Rape (county subdivision)

Rape
Rape
	Map of Sussex in 1832, showing the six rapes
Category	County subdivision
Location	Sussex
Created	Saxon period (pre-1066); Rape of Bramber (by 1086); Rape of Chichester (by 1275);
Number	6
Populations	30,113 (Rape of Bramber) (1831) – 71,921 (Rape of Lewes) (1831)
Areas	116,650 acres (472.1 km2) (Rape of Bramber) – 228,930 acres (926.4 km2) (Rape of Pevensey)

A rape is a traditional territorial sub-division of the county of Sussex in England, formerly used for various administrative purposes.^[2] Their origin is unknown, but they appear to predate the Norman Conquest.^[3] Historically the rapes formed the basis of local government in Sussex.

There are various theories about their origin. Possibly surviving from the Romano-British era^[4] or perhaps representing the shires of the kingdom of Sussex,^[2] the Sussex rapes, like the Kentish lathes, go back to the dawn of English history when their main function would have been to provide food rents and military manpower to the king.^[5] The rapes may also derive from the system of fortifications devised by Alfred the Great in the late ninth century to defeat the Vikings.^[5]

The Sussex rapes each had a headquarters in the developed south where the lord's hall, court, demesne lands, principal church and peasant holdings were located,^[4] whereas to the north there were smaller dependent settlements in the marsh, woodland and heath used for summer pasture.^[4] Each rape was split into several hundreds.

^ ^a ^b Knight, C (1842). The Penny Cyclopaedia of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, Volumes 23-24. C. Knight.
^ ^a ^b Cite error: The named reference Chisholm 1911, p. 900 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ The origin was still reported as "contested" as late as 1942 (Helen Maud Cam (preface dated 1942), Liberties & communities in medieval England: Collected Studies in Local Administration and Topography, 1944:193).
^ ^a ^b ^c Cite error: The named reference PBSx was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ ^a ^b Domesdaybook.net: Rape Archived 30 November 2011 at the Wayback Machine

[PennyC-1] Knight, C (1842). The Penny Cyclopaedia of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, Volumes 23-24. C. Knight.

[Chisholm_1911,_p._900-2] Cite error: The named reference Chisholm 1911, p. 900 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[3] The origin was still reported as "contested" as late as 1942 (Helen Maud Cam (preface dated 1942), Liberties & communities in medieval England: Collected Studies in Local Administration and Topography, 1944:193).

[PBSx-4] Cite error: The named reference PBSx was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[Domesdaybook.net:_Rape-5] Domesdaybook.net: Rape Archived 30 November 2011 at the Wayback Machine

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]