The Domesday book

Question 1

What did William order in December 1085?

Answer 1

A survey to record every piece of land and property in England

Question 2

What 2 books is the Domesday book split into?

Answer 2

• ‘Little Domesday’: covers Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk
• ‘Great Domesday’: covers the rest of England except the areas the king did not directly control, like the north

Question 3

What does ‘Domesday’ mean?

Answer 3

Day of Judgement

Question 4

Why is the Domesday book important and how many words did it contain?

Answer 4

2 million word and its tells us a huge amount about the changes caused by the Norman conquest

Question 5

Commissioners asked questions and they worked quickly. How many months did it take to collect info from 13,400 manors?

Answer 5

6 months

Question 6

What were held in the spring of 1086?

Answer 6

Special sessions of the shire court were. These were called ‘inquests’ and jurors listened to evidence from each witness

Question 7

The inquests made final, binding decisions about who owned what

Answer 7

this is just a fact

Question 8

What are the 2 views historians have about why the Domesday book was created?

Answer 8

• For tax: Some thought that William ordered the Domesday book as some sort of tax database, so he could squeeze more money out of
  England
• For power: some have said it wouldn’t help with tax at all. They suggest the book was designed to show that the NOrmans had legal right to their land and that William was their undisputed ruler