anglo-Saxon England and continued in use after the Norman Conquest, as Domesday Book shows. In theory the area of a hide was sufficient to produce enough food to support a peasant family, but variations in actual, physical size were great. A will of the 10th century specifies 120 acres to the hide in a context that makes it clear that other sizes were common. This was in the east of England, while to the west, in Wiltshire, 40 acres comprised a hide. Ownership of a hide of land brought an individual within the scope of the fyrd, the levy of troops to defend the land in time of crisis. The hide was also the foundation of the geld, the land tax.
See also: Anglo-Saxon; Domesday; fyrd; geld; Norman
Related Reading:
- Hastings 1066 (Revised Edition)- The Fall of Saxon England
(Campaign 13 ) - Anglo Saxon Thegn (Warrior 5)