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{{Location map~|Derbyshire|lat=52.998|long=-1.394|label=[[Smalley, Derbyshire|Smalley]]}}
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'''Morcar''' (or '''Morkere''') ({{lang-ang|Mōrcǣr}}) (died 1015) was a [[thane (Middle Ages)|thane]] (minister) of King [[Æthelred the Unready]]. He was given lands in Derbyshire in 1009 including [[Weston-on-Trent]], [[Crich]] and [[Smalley, Derbyshire|Smalley]] by King Æthelred,<ref name=s922/> 1011<ref>[http://www.anglo-saxons.net/hwaet/?do=seek&query=S+924 Charter]</ref> and 1012. He was also given the freedom from the three [[Trinoda necessitas|common burdens]].<ref name=s922/> He and his brother were murdered in 1015. Morcar's brother's wife was later married to King [[Edmund Ironside]].
==Biography==
Morcar was the son of Earngrim according to [[John of Worcester]]<ref>[http://www.pase.ac.uk/jsp/DisplayPerson.jsp?personKey=15290 John of Worcester], pase.ac.uk, accessed April 2009</ref> and his brother was [[Sigeferth (died 1015)|Sigeferth]]. He was mentioned in the will of [[Wulfric Spot]], brother of [[Ælfhelm of York|Ælfhelm]] and son of [[Wulfrun]]. In 1004, when Wulfric died, he made Morcar a major beneficiary along with [[Burton Abbey]] and Ælfhelm.<ref>Williams, ''Æthelred the Unready'' (p. 74-75).</ref>
It is reported that Morcar was married to Ealdgyth who was the daughter of [[Ælfthryth]], the sister of [[Wulfric]] and Ælfhelm.<ref>Williams, ''Æthelred the Unready''.</ref>
Morcar was a king's thegn (Latin ''minister'') in 1009 when King Æthelred the Unready issued a charter, in which he gave lands to his ''minister'' Morcar.<ref name=s922/> The charter shows that he would control the crossings of the River Trent at, [[Weston-on-Trent]], [[Great Wilne|Wilne]] and [[King's Mills, Leicestershire|King's Mills]] in Leicestershire. Although not mentioned explicitly the land described at Weston on Trent included ownership of what is now the villages of [[Shardlow]] and [[Aston-on-Trent]].
The river crossings at Weston, King's Mill and Wilne control one of the main routes for travelers moving up or down England as this river was a boundary within [[Mercia]]. The [[Domesday book]] also used the river as a boundary between counties later that century.
The land that Morcar received was listed as eight [[hide (unit)|hides]] at Weston upon Trent, and a hide each at [[Morley, Derbyshire|Morley]], [[Smalley, Derbyshire|Smalley]], [[Ingleby, Derbyshire|Ingleby]], [[Crich]] and Kidsley.<ref>Kidsley is no longer a place in Derbyshire, but translations give this as Kidsleygrange. Both of these names appear on properties today near [[Heanor]]</ref> This land was given to Morcar, the King's chief minister, and he was given rights that were normally reserved for the King alone. He was given the responsibility for all types of justice and exemption from the [[Trinoda necessitas]]. The threefold tax of Trinoda necessitas usually required an obligation on the land to surrender soldiers, to repair fortifications and to repair bridges.<ref name=eng>[http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=WOX_vXbExhcC&pg=PA95&lpg=PA95&dq=Trinoda+necessitas&source=bl&ots=5BNj-H7hPk&sig=8IhS0ZRbz9X8kTDP--gzLKRLBaI&hl=en&ei=tgTpSaLPOs2hjAeEzaGfCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=9 The English Peasantry and the Growth of Lordship], Rosamund Faith, p95, ISBN 0-7185-0204-3, accessed April 2009</ref> Morcar alone could decide a fate of life or death without the need of the authority of the King or his sheriff.<ref name=s922>[http://www.anglo-saxons.net/hwaet/?do=seek&query=S+922 Charter of Æthelred], The Great Council, 1009, accessed April 2009</ref> Morcar was given further lands in Derbyshire. In 1011 he was given five hides at what (maybe) [[Mickleover]]<ref>[http://www.anglo-saxons.net/hwaet/?do=seek&query=S+924 1011 agreement re Mickleover], anglo-saxons.net, accessed April 2009</ref> and in 1012, two more at Eckington.<ref>[http://www.anglo-saxons.net/hwaet/?do=seek&query=S+928 Agreement re Eckington], 1012, anglo-saxon.net, accessed April 2009</ref>
==Death==
These land grants again came under the control of King Æthelred, when Morcar and his brother, Sigeferth, were murdered by Eadric in 1015. Williams speculates that Morcar may have been involved in swinging support in [[Northumbria]] behind [[Sweyn Forkbeard]] who was King of Denmark.<ref>Williams' ''Æthelred the Unready'' (p. 120)</ref>
King Æthelred seized both Morcar's and Sigeferth's lands, and imprisoned Sigeferth's widow who was called [[Ealdgyth (floruit 1015–1016)|Ealdgyth]]. [[Edmund Ironside|King Edmund Ironside]] then freed the widow and married her. Edmund redistributed some of the lands that had previously belonged to Sigeferth.<ref>These are charters [http://www.anglo-saxons.net/hwaet/?do=get&type=charter&id=947 S 947]; Williams, ''Æthelred'', p. 134 & note 13.</ref>
▲{{Location map~|world|lat=52.83|long=-1.49|position=left|label=<div style="position: relative; top: -0.5em; left: 0.5em;">[[Monmouth]]</div>}} -->
==References==
{{reflist|2}}
==Secondary sources==
*Williams, Ann. 2003. ''Æthelred the Unready: The Ill-Counselled King''. London. ISBN 1-85285-382-4
*Faith, Rosamund J. 1997. ''The English Peasantry and the Growth of Lordship''. London.
*"[http://www.pase.ac.uk/jsp/DisplayPerson.jsp?personKey=15290 Morcar 2 (Male)."] ''Prosopography of Anglo-Saxon England'' (PASE).
==Primary sources==
*[[Anglo-Saxon Charters]]
**S 922 (AD 1009). Archive: Burton Abbey. Available from [http://www.anglo-saxons.net/hwaet/?do=seek&query=S+922 anglo-saxons.net] and [http://people.pwf.cam.ac.uk/rjr20/details/Pelteret/Burt/Burt%2032.htm The British Academy].
**[http://www.anglo-saxons.net/hwaet/?do=seek&query=S+924 S 924 (AD 1011)]. Archive: Burton Abbey.
**[http://www.anglo-saxons.net/hwaet/?do=seek&query=S+1536 S 1536 (AD 1002 x 1004)], will of Wulfric. Archive: Burton Abbey.
**[http://www.anglo-saxons.net/hwaet/?do=seek&query=S+1503 S 1503 (AD 1014)], will of Æthelstan, the ætheling. Archive: Christ Church, Canterbury, and Old Minster, Winchester.
{{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]]. -->
| NAME = Morcar
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