Villages and Towns

• Domesday Book

  • recorded property, land, money, animals
  • 1085, took less than a year to complete
  • frequent land disputes, this finalised things
• Norman Economic Impact

  • towns developed trade, especially in ports
  • English landowners often swapped to Norman
  • houses destroyed to build castles, e.g. 166 for Lincoln Castle
  • strengthened links between England and mainland Europe
  • exported more raw materials, laws to boost economy
• Villages - Change

  • increase in number of landowners, but smaller land
  • decline in freemen, increase in villeins
  • increase in tax and land value
  • social change, needed to learn French to understand their lord
• Villages - Continuity

  • largely populated by peasants
  • Church centre of village life
  • similar farming jobs
• Towns

  • thrived as trading hubs
  • coastal towns flourished due to trading routes
  • urbanisation attracted artisans, entrepreneurs seeking opportunities