A royal vill, royal ''tun'' or ''villa regalis'' ( ang, cyneliċ tūn) was the central settlement of a rural territory in
Anglo Saxon England, which would be visited by the
King
King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king.
*In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the ...
and members of the royal household on regular circuits of their kingdoms. The royal vill was the centre for the administration of a subdivision of a kingdom, and the location where the subdivision would support the royal household through the provision of
food rent. Royal vills have been identified as the centres of the ''
regiones'' of the early Anglo-Saxon period, and of the smaller
multiple estates into which ''regiones'' were gradually divided by the 8th century.
The British Isles during the early Middle Ages lacked the sophisticated long-distance trade in essential foodstuffs required to support agriculturally unproductive households in a single location. Kings and their entourages could therefore only support themselves by constantly moving between territories with an obligation to support them, and they maintained networks of halls and accommodation distributed throughout their kingdoms for this purpose. These royal vills also provided points of contact between royal households and local populations.
Substantial Anglo-Saxon royal vills have been excavated at sites including
Yeavering in
Northumbria
la, Regnum Northanhymbrorum
, conventional_long_name = Kingdom of Northumbria
, common_name = Northumbria
, status = State
, status_text = Unified Anglian kingdom (before 876)North: Anglian kingdom (af ...
and at Cowdery's Down in
Basingstoke
Basingstoke ( ) is the largest town in the county of Hampshire. It is situated in south-central England and lies across a valley at the source of the River Loddon, at the far western edge of The North Downs. It is located north-east of Southa ...
, revealing settlements with large timber halls for feasting purposes and other social venues.
References
Bibliography
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*{{Citation, last=Yorke, first=Barbara, year=2002, title=Kings and Kingdoms of Early Anglo-Saxon England, publication-place=London, publisher=Routledge, isbn=1134707258, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BC6EAgAAQBAJ, accessdate=2014-06-22
Anglo-Saxon society
Anglo-Saxon royal vills