Rape (county subdivision)

Common card · No. 355135

A rape is a traditional territorial sub-division of the county of Sussex in England, formerly used for various administrative purposes. Their origin is unknown, but they appear to predate the Norman Conquest of 1066. 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 or perhaps representing the shires of the kingdom of Sussex, 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. The rapes may also derive from the system of fortifications devised by Alfred the Great in the late ninth century to defeat the Vikings. 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, whereas to the north there were smaller dependent settlements in the marsh, woodland...

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