THE DOMESDAY

SURVEY
Made by Baranova Katerina A-34
The Domesday Book is a
detailed survey of much
of England and parts of
Wales completed in 1086
by order of King William
the Conqueror,
the earliest surviving
public record, a hugely
important historical
resource. It contains
records for 13,418
settlements in the English
counties.
 History
◦ In 1066 William, Duke of Normandy, defeated* the Anglo- Saxon King, Harold II, at the
Battle of Hastings.
◦ In 1085 England was threatened with invasion* from Denmark and Norway
◦ At Christmas 1085 he commissioned a survey to discover the resources and taxable values
of all the boroughs and manors in England.
◦ The King was essentially interested in recording his royal rights which he wished to
maximize

*to defeat-побеждать
*invasion-нападение
Commission-заказать
boroughs and manors-города и поместья
The making of Domesday
The task of gathering the information for Domesday began in
January 1086. The country was split up into 7 regions, with 3
or 4 commissioners being assigned to each. They carried with
them a set of questions and put these to a jury of
representatives – made up of barons and villagers alike –
from each county.
Questions:
-How many ploughs are there in the manor ?
- How many mills* and fishponds ?
- How many villagers and slaves are there in the manor ?
- How much woodland, pasture, meadow ?
-What does each freeman owe in the manor ?
-How much is the manor worth ?
*mill-мельница
Villagers-сельский житель, крестьянин
The Anglo-Saxons were afraid of the registration
and hated it. They were threatened to be severely
punished for false information as on Domesday,
when according to the Bible, God will judge them
on the last day of the world. This explains why the
book with all its collected accounts was called by the
people the Domesday Book.
Than the commissioners returned to London the
information was combined with earlier records, from
both before and after the Conquest, and was then
entered, in Latin, into the final Domesday Book
The data collected in book were entirely reordered
and classified by courts (manors), rather than
geographically. Instead of being recorded on the basis
of their location, the assets are listed under the names
of the landowners who held the feudal lords.
The list of each county started with the possessions of
royalty and nobles. These were followed by the
possessions of the clerical and the religious orders in
order of importance. After the clerical possessions,
were the properties of the vassals that depended
directly on the king and were recorded in order of
importance: aristocrats, minor officials, and private
citizens.

Court-суд
the asset-имущество
royalty and nobles-члены королевской семьи и знати
Clerical-церковный
Purpose
The primary purpose of the survey was to define and record the
fiscal* rights of the king.
These were mainly:
•the national land-tax
•the proceeds of the crown lands
•other significant dues
◦estimating economic resources for every manor (The king
wanted to discover who owned what, how much it was worth
and how much was owed to him as King in tax, rents, and
military service)
◦maximizing royal rights
◦estimating the annual value of all the land in the country
◦the threat of war from Denmark and Norway

*fiscal-финансовый
When was the book written?
• The collection of information by
the commissioners took place
probably in the first few months
of 1086.
• The work was possibly finished
by the end of the summer of
1086, with work on abbreviating
the records into the Great
Domesday
• By the time of King William’s
death in September 1087 work
had stopped
The Domesday Book was
written in Latin.
The Domesday Book is
actually not one book but two.
The first volume (Great
Domesday) contains the final
summarized record of all the
counties surveyed except
Essex, Norfolk, and Suffolk.
The second volume (Little
Domesday)
Why is the Domesday Book still important today?

◦ The Domesday Book provides an invaluable insight into the economy and
society of 11th century Norman England.
◦ For historians it can be used, amongst other things, to discover the wealth of
England at the time, information about the feudal system existent in society, and
information about the geography and demographic situation of the country.
◦ For local historians it can reveal the history of a local settlement and its
population and surroundings.
◦ For genealogists it provides a useful and fascinating resource for tracing family
lines.
Domesday Book is kept at
the Public Record Office
in Chancery Lane,
London, where it is on
view to the public. A copy
of the document has been
made and can be seen in a
special exhibition area at
the National Archives.