The Tomsaete or Tomsæte were a tribe or clan in Anglo-Saxon

Anglo-Saxon

Anglo-Saxon may refer to:* Anglo-Saxons, a group that invaded Britain** Old English, their language** Anglo-Saxon England, their history, one of various ships* White Anglo-Saxon Protestant, an ethnicity* Anglo-Saxon economy, modern macroeconomic term...

 England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 living in the valley of the River Tame

River Tame, West Midlands

The River Tame is the main river of the West Midlands, and the most important tributary of the River Trent. The Tame is about 40 km from source at Oldbury to its confluence with the Trent near Alrewas, but the main river length of the entire catchment, i.e...

 in the West Midlands

West Midlands (region)

The West Midlands is an official region of England, covering the western half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. It contains the second most populous British city, Birmingham, and the larger West Midlands conurbation, which includes the city of Wolverhampton and large towns of Dudley,...

 of England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 from around 500

500

Year 500 was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Patricius and Hypatius...

 and remaining around Tamworth

Tamworth

Tamworth is a town and local government district in Staffordshire, England, located north-east of Birmingham city centre and north-west of London. The town takes its name from the River Tame, which flows through the town, as does the River Anker...

 throughout the existence of the Kingdom of Mercia

Mercia

Mercia was one of the kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. It was centred on the valley of the River Trent and its tributaries in the region now known as the English Midlands...

.

An Anglo-Saxon charter

Anglo-Saxon Charters

Anglo-Saxon charters are documents from the early medieval period in Britain which typically make a grant of land or record a privilege. The earliest surviving charters were drawn up in the 670s; the oldest surviving charters granted land to the Church, but from the eighth century surviving...

 of 849

849

Year 849 was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar.- Asia :* In the Tang Dynasty Chinese capital city of Chang'an, an imperial prince was impeached from his position by officials at court for erecting a building that obstructed a street in the northwesternmost ward in South...

 describes an area of Cofton Hackett

Cofton Hackett

Cofton Hackett is a village and civil parish in the Bromsgrove District of north east Worcestershire, England. It is situated 10.3 miles south west of the city centre of Birmingham and 24 miles north east of Worcester...

 in the Lickey Hills

Lickey Hills

The Lickey Hills are a range of hills in Worcestershire, England, eleven miles to the south-west of the centre of Birmingham near the villages of Lickey and Barnt Green...

 south of Birmingham

Birmingham

Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...

 as "the boundary of the Tomsæte and the Pencersæte

Pencersæte

The Pencersaete or Pencersæte were a tribe or clan in Anglo-Saxon England living in the valley of the River Penk in the West Midlands of England and remaining around Penkridge throughout the existence of the Kingdom of Mercia....

", and another charter of 835

835

Year 835 was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar.- Europe :* Ragnar Lodbrok rises to power ....

 describes Humberht

Humberht of the Tomsaete

Humberht was an official among the Tomsaete, who was granted land in Derbyshire in return for what he would provide annually to Christ Church in Canterbury....

 as "Princeps

Princeps

Princeps is a Latin word meaning "first in time or order; the first, chief, the most eminent, distinguished, or noble; the first man, first person."...

of the Tomsæte", suggesting that the group retained its identity long after being subsumed into Mercia.

External links

• "German names in the Black Country?!!!"
• "Wirksworth Roman Project"
• On Google Book Search:
  • D. P. Kirby, The Earliest English Kings
  • Barbara Yorke, Kings and kingdoms of early Anglo-Saxon England