Derby's Time of Peace
Derby, established under Danish rule, was naturally under the dominion of the Danish monarchy and held the status of an ancient Royal Borough.
The citizens, known as the burgesses, had to pay a tax, rent, or fee for their lands, residences, and privileges. In the legal terminology of that era, they were said to hold the town from the king in "fee farm." In 1065, this "fee" amounted to £24 annually, a substantial sum by today's standards. The king collected two-thirds of these taxes, while one-third (referred to as "every third penny" in the language of the time) was allocated to the earl for his services and responsibilities in matters of military and civil administration, even though the burgesses were not under his jurisdiction. The citizens did not object to this arrangement, as it secured their trade opportunities and the authority to levy tolls in the town market. The king had his own representative in Derby, known as the reeve, who functioned in a similar role to the county's royal official, the sheriff (shire-reeve). The primary task of the reeve was to collect the king's fee.
Our first real picture of Derby is in Domesday Book, a land survey for taxation purposes which William the Conqueror had made. When King Edward the Confessor died in 1065, Derby had 243 resident burgesses or citizens. We are not told how many servants, agricultural workers, apprentices and journeymen there were, nor how many women and children, but historians estimate the population as 200 or more. There were no slaves.
The burgesses governed the borough, probably by a Council. They held a Court to settle disputes between citizens and to judge crimes done within the borough. Forty one burgesses were farmers, who cultivated the 1,440 acres of ploughed land and the sixteen acres of meadow owned by the town. They had twelve ploughs between them and over ninety oxen to draw them. The other 202 burgesses were merchants, shopkeepers and craftsmen, about whom Domesday Book, concerned only with land, gives no details. We know the mint continued, for Spartinc made coins for Canute, and Leofwine was a "moneyer" to Edward the Confessor.
King Canute Coin
Edward The Confessor Coin
King Canute, also spelled Cnut or Knut, was a medieval monarch who ruled over a North Sea empire during the early 11th century. He is best known for his reign as King of England, Denmark, Norway, and parts of what is now Sweden.
Edward the Confessor, also known as Saint Edward the Confessor, earned his epithet "the Confessor" due to his strong religious devotion and pious life. He was the King of England from 1042 to 1066.
Christianity in the region faced challenges during the Danish conquest, but these setbacks were ultimately temporary. King Alfred was successful in persuading King Guthrum to convert to Christianity. As a result, the Danes established four churches in Derby. Subsequently, two Saxon churches, St. Werburgh's and St. Alkmund's, (now demolished) were also built. Alongside these, there were All Saints', (now the cathedral) St. Michael's, St. Peter's, and one church, which is now lost but believed to be either St. Mary's or St. James'. This has unfortunately been destroyed over time.
Werburgh was an Anglo-Saxon princess who became the patron saint of the city of Chester in Cheshire. Her feast day is 3 February. There are several churches dedicated to her in England and overseas.
The Cathedral Church of All Saints, Derby, better known as Derby Cathedral, is a cathedral church in the city of Derby, England. In 1927, it was promoted from parish church status to that of a cathedral, creating a seat for the Bishop of Derby. The original church of All Saints was founded in the mid-10th century as a royal collegiate church, dedicated to All Saints.
The parish church was of medieval origins; transferred to the Abbot of Derby in 1240 by Sir Rafe de Freshville. St Michael’s Church Derby. The chancel collapsed on 17 August 1856 which prompted the building of the new church starting on 1857. The foundation stone was laid by Sir William Evans, 1st Baronet on 15 April 1857, and the new building opened for worship on 8 April 1858. Saint Michael is revered as an archangel, a celestial warrior in the eternal struggle between good and evil. He is celebrated as a defender of righteousness, a source of healing for the infirm, and a protector of the Church. In artistic representations, Saint Michael is typically portrayed brandishing a sword, a standard, or even scales, and frequently depicted triumphing over Satan in the guise of a dragon.
