Domesday for the English: How William the Conqueror kept control

What did William do first?
Feudalism
What was the Domesday survey?
How was the Domesday survey organised?
What sorts of things were recorded?
For more information...

There were many uprisings against William I after he and his army won the Battle of Hastings in 1066. To suppress any rebellions, he took a long route to London, burning homes, destroying animals and crops, and killing people as he went. He ordered that castles be built around the country for his Norman barons (knights who became chief landowners) to flaunt their power and to guard against the English. The first castles were made of wood and earth and were built quickly. But towards the end of William’s reign, the king and his barons started adding stone around the castles. These were called ‘shell keeps’.

After the last English rebellions in 1071, William put in place a system of government known as feudalism. He took land away from disloyal English earls. Then he gave some land to his Norman barons who promised to provide knights for the king’s army in return. The barons in turn gave the knights some of their land, but the knights had to agree to fight for the king. Then the knights gave small areas of their land to peasants, who in return had to farm for the king, the barons and the knights.

Conquering and controlling England was expensive. Twenty years after the Norman Conquest, William decided that he needed to know exactly who owned what and how much money they could give him.

In 1085 he ordered that a survey be undertaken throughout the country. From the survey, William found out how much tax money he could get from each person. Everyone was made to pay taxes to the king and because everything was recorded in a book, no one could avoid paying. This meant that it would be difficult for others to build up enough money to raise a private army to challenge William. It also meant that through taxes, William had more money to increase the size of his own army. About 100 years after it was completed, the survey became known as the Domesday Book because it seemed inescapable, like the Christian Doomsday or day of judgement.

The survey took less than a year to complete. Norman officials went nearly everywhere in England to find out who owned what and how the land was used. But there were difficulties. Few people in England could read or write, and they spoke an early version of English, whereas William’s officials spoke French or Latin. So armed guards accompanied the officials and the punishments for giving false information were severe. Certain people were questioned separately about the land and who owned what to check if lies were being told.

Finally, a scribe (writer) wrote everything on parchment in Latin using a quill (feather pen) and ink. A second scribe checked what he had written.

Only men were mentioned in the Domesday survey. The officials measured the land, counted the amount of livestock that grazed and worked on it, and added up the sums charged for each area that was rented out. They also noted what type of land it was – whether meadow, pasture or woodland, for instance – how long it had been with the present occupier, and how much it was worth.

Although the Domesday Book was detailed, it omitted important cities like London and Winchester, as they did not fit the feudal model. In all, 13,418 places were visited. William did not live long enough to benefit from the survey, but his successors did.

Not all medieval kings were as good at keeping control as William I. More than a century later, in 1215, the barons marched to London to see King John, who was treating them badly. Faced with their powerful opposition, he agreed to their demands. He had the terms of their agreement written down in a document called the Magna Carta (Latin for ‘great charter’). The Magna Carta listed the rules that John agreed to obey. But as the barons had suspected, King John didn’t keep his word.

Susie Hodge
February 2004

In the Museum…

Visit the Medieval gallery

Find these books in your local library…

Fraser, Antonia, ed., The Lives of the Kings and Queens of England (Book Club Associates, 1979)

Mason, James, A Sense of History – Medieval Realms (Longman, 1991)

What life was like in the Age of Chivalry (Time Life Books, 1997)

On the internet…

Events and exhibitions at the Medieval gallery

National Archives Learning Curve: Focus on Domesday