The Tomsaete or Tomsæte (dwellers of the Tame valley) were a tribe or clan in

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

living in the valley of the River Tame in the West Midlands of

from around 500 and remaining around Tamworth throughout the existence of the Kingdom of

Mercia Mercia (, was one of the principal kingdoms founded at the end of Sub-Roman Britain; the area was settled by Anglo-Saxons in an era called the Heptarchy. It was centred on the River Trent and its tributaries, in a region now known as the Midlan ...

. The tribe was identified as Anglian Mercens who came from the north, following the Trent Valley, and eventually settling along the valleys of the Tame. An

Anglo-Saxon charter Anglo-Saxon charters are documents from the History of Anglo-Saxon England, early medieval period in England which typically made a grant of Real Estate, land or recorded a Privilege (legal ethics), privilege. The earliest surviving charters were ...

of 849 describes an area of

Cofton Hackett Cofton Hackett is a village and civil parish in the Bromsgrove (district), Bromsgrove District of Worcestershire, north east Worcestershire, England. It is southwest of the city centre of Birmingham and northeast of Worcester, England, Worcest ...

in the

Lickey Hills The Lickey Hills (known locally as simply ''The Lickeys'') are a range of hills in Worcestershire, England, to the south-west of the centre of Birmingham near the villages of Lickey, Cofton Hackett and Barnt Green. The hills are a popular coun ...

south of

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

as "the boundary of the Tomsæte and the

Pencersæte The Pencersæte (, " dwellers of the Penk valley") were a tribe or clan in Anglo-Saxon England. They lived in the valley of the River Penk in the West Midlands, and remained around Penkridge throughout the existence of the Kingdom of Mercia. ...

", and another charter of 835 describes Humberht as "

Princeps ''Princeps'' (plural: ''Principes'') is a Latin word meaning "first in time or order; the first, foremost, chief, the most eminent, distinguished, or noble; the first person". As a title, ''Princeps'' originated in the Roman Republic wherein the ...

of the Tomsæte", suggesting that the group retained its identity long after being subsumed into Mercia. The said boundary between Tomsæte and the Pencersæte often had

Late Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progr ...

hill forts that also served as collecting points for territorial produce. As part of Mercia, the Tomsaete was considered an important early group that settled in the heartland.

References

External links

"Wirksworth Roman Project"
* O
Google Book Search
** D. P. Kirby, ''The Earliest English Kings'' ** Barbara Yorke, ''Kings and kingdoms of early Anglo-Saxon England'' Peoples of Anglo-Saxon Mercia {{England-hist-stub