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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.〔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).〕 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.〔(Domesdaybook.net: Rape )〕 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 and heath.〔 Each rape was split into several hundreds. ==Etymology== One suggested etymology of the word, from Edward Lye in the 18th century, is in the Icelandic territorial division ''hreppr'', meaning 'district or tract of land'. However, this is rejected in the ''New English Dictionary'', and according to the English Place-Name Society 'phonologically impossible'. First suggested by William Somner in the 17th century,〔 it seems that the derivation of the word from the Old English ''rāp'' (rope) has been made practically certain.〔 The suggestion that ropes were used to mark out territory,〔F.E. Sawyer "The rapes and their origin", ''Archaeological Review'' 1 (1888), p. 54-59.〕 was well countered by J.H. Round, asking "do those who advance such views realize the size of the districts they have to deal with?"〔Round, letter in ''Archaeological Review'' 1 (1888), p. 229.〕 However, Heinrich Brunner explained the application of 'rope' to an administrative district by the old German custom of defining the limits of the 'peace' of popular open-air courts by stakes and ropes,〔 the ropes then giving a name first to the court and then afterwards to the area of its jurisdiction, and produced a case where ''reep'', the Dutch cognate of ''rāp'', is applied to such a judicial area.〔 The parish of Rope, in Cheshire is one place name in England derived from the word ''rāp''.〔 The Saxon origin has been questioned, as the Normans showed little interest in learning the English language, and thus it seems unlikely that they would have adopted a local word.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Origin of the Sussex 'Rapes' )〕 It has been suggested that the term in fact comes from the old French ''raper'', meaning to seize or take by force.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Rape (county subdivision)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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