Thegn

In later Anglo-Saxon England, a thegn or thane^[1] (Latin minister^[2]) was an aristocrat who ranked at the third level in lay society, below the king and ealdormen.^[3] He had to be a substantial landowner. Thanage refers to the tenure by which lands were held by a thane as well as the rank.

The term thane was also used in early medieval Scandinavia for a class of retainers, and thane was a title given to local royal officials in medieval eastern Scotland, equivalent in rank to the child of an earl.