The Rape of Hastings (also known as Hastings Rape) is one of the
rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ag ...
s, the traditional sub-divisions unique to the
historic county of
Sussex
Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...
in
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
.
History
Rapes are territorial divisions, peculiar to Sussex, that were used for administrative purpose. The Rape of Hastings was one of six such divisions.
[* ]
Medieval sources and place name evidence suggest that there were people living in what became the Rape of Hastings by the late 8th century. The people who were known as the
Haestingas
The Haestingas, or Heastingas or Hæstingas, were one of the tribes of Anglo-Saxon Britain. Not very much is known about them. They settled in what became East Sussex sometime before the end of the 8th century. A 12th-century source suggested tha ...
were a separate group to those of the
South Saxons
la, Regnum Sussaxonum
, conventional_long_name = Kingdom of the South Saxons
, capital =
, era = Heptarchy
, status = Vassal of Wessex (686–726, 827–860)Vassal of Mercia (771–796)
, governm ...
. The Haestingas became a sub-kingdom of the Kingdom of Sussex before being annexed by the
Kingdom of Wessex
la, Regnum Occidentalium Saxonum
, conventional_long_name = Kingdom of the West Saxons
, common_name = Wessex
, image_map = Southern British Isles 9th century.svg
, map_caption = S ...
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 ...
granted the rape of Hastings to his cousin,
Robert, Count of Eu
Robert, Count of Eu and Lord of Hastings (d. between 1089-1093), son of William I, Count of Eu, and his wife Lesceline. Count of Eu and Lord of Hastings.
Robert commanded 60 ships in the fleet supporting the landing of William I of England and t ...
, shortly after the
Norman Conquest
The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Conque ...
.
Location
Hastings rape is the easternmost of all the Sussex rapes and it borders the
rape of Pevensey
The Rape of Pevensey (also known as Pevensey Rape) is one of the rapes, the traditional sub-divisions unique to the historic county of Sussex in England. With an area of it is the largest of the Sussex rapes.
History
William the Conqueror gran ...
to the west. To the north and east of the rape lies the county of Kent, while to the south lies the
English Channel
The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...
. The rape of Hastings includes the towns of
Battle
A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...
,
Hastings
Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England,
east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...
and
Rye. At tall,
Brightling Down in the
High Weald
High may refer to:
Science and technology
* Height
* High (atmospheric), a high-pressure area
* High (computability), a quality of a Turing degree, in computability theory
* High (tectonics), in geology an area where relative tectonic uplift t ...
is the highest point in the rape.
Sub-divisions
The rape is traditionally divided into the following
hundreds:
* Baldstrow
*
Battle
A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...
*
Bexhill
* Foxearle
* Goldspur
* Gostrow
*
Guestling
Guestling is a village and civil parish in the Rother district of East Sussex, England. The village is located north-east of Hastings on the A259 road to Rye. Its parish church is dedicated to St Laurence.
History
Guestling, referred to in t ...
* Hawkesborough
* Henhurst
* Netherfield
*
Ninfield
Ninfield is a village and civil parish in the Wealden District of East Sussex, England. The village is quite linear and centred 4 miles (6.4 km) north of Bexhill-on-Sea where two roads cross: the A269 from Bexhill to Battle and the ...
* Shoyswell
* Staple
See also
*
History of Sussex
Sussex , from the Old English 'Sūþsēaxe' ('South Saxons'), is a historic county in South East England.
Evidence from a fossil of Boxgrove Man (''Homo heidelbergensis'') shows that Sussex has been inhabited for at least 500,000 years. It ...
*
List of hundreds of England and Wales
Most of the counties of England were divided into hundreds or wapentakes from the late Anglo-Saxon period and these were, with a few exceptions, effectively abandoned as administrative divisions in the 19th century.
In Wales a similar Celtic sy ...
References
External links
Hastings Rape through time - A Vision of BritainThe Sussex Subsidy of 1327 - The Rape of Hastings, British History Online
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rape Of Hastings
History of Sussex