Siward Barn

Sigeweard Bearn ("Siward Barn")
Residence	North-Central England
Other names	Sigvarðr, Sigurðr
Occupation	Thegn and landowner-warrior
Years active	1066–1087
Known for	Fighting against William the Conqueror

Siward Barn (Old English: Sigeweard Bearn) was an 11th-century English thegn and landowner-warrior. He appears in the extant sources in the period following the Norman Conquest of England, joining the northern resistance to William the Conqueror by the end of the 1060s. Siward's resistance continued until his capture on the Isle of Ely alongside Æthelwine, Bishop of Durham, Earl Morcar, and Hereward ("the Wake") as cited in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. Siward and his confiscated properties in central and northern England were mentioned in Domesday Book, and from this it is clear that he was one of the main antecessors of Henry de Ferrers, father of Robert de Ferrers, the first Earl of Derby.

Following his capture in 1071, he was imprisoned. This incarceration lasted until 1087, when a guilt-ridden King William, in expectation of his own death, ordered Siward's release. Firm evidence of Siward's later life is non-existent, but some historians have argued that he took up a career in the Varangian Guard at Constantinople, in the service of the Emperor Alexios I Komnenos. The sources upon which this theory is based also allege that Siward led a party of English colonists to the Black Sea, who renamed their conquered territory New England.

Identifying Siward's origin is difficult for historians because of the large number of Siwards in England in the mid-11th century. Other notable Siwards include Siward of Maldon and Siward Grossus, both men of substance with landholdings larger or comparable to Siward Barn's. The Anglo-Norman writer Orderic Vitalis, when describing William the Conqueror's stay at Barking, says that Morcar, formerly Earl of Northumbria, and Edwine, Earl of Mercia, came and submitted to King William, followed by Copsi, Earl of Northumbria, along with Thurkil of Limis, Eadric the Wild, and "Ealdred and Siward, the sons of Æthelgar, grandsons [or grand-nephews] (pronepotes) of King Edward".

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