The Domesday Book

• William ordered a survey of England


  Christmas of 1085
• Men were sent to investigate the land holdings of each shire, who held what land, what taxes they owed the king, and whether they could pay any more
• The result of the survey was the Doomsday Book
• The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for 1085 describes the process of collecting data for the Doomsday Book
• Data collection for the Doomsday Book

  Men sent over all England into every shire to find out the number of hides, land and cattle the king had, and the taxes (jews) owed
• The word "jews" in this context means geld or taxes
• The survey recorded how much land or cattle each person occupying land in England had and its value
• Wealth was measured in cattle during that time
• The modern English word "fee" comes from the Old English word for a cow, "feo"
• The Doomsday Book was used by William to assess wealth and land ownership
• Torrington was held by Odo of Gamalon in 1086, previously held by Bridtrick in the time of King Edward
• Political decisions reset things to the time of King Edward, not recognizing Harold Godwinson's claim
• Torrington paid tax for three and a half hides of land
• In Torrington, there were 40 plowerlands, 4 owned by the manor, 7 slaves, 45 villagers, and 10 smallholders with 26 plow lands between them
• There were 20 acres of meadows, 300 acres of woodland and pasture, two leagues long and one league wide in Torrington
• There were 25 swine herds producing 110 pigs every year in Torrington
• Torrington was worth 24 pounds in 1066 but decreased in value to 20 pounds in 1087
• Three Frenchmen owned three vergates of land valued at two pounds twenty-five shillings in Torrington
• The inclusion of the Frenchmen owning land indicates a transfer of land ownership
• There was a massive transfer of land ownership between Anglo-Saxons and Normans after the conquest
• Torrington was considered rich and important during that time
• Plow lands, vergates, leagues, hides, and acres were units of land measurement
• One plow land was the area that one plow team could plow in one day
• Units of land

  • Plow lands
  • Vergates
  • Leagues
  • Hides
  • Acres
• 24 pounds was more like 70 thousand pounds in today's money
• William ordered the Doomsday survey for legal, military, and financial reasons
• Doomsday survey reasons

  1. Legal

  2. Military

  3. Financial
• The Doomsday book solidified Norman legal ownership of the land
• The Doomsday book settled who owned what land and showed that Normans had almost completely taken over England
• The Doomsday survey was done with transparency
• In 1085 and 1086, England was under the threat of the Danish invasion
• William wanted to be prepared for the Danish invasion
• Thousands of soldiers were brought from Normandy to England
• The Doomsday book was organized by shire or county and by the tenant in charge
• The Doomsday book gives an at a glance look at who held which land, how much they paid in tax, and how much more tax might be gained
• The organization of the Doomsday book suggests that tax is a major issue
• The Doomsday book was a survey of all the land holdings in England ordered in 1085 and completed in 1086
• William wanted to know how he could support his armies to defend against the threat of Danish invasion
• William wanted to settle legal disputes over land
• The Doomsday book shows how land ownership had transferred from Saxons to Normans since 1066