Land was at the heart of wealth and status in Anglo-Saxon England, and the seriousness with which its transmission was viewed is demonstrated by the process of will-making described in the previous chapter, hedged around as it was with witnesses, documentation and the protection of king and church. It can often be difficult to determine the factors which influenced donors' decisions, hampered as we are by the limited information in the sources about the donors themselves, their beneficiaries and the history of the estates. However, where donors belonged to the highest echelons of Anglo-Saxon society both they and their families feature more frequently in the historical record, providing a clearer context for their bequests. Among those holding secular office are two kings and five ealdormen, along with lesser figures who came within their orbit: a king's son, women who were associated with the royal family, and the daughters of an ealdorman. A second group held high ecclesiastical office; the bequests of five bishops, an archbishop and two further potential archbishops must be placed in the context not only of their responsibilities within the church, but also of their role as major landholders and political figures. If the bequests of this elite group reveal the particular influence of their political roles, and the power which they wielded, the wills of lesser men reveal in various ways the significance of the local political network as well as, in some instances, the impact of the political upheavals of the time.