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Glossary

Wapentake

This is a sub-division of land, usually used in the Yorkshire region that the Viking kings, (such as Eric Bloodaxe), took over. It is a Scandinavian word meaning a 'weapon-taking'. There was a wapentake based around Sadberge, in the south of County Durham. Such a divison of land had its own courts. The Sadberge example was bought by the Bishops of Durham from King Richard I in 1189AD for £400 and the services of six knights in Lincolnshire - though the sum was never paid.

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