Editing Earl (section)

=== Anglo-Saxon period ===
{{Further|List of earldoms#Earldoms in England before 1066}}
==== Ealdorman ====
{{Main|Ealdorman}}
The office of earl evolved from the ealdorman, an office within [[Anglo-Saxon government]]. The [[History of the English monarchy|English king]] appointed the ealdorman to be the chief officer in a [[shire]]. He commanded the local [[fyrd]] and presided over the [[shire court]] alongside the [[bishop]]. As compensation, he received the [[wikt:third penny|third penny]]: one-third of the shire court's profits and the [[Ancient borough|borough]]s' revenues.{{Sfn|Powell|Wallis|1968|pp=5–6}} Initially, the ealdorman governed a single shire. Starting with [[Edward the Elder]] ({{reign|899|924}}), it became customary for one ealdorman to administer three or four shires together as an ealdormanry.{{Sfn|Lyon|1980|pp=62–63}}

==== Cnut the Great ====
[[File:Earldoms of Anglo-Saxon England.svg|thumb|right|Earldoms of Anglo-Saxon England]]

During [[Cnut]]'s reign (1016–1035), ''ealdorman'' changed to ''earl'' (related to Old English {{Lang|ang|eorl}} and Scandinavian {{lang|non|[[jarl]]}}).{{Sfn|Powell|Wallis|1968|p=6}}{{Sfn|Lyon|1980|p=63}}{{NoteTag|In Latin, it was rendered as {{lang|la|[[dux]]}}{{Sfn|Powell|Wallis|1968|p=5}} or {{lang|la|[[comes]]}}.{{Sfn|Green|2017|p=61}}}} Cnut's realm, the [[North Sea Empire]], extended beyond England, forcing him to delegate power to earls.{{Sfn|Loyn|1984|p=133}} Earls were governors or [[viceroy]]s, ruling in the king's name, keeping the peace, dispensing justice, and raising armies. Like the earlier ealdormen, they received the third penny from their jurisdictions. Earls ranked above [[thegn]]s in precedence and were the chief counselors in the [[witan]] (king's council).{{Sfn|Huscroft|2016|p=28}}

The office of earl was not hereditary. While sons of earls could expect to inherit their father's office, this was not automatic. Only the king could make someone an earl.{{Sfn|Williams|2008|p=24}}

Initially, Cnut kept Wessex for himself and divided the rest of England into three earldoms. He gave the [[earldom of East Anglia]] to [[Thorkell the Tall]] and the [[earldom of Northumbria]] to [[Eiríkr Hákonarson|Eric]].{{Sfn|Powell|Wallis|1968|p=7}} [[Eadric Streona]] retained the [[earldom of Mercia]] (having been unified with western Mercia in the tenure of earldorman Ælfhere), which he had held since 1007.<ref>{{Cite ODNB|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/8511|title=Eadric [Edric] Streona}}</ref> Cnut gave Godwin the [[earldom of Wessex]] in 1018.{{NoteTag|Godwin became an earl in 1018 with control of eastern Wessex. After 1020, Godwin gained all of Wessex.<ref name="Godwin">{{Cite ODNB|url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-10887|title=Godwine [Godwin], earl of Wessex (d. 1053), magnate|year=2004 |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/10887 |isbn=978-0-19-861412-8 }}</ref>}} Eventually Godwin was also granted the [[earldom of Kent]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2012/the-history-of-script-sixty-important-manuscript-leaves-from-the-schyen-collection/lot.37.html |title=The Godwine charter, granting to Leofwine the Red the swine-pasture of Swithraedingden (probably Southernden, Kent) for the rent of forty pence and two pounds and an allowance of corn, in Anglo-Saxon, single-sheet document on vellum [Kent (probably Christ Church, Canterbury), 1013-20] |author=Sotheby's |website=Sotheby's |access-date=14 May 2024 |quote=Godwine rose to power under King Cnut the Great (d.1035) and his immediate successors, being made earl of Wessex c.1018, and according to the twelfth-century historian Eadmer, the earl of Kent. He was step-father to King Edward the Confessor (c.1003-1066) and father to Harold Godwinesson, the last Anglo-Saxon king, killed in 1066 at Hastings by the Norman invaders. Domesday Book records that immediately before the Norman Conquest Broughton Malherbe and its estates were held by one "Ælfwine ... from Earl Godwine" (DB., Kent, 5:79).}}</ref> Thorkell vanished from the records after 1023, and Godwin became the leading earl.<ref name="Godwin"/>

