1086

The Domesday Book: the king's great stocktake

In 1066 William, Duke of Normandy, won the Battle of Hastings and became King William I of England, but winning did not end the fighting. For several years William crushed rebellions, most harshly in the north, and built castles across the country to keep control. Once England was firmly his, William I wanted to know exactly what he now owned. He sent officials all over the country to record four things about every town and village:

Towns and villages

Who lived there

Who owned the land

What animals they had

The result was the Domesday Book. It survives to this day, giving us a snapshot of English society just after the Norman Conquest. Its name comes from "doomsday", the Day of Judgement: people felt that, like the Last Judgement, what the book recorded was final, with no appeal and no changing it.

Era contents: 1000 – 1200