In message <146.2829088e.2dc255cd@aol.com>, YeagerLA@aol.com writes >Ansgar is described as having been 'staller' to Edward the Confessor. I have >read various definitions of staller ranging from standard bearer through the >frankish 'count of the stable' leading to 'constable' and also 'keeper of >the royal stud' >Is it Ansgar's connection with the Lambourn Valley that has led some to >believe he was in control of the King's horses sounds reasonable (and most appropriate for the area so concerned with horse racing) Kings constantly moved about the country -either hunting or on visits to their subjects and provincial justice centres- in those days, and the mode of transport was on horseback, so keeping up and looking after a large supply of horses was am important job in peacetime. Think - if the King had a sudden fancy to ride from A to B, and the only horses available in the royal stable were either tired from the last journey or battered old hacks which gave up after the first dozen miles. One of the functions of the King was as the fount of justice, and as it was difficult for the people to get to the King, the King came round regularly to the people. If there was any hint of insurrection, he would obviously be round that bit sooner, with axemen at the ready. So the staller, starting as a basic controller of horses, developed into the man who would organise punitive expeditions to show the royal strength around the country. -- Eve McLaughlin Author of the McLaughlin Guides for family historians Secretary Bucks Genealogical Society