Earldoms were not permanent territorial divisions; kings could transfer shires from one earldom to another. The fact that there was no local government administration beyond the shire also limited the autonomy of the earls. They could not raise taxation, mint coins, issue [[Anglo-Saxon charters|charters]], or hold their own courts (the shire courts that earls presided over were held in the king's name).{{Sfn|Williams|2008|pp=23–24}}

[[F. W. Maitland]] wrote, "with the estates of the earls, we find it impossible to distinguish between private property and official property". He noted the existence of "[[Manorialism|manors]] of the shire" and "comital [[vill]]s" that belonged to the office rather than the officeholder.{{Sfn|Maitland|1897|p=168}} [[Stephen Baxter (historian)|Stephen Baxter]] argued that given the evidence, it must be "assumed that the 'comital manors' in each shire could be transferred by the king from one earl to another with relative ease". However, not all scholars agree with the existence of such "comital" property.<ref>{{harvnb|Baxter|2007|p=13}} quoted in {{harvnb|Williams|2008|p=22}}</ref>

==== Edward the Confessor ====
During the reign of [[Edward the Confessor]] (1042–1066), the earls were still royal officers governing their earldoms in the king's name. However, they were developing more autonomy and becoming a threat to royal power.{{Sfn|Green|2017|p=168}}{{Sfn|Lyon|1980|p=63}} Three great aristocratic families had emerged: the [[House of Godwin|Godwins]] of Wessex, [[Leofric of Mercia]], and [[Siward of Northumbria]].{{Sfn|Loyn|1984|p=133}} 

In theory, earls could be removed by the king. Edward deliberately broke the hereditary succession to Northumbria when Earl Siward died in 1055. He ignored the claims of Siward's son, [[Waltheof, Earl of Northumbria|Waltheof]], and appointed [[Tostig Godwinson]] as earl.{{Sfn|Powell|Wallis|1968|p=7}} The earldom of East Anglia appears to have been used as a training ground for new earls. Nevertheless, the earldoms of Wessex and Mercia were becoming hereditary.{{Sfn|Green|2017|p=168}} For four generations, Mercia was passed from father to son: [[Leofwine, Ealdorman of the Hwicce|Leofwine]], [[Leofric, Earl of Mercia|Leofric]], [[Ælfgar, Earl of Mercia|Ælfgar]], and [[Edwin, Earl of Mercia|Edwin]].{{Sfn|Powell|Wallis|1968|p=7}} 

To reward Godwin for his support, Edward made his eldest son, [[Sweyn Godwinson|Sweyn]], an earl in 1043.{{NoteTag|Sweyn's earldom was probably located in the south-west [[Midlands]] in the shires of Somerset, Hereford, Gloucester, Oxford, and Berkshire.{{Sfn|Barlow|1997|p=91}}}} [[Harold Godwinson|Harold]], Godwin's second oldest son, was made the earl of East Anglia. In 1045, an earldom was created for Godwin's nephew, [[Beorn Estrithson]]. After Sweyn left England in disgrace in 1047, some of his estates were taken over by Harold and Beorn. [[Ralf of Mantes]], Edward's Norman nephew, was made [[earl of Hereford]], a territory formerly part of Sweyn's earldom.{{Sfn|Barlow|1997|pp=74 & 89–91, 93–94}} 

In 1053, Harold succeeded his father, and Ælfgar, son of Earl Leofric, became earl of East Anglia. A major reshuffle occurred after both Leofric and Ralf died in 1057. Ælfgar succeeded his father in Mercia, and [[Gyrth Godwinson]] took East Anglia. An earldom was created for [[Leofwine Godwinson]] out of the south-eastern shires belonging to Harold. In exchange, Harold received Ralf's earldom.{{Sfn|Barlow|1997|pp=127 & 197}} 

In 1065, a rebellion deposed Tostig and recognised [[Morcar]], the brother of Earl Edwin of Mercia, as Northumbria's new earl. The king accepted this, and Tostig was expelled from England.{{Sfn|Barlow|1997|p=237}}

In 1066, according to the [[Domesday Book]], the Godwin family estates were valued at £7,000, Earl Leofric of Mercia at £2,400, and Earl Siward of Northumbria at £350. In comparison, the king's lands were valued at £5,000. This concentration of land and wealth in the hands of the earls, and one family in particular, weakened the Crown's authority. The situation was reversed when Harold Godwinson became king, and he was able to restore the Crown's authority.{{Sfn|Huscroft|2016|pp=20 & 23}}