Sentence:  The Anglo-Saxon <WSD>thanes</WSD> were in all respects the predecessors of the Norman barons. / The title of <WSD>thane</WSD> seems to have supplanted that of gesith, which appears only in the earner Anglo-Saxon laws, a denomination that may originally have designated the attendants or companions of the king, and whose wergild being triple that of the simple freeman, were, therefore, denominated not only gesithcund men, but six-hynde men. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  A rank of nobility in pre-Norman England, roughly equivalent to baron.<ref>"[http://books.google.com.au/books?id=6ZsRAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA594&dq=%22There+were+two+orders,+the+king%27s+thanes%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=26ygUYzWFOyXiAfssoHACw&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=%22There%20were%20two%20orders%2C%20the%20king's%20thanes%22&f=false thane]", entry in '''1852''', "Putnam's Home Cyclopedia: Hand-Book of Literature and the Fine Arts", p594 — The '''thanes''' in England were formerly persons of some dignity; there were two orders, the king's '''thanes''', who attended the kings in their courts and held lands immediately of them, and the ordinary '''thanes''', who were lords of manors and who had particular jurisdiction within their limits.(...)After the [Norman] Conquest, this title was disused, and "baron" took its place.</ref>