Norman Conquest Encyclopedia
Ship-sokes
Whereas the fyrd, the Anglo-Saxon levy to create an army, was raised by reference the the land-holding unit of the hide, the English navy was supplied with men and ships by obligations visited on much more substantial areas, the ship-sokes. The five-hide units were combined, in selected areas, into 300-hide districts which had to supply sixty warrior-seamen and a warship. Certain ports, notably the Cinque Ports, were obliged to supply ships. The effectiveness of this approach to meeting the need for a fleet after the permanent navy founded by Alfred the Great was disbanded by Edward the Confessor was limited as it took a long time to assemble the vessels. Further, the infrastructure required to keep the fleet supplied was equally temporary and thus inefficient.
See also: Anglo-Saxon; Edward the Confessor; fyrd; hide; ships
Related Reading:
- Hastings 1066 (Revised Edition)- The Fall of Saxon England
(Campaign 13 ) - Saxon Viking Norman
(Men-at-Arms 85)