Medieval Britain 1066–1509, Year 11: Domesday Book, villages, towns and Forest law (Norman England option)

1086

HintIt happened the year after the order was given.

The whyThe survey was ordered in 1085 and carried out in 1086; the results were written up as Domesday Book. Royal commissioners held sworn inquests in local courts. Some modern scholars argue the finished book may have been compiled later than 1086.

In the time of King Edward (the position when he died, 5 January 1066)

HintIt dates a holding to before the Conquest.

The whyFor each estate Domesday recorded who held it in King Edward's time, who held it when William granted it, and who held it in 1086. Putting the three dates side by side shows how land had changed hands.

It records landholders and their property, not the whole population

HintThink about who the commissioners asked about.

The whyThe people named in it are almost all landholders. It counts peasants and animals only as part of an estate. Parts of England, including London, Winchester and the far north, were left out.

Norfolk; Suffolk; Essex

HintThe region is East Anglia plus a neighbour to its south.

The whyLittle Domesday is smaller in size but fuller in detail. It seems to survive from an earlier, fuller draft made from the original returns; Great Domesday covers most other counties.

Probably to work out the tax he could raise and to settle disputes over land

HintThink about the king's money and quarrels between his barons.

The whyHistorians do not fully agree on the purpose of the survey. It gave William a very detailed account of landholding, and probably of the tax and soldiers his kingdom could supply.

A villein

HintUnlike a freeman, he could not simply move to a different lord.

The whyVilleins made up a large share of the peasants. Under the feudal system the number of freemen fell and lords gained tighter control over villeins. Norman landholders often worked their villagers harder, which was resented.

The demesne

HintThe word is a medieval cousin of 'domain'.

The whyThe rest of the manor was held by the lord's tenants, who paid for it in labour, produce or money. Almost everyone in Norman England farmed for a living.

Land reserved for the king's hunting, not necessarily woodland

HintThink about its use, not its trees.

The whyForest law protected the king's deer and boar and the greenery they lived on. A forest could include open land, village land and even towns as well as woods. William and his successors greatly increased the area under Forest law.

It banned them from using resources they depended on, such as wood, game and grazing

HintThink about what a village gathered in the wild.

The whyPunishments for breaking Forest law could be harsher than under the common law. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle says that the rich complained about the king's deer laws and the poor shuddered at them.

The Danelaw

HintDanish laws and customs applied there.

The whyVillage life was not the same everywhere. The Viking settlement of the Danelaw left freemen there more independent of the lord of their manor than in other parts of the country.