Erchenbald or Archembald was a

mesne lord A mesne lord () was a lord in the feudal system who had vassals who held land from him, but who was himself the vassal of a higher lord. Owing to ''Quia Emptores'', the concept of a mesne lordship technically still exists today: the partitionin ...

listed in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

of 1086 as a tenant of nine manors in

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

and

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

, England. He is believed to be the first English ancestor of the prominent Fleming family.

Landholdings

The Domesday book records that Erchenbald held three manors in Cornwall and six in Devon, all as tenant of

Robert, Count of Mortain Robert, Count of Mortain, 2nd Earl of Cornwall (–) was a Norman nobleman and the half-brother (on their mother's side) of King William the Conqueror. He was one of the very few proven companions of William the Conqueror at the Battle of Hastin ...

,Thorn, Caroline & Frank, (eds.) ''Domesday Book Vol. 9: Devon''. Part 2, 15,11. Note: not in the printed edition of 1985, but included in version 1a of the Devon Notes, downloadable as an rtf file from a link on https://hydra.hull.ac.uk/resources/hull:535 who was a half-brother of

William the Conqueror William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first House of Normandy, Norman List of English monarchs#House of Norman ...

and held over one hundred

west country The West Country (occasionally Westcountry) is a loosely defined area of South West England, usually taken to include all, some, or parts of the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Bristol, and, less commonly, Wiltshire, Gloucesters ...

manors as

tenant-in-chief In medieval and early modern Europe, the term ''tenant-in-chief'' (or ''vassal-in-chief'') denoted a person who held his lands under various forms of feudal land tenure directly from the king or territorial prince to whom he did homage, as op ...

. Erchenbald's landholdings recorded in the Domesday Book are as follows.
In Cornwall: *Brea, Cornwall (in Connerton Hundred) *Avalde, Cornwall (in Fawton Hundred) *Bodbrane, Cornwall (in Fawton Hundred) In Devon: *Culleigh, in the parish of

Frithelstock Frithelstock (pronounced ''Frizzlestock'') is a village, civil parish and former manor in Devon, England. It is located within Torridge local authority area and formed part of the historic Shebbear hundred. The parish is surrounded, clockwise ...

in Shebbear hundred, Devon; * Alverdiscott, in Fremington Hundred, Devon; *Bratton, in

Braunton Braunton is a large village, civil parish, ecclesiastical parish and former manor in Devon. The village is situated west of Barnstaple. It is one of the largest villages in Devon with a population at the 2021 census of 10,217 people. There a ...

Hundred, Devon, today known as

Bratton Fleming Bratton Fleming is a large village, civil parish and former manor near Barnstaple, in Devon, England. It lies a few miles west of Exmoor. The parish is surrounded, clockwise from the north, by the parishes of Challacombe, Brayford, Stoke River ...

; *

Croyde Croyde is a village on the west-facing coastline of North Devon, England. The village lies on the South West Coast Path near to Baggy Point, which is owned by the National Trust. It lies within the North Devon Coast Area of Outstanding Natura ...

, in the parish of

Georgeham Georgeham is a village and civil parish near Croyde, in North Devon. The appropriate electoral ward is termed Georgeham and Mortehoe with total population at the 2011 census of 3,748. Georgeham is an historic village lying close to some of t ...

, in

Hundred, Devon *Hele, Devon (probably in

Meeth Meeth is a small village roughly north-northwest of Okehampton and west-northwest of Exeter. It lies to the west of the River Torridge. In the past, ball clay mines were a major source of employment in the village, lying just to the west, howev ...

parish) *Stockleigh, Devon (Meeth parish, Shebbear Hundred) He was also recorded as holding livestock (five cattle & eight sheep) in the manor of Weare (Giffard), Devon, which was held from Robert Count of Mortain by Roald Dubbed.

Fleming family

Erchenbald is assumed to be the first English ancestor of the family surnamed "Fleming", of Bratton Fleming. He came to England during the reign of

(1066-1087) and was a follower of that king's uterine half-brother

. He was succeeded by his son, Stephen (fl. 1145), whose son, "Erchenbald son of Stephen" occurs as holder of several knight's fees in Devon and Cornwall in the 1166 ''Liber Niger'' ("Return of the Barons"). He went to Ireland with Henry II in 1171 and participated in

Hugh de Lacy Hugh de Lacy may refer to: * Hugh de Lacy, Lord of Lassy (c.1020–1085), first recorded member of the Norman noble family de Lacy * Hugh de Lacy, Lord of Meath (died 1186), 4th Baron Lacy * Hugh de Lacy, Abbot of Shrewsbury (died c. 1215/18) *Hug ...

's plantation of the

Kingdom of Mide Meath (; Old Irish: ''Mide'' ; spelt ''Mí'' in Modern Irish) was a kingdom in Ireland from the 1st to the 12th century AD. Its name means "middle," denoting its location in the middle of the island. At its greatest extent, it included all o ...

. Succeeding Flemings were Stephen, died c. 1213 – 1214 and Baldwin, died 1260. The lands of Robert, Count of Mortain, became the core holdings of the

feudal barony A feudal baron is a vassal holding a heritable fief called a ''barony'', comprising a specific portion of land, granted by an overlord in return for allegiance and service. Following the end of European feudalism, feudal baronies have largely been ...

of Launceston, in Cornwall, and the Fleming family continued to hold most of their manors from that barony, as can be seen from entries in the

Book of Fees The ''Book of Fees'' is the colloquial title of a modern edition, transcript, rearrangement and enhancement of the medieval (Latin: 'Book of Fiefs'), being a listing of feudal landholdings or fief (Middle English ), compiled in about 1302, but f ...

(c.1302) – for example, Baldwin ''le Flemeng'' is listed as holding lands in ''Crideho'' (Croyde) and also in ''Bratton' cum membris'' ("with its member (estates)"), both by then fees held from the feudal barony of Launceston. Baldwin also held Alverdiscott, and held Benton and Haxton, from the feudal barons of

Bradninch Bradninch is a small town and former manor in Devon, England, lying about south of Cullompton. Much of the surrounding farmland belongs to the Duchy of Cornwall. There is an electoral ward with the same name. At the 2011 Census the ward po ...

.Thorn, Caroline & Frank (Eds.), Domesday Book, Vol.9, Devon, Chichester, 1985, Vol.2, chap. 15,40-41 A later descendant, Simon Fleming (died 1370) became the first

Baron Slane Baron Slane was a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1370 for the Fleming family but forfeited in 1691. Origins The Flemings of Slane descend from Erchenbald, otherwise referred to as "Archembald le Fleming", of Bratton Flemin ...

References

{{Reflist

Landholdings

Fleming family

References

Further reading