gesiths

The persons most likely to be summoned were the members of the royal family, the greater ecclesiastics, the king's gesiths or thegns, the ealdormen who administered the shires, other leading officers of state and of the household, and the principal men who held land directly of the king.

The Governments of Europe Frederic Austin Ogg 1914

The king bade them deliver their message, and they {185} sat -- for it was no formal sermon, but rather, as we should say, a meditation on the things of God -- and "preached the word of life to him and all his gesiths who were present."

The Church and the Barbarians Being an Outline of the History of the Church from A.D. 461 to A.D. 1003 William Holden Hutton 1895

On a ridge of rocks overlooking the sea sat Aethelbert and his gesiths, and watched the band of some forty men draw near.

The Church and the Barbarians Being an Outline of the History of the Church from A.D. 461 to A.D. 1003 William Holden Hutton 1895

The exact nature of his supremacy is, however, unknown to us, though it is possible that they were bound to follow him if he went to war with peoples not acknowledging his supremacy, in which case his position towards them was something of the same kind as that of a lord to his gesiths.

A Student's History of England, v. 1 (of 3) From the earliest times to the Death of King Edward VII Samuel Rawson Gardiner 1865

= -- In the early days of the English conquest the kings and other great men had around them their war-bands, composed of gesiths or thegns, personally attached to themselves, and ready, if need were, to die on their lord's behalf.

A Student's History of England, v. 1 (of 3) From the earliest times to the Death of King Edward VII Samuel Rawson Gardiner 1865