Tribal Hidage - Origin

Origin

Historians have not been able to agree upon the date for the original compilation of the list. According to Campbell, who notes the plausibility of it being produced during the rise of Mercia, the document can probably be dated back to the 7th or 8th century. Other historians, such as J. Brownbill, Barbara Yorke, Frank Stenton and Cyril Hart, have generally agreed that the Tribal Hidage originated from Mercia at around this time, although they have different theories for the identity of the Mercian overlord under whom the list was compiled. Wendy Davies and Hayo Vierck have placed the document's origin more precisely at 670-690.

There is near universal agreement that the text originates from Mercia, partly because the kings of Mercia are known to have held extensive power over other Anglo-Saxon territories from the late 7th to the early 9th centuries, but also because the list, headed by Mercia, is almost exclusively of peoples who lived south of the river Humber. Peter Featherstone has concluded that the original material, dating from late 7th century Mercia, was then used to be included in a late 9th century document and asserts that the Mercian kingdom "was at the centre of the world mapped out by the Tribal Hidage". Frank Stenton acknowledged that the evidence is not conclusive when he noted that "the Tribal Hidage was almost certainly compiled in Mercia".

In contrast to most historians, Professor Nicholas Brooks has suggested that the list is of Northumbrian origin, noting that it would account for the inclusion of Elmet and the absence of the two Northumbrian kingdoms of Deira and Bernicia. He notes that a Mercian tribute list was would not have been headed by Mercia, as "an early mediaeval king did not impose tribute upon his own kingdom": it must have been a list produced by another kingdom, perhaps with an altogether different purpose.

N. J. Higham has argued that because the date of the original information is unknown and the largest Northumbrian kingdoms are not included in the Tribal Hidage, it cannot be proved to be a tribute list of Mercian origin. He notes that Elmet, which was never a province of Mercia, is included in the list. He suggests that the Tribal Hidage may have been a tribute list drawn up by Edwin of Northumbria in the 620s, and that it probably originated before 685, after which no Northumbrian king exercised imperium over the Southumbrian kingdoms. According to Higham, the values assigned to each people are likely to be specific to the events of 625-626, representing the individual contracts made between Edwin and those who recognised his overlordship at that time. This explains the artificial and rounded nature of the figures that were arrived at: the figure of 100,000 hides for the West Saxons was probably the largest number Edwin knew. However, D. P. Kirby notes that the Northumbrian origin theory has not been generally accepted as convincing.