St Peter's Church is the oldest in Derby and still contains some Saxon fabric. Precisely when St Peter's was founded is uncertain, but it was recorded in the Domesday Book and may go back much further. According to current thinking, it was founded in 1042. Saint Peter, recognised by various names including Peter the Apostle, Simon Peter, Simeon, Simon, or Cephas, held a significant role as one of the Twelve Apostles chosen by Jesus Christ. He emerged as a prominent figure within the early Christian Church, making frequent and prominent appearances in all four New Testament gospels and the Acts of the Apostles.
By this era, the Roman form of Christianity had replaced the ancient British Church. It's worth noting that the new churches weren't dedicated to Saxon or Danish saints but to beloved saints of the Roman Church.
Both All Saints' and St. Alkmund's were under the king's jurisdiction. They served as the central locations for priests who resided together in an establishment referred to in those days as a "College" (the use of the word ''college'' for school came much later). During King Edward's reign, St. Alkmund's had a College comprising seven priests supported by land in Quarndon, Derbyshire. In contrast, All Saints' had six priests and possessed 240 acres of land in Little Chester. The location of the priest's hostel of All Saints' is remembered as College Place.
Once more it was Derby's position at the end of the Derwent gap that, although not a cathedral city at the time, made it the Church headquarters for the highland.
There is reason to think that one of these collegiate churches had a school to prepare boys for the priesthood. Any Derby boy could attend and learn Latin, the language of the Church, with sufficient arithmetic to manage Church accounts. Since only clergymen could read and write, they not only served the community as priests, but as lawyers and officials also. This is the dim beginning of Derby School, which may proudly claim to have educated Derby town folk for over a thousand years.
Whilst Northworthy had two social classes, the thane's family and the churls, Derby town was more complex with the following layers:
1. Burgesses with civil rights-masters and traders.
2. A professional class of priests.
3. The people, apprentices, journeymen, servants and labourers.
These societal classes were not rigidly determined by birth but rather by the concept of the "division of labour." Merchants engaged in trade, the clergy provided education and cared for the community, and master craftsmen crafted various goods. Any young boy had the opportunity to join the Church, become an apprentice, and eventually establish themselves as a master, thus earning the status of a burgess.
The villagers had previously lived, worked, and celebrated together as a cohesive community. They were all part of the moot and the parish church. However, Derby had grown beyond such unity. People's daily activities led them to the fields, workspaces, or shop counters, while their families were associated with one of the six churches in the town. Each individual had their own circle of friends within their home, their work group, and their church group. Even colleagues in the same workshop might attend different churches and interact casually outside of work. The privileged burgesses had the exclusive opportunity to actively participate in town affairs, and being successful businesspeople, they naturally formed an "upper class."
Although Danish Derby, with its population of around a thousand, might appear relatively small, it was more significant than it seemed. This was due to its churches, school, mint, and its enduring market that persisted for over a millennium. In fact, it was one of the most prominent towns in the Midlands. It surpassed Nottingham both in size and prosperity, with Derby having 243 burgesses compared to Nottingham's 173, and Derby paying a tax of £24 while Nottingham paid £18.
Nestled by the river, with the church steeples gracing its skyline, Derby was a charming sight. Its finest houses, likely constructed partially from wood, featured plaster infill and thatched roofs. These houses were clustered around the Market Square, where merchants stored their wares and traders erected their stalls. Teams of pack horses transported rural products in and out of town, and small boats plied the Derwent, powering the fourteen mills that produced flour for the town.
The Market Place was a bustling hub, teeming with merchants in their vibrant robes, country folks adorned in smocks, craftsmen sporting their aprons, black-clad priests, and women dressed in a spectrum of colours. There were, at the very least, seventeen resident priests in the town, approximately one for every seventy inhabitants, a stark contrast to today's ratio of one clergyman for every two thousand residents. Furthermore, parish clergy frequently ventured into town for shopping and church-related matters, giving the town a distinctively "churchy" ambiance. The Roman Church observed more feast days, presented grander pageants, and hosted a higher number of fairs within church grounds. The townsmen had a livelier time and more pleasures than the countrymen.
The Worcester Chronicle tells how in 1049 a strong earthquake shook Derby and many Midland places. This was the talk of the town, and so was a terrible forest fire, a "wild fire" the old record calls it, which ravaged the woods.