Once William the Conqueror had established himself in England he wanted to know exactly what he had conquered. He ordered a survey of who owned what land, and in some cases their livestock as well. It was compiled into two volumes called the Domesday Book. This is a map of the counties covered:
It didn’t get the name ‘Domesday’ until the 12th century. It was originally known by the Latin name
Liber de Wintonia, meaning ‘Book of Winchester’, where it was originally kept in the royal treasury. The name Domesday, the Middle English spelling of Doomsday, does not have the same connotation as ‘doom’ does today. It meant law or judgement and it was so called because its decisions were unalterable, like those of the
Last Judgment, and its sentence could not be quashed. The ordinary people called it the Domesday Book and the name was adopted officially around 1221.
The survey was ordered in 1085 and was written in Medieval Latin, using lots of abbreviations, which increase the complexity of reading it. But the Domesday Book was in use right up to the 21st century to prove rights to land. Over time, the book was printed, but the original still remains in London.
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle tells why it was ordered:
After this had the king a large meeting, and very deep consultation with his council, about this land; how it was occupied, and by what sort of men. Then sent he his men over all England into each shire; commissioning them to find out ‘How many hundreds of hides were in the shire, what land the king himself had, and what stock upon the land; or, what dues he ought to have by the year from the shire.’
Ann Marie Thomas is the author of five medieval history books, a surprisingly cheerful poetry collection about her 2010 stroke and two further poetry collections, and the science fiction series Flight of the Kestrel, of which there are four books are out now. Follow her at http://eepurl.com/bbOsyz and get free books.
