The Domesday Book Trivia Quiz

Answer: William the Conqueror

Duke William of Normandy began his rule in that most famous date in English history - 1066. Apart from winning the Battle of Hastings, the second great fact that most people know about him is that he ordered and compiled the Domesday Book.

William had won a huge kingdom, but he knew little about it. Immediately after the Conquest, he began to give out estates to his fellow Normans, and protect himself with the building of castles. After this urgent work was completed, he turned his attention to finding out more about the land he held. How was it populated, and how could he be sure of receiving the taxes that were due to him?

William Rufus was William II, the Conqueror's son, so named because of his florid complexion. He ruled from 1087 until 1100. He was succeeded by his brother, Henry I, whose reign lasted until 1135. Edward the Confessor was the last Anglo-Saxon king of England. He came to the throne in 1042.

Answer: In the Christmas council of 1085

It was the king's custom to hold great councils three times a year: in Winchester at Easter, at Westminster for Whitsuntide, and in Gloucester at Christmas. All the bishops, barons, other magnates, and their attendant knights were feasted and entertained; also, affairs of state were discussed.

It was in 1085, nineteen years into The Conqueror's reign, when he made his wishes known at the Christmas council and ordered his men to start work on the survey.

Answer: The Book of the Treasury

The name "Domesday" was the book's popular name, probably not widely used until the twelfth century. The book was kept at the Treasury at Winchester, a meeting place of the court since Anglo-Saxon times, when it was the capital of the kingdom of Wessex, hence its official name.

Liber Juiciarius simply means "book of judgement" in Latin. This description was used a hundred years later, by the Treasurer Richard fitz Nigel, when referring to the book.

Answer: The enquiries were so intricate and thorough that they were compared to those of the day of judgement

When the king first ordered the inquiry, the information he wanted was so detailed that it was regarded as shameful by many people. They resented such close inquiries into their land and stock, and there were violent protests in some areas. False statements of possessions were also made, which meant it was necessary to re-conduct the survey in several cases.

This is how the name "Domesday Book" came about. The inquiries were likened to the searching of a man's soul and life on the Day of Judgment.

Answer: Latin

Latin was the language used on all official documents throughout the Middle Ages, and afterwards, up until the seventeenth century. Any clerk at that time had to be fluent in spoken, and especially in written Latin. This was true of all Western European countries, and it meant among other things that an educated man could travel to other courts in Europe and be employed, also that there was a common international language in which foreign affairs could be carried out.

The Normans spoke among themselves a version of French which they had adopted when they settled in Normandy from the Norse and Danish Viking lands in the tenth century. Anglo-Saxon was the language of the conquered people of England in the eleventh century. For three hundred years the three languages were used in England: French being the language of the court and aristocracy, and English (divided into many dialects) the speech of the common people and such English lords as remained. However, the two races gradually mingled, there was intermarriage and by the late twelfth century they could hardly be distinguished.

Latin remained the language of official records and the law, but towards 1300 French also began to be used in legal situations. English, transformed by many French and Latin words, gradually took over from French as the national tongue, becoming the language of the whole population by the end of the 1300s.

Answer: two books

It is actually two very large and cumbersome volumes, known as the Greater and the Little Domesday Books. Today the volumes are naturally of great historical interest, and a source of information about Norman and pre-Norman England. In the years directly after it was compiled, it was as used by the King for the main purpose of knowing exactly what taxes, dues and military obligations he could claim. But the book also became useful in the Courts of Justice as a record of what was owned by whom, which made it more difficult for anyone to take another man's property.

Rolls of parchment were used for many documents at that time The parchment was made from sheepskin membrane, and the different breeds of sheep can be identified from the width of the rolls. A lot of historical documents from this time has come down to us in these rolls.

Answer: The king's commissioners were sent into every shire to gather the information, from local officials

The survey was carried out with incredible organization and thoroughness and the commissioners must have been extremely efficient to have compiled the book so rapidly. The king sent commissioners into every shire, or county, having instructed them as to exactly what information to collect.

The commissioners meticulously noted the answers given to them in each village, and brought the data back to London, where it was gone through and transcribed into standard entries. This work was done by the King's clerks, who were highly competent and had been well trained at his court.

Answer: The far north

The far north was not completely subjugated by the Normans until some years after the conquest of the country. During this time, there was much unrest and open revolt in this part of the land. When William sent his clerks out to collect the Domesday information, they made no attempt to visit the wild and hostile areas of the far north. The Domesday survey went no further north than Yorkshire.

The monasteries were an important part of the survey, as much land and stock was held by monasteries established in Saxon times, and William was particularly anxious to collect all the taxes due from these lands.

Towns were also of great significance to the King, as they were potential centres of rebellion and conspiracy. (This was the reason for the hundreds of castles which were built across the land after the Conquest). The Domesday accounts of the English towns include a description of each town, followed by the standard information of population, land-owners and stock held.

The populous counties of Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk were among the first to be visited for the Domesday survey. The information for these areas is in the "Little Domesday Book".

Answer: Jews and non-Christians

All classes of the population then living in the kingdom were included. They went like this: slaves, (who were officially lower than villeins although probably not in a much worse position in reality) villeins, cottagers and churls, small land-owners, lords of the manor, Norman over lords and barons and their retinue (who were known as knights).

The Normans did not always fully understand the complicated classes of the English society they had conquered at this date, so sometimes the distinctions between the classes are blurred. The word villein ("villanus" in Latin), although historically it has come to mean the typical unfree labourer of the time, simply meant "villager" in Domesday Book.

An important part of the Domesday record is an index of the chief landholders in each county, starting with the king and continuing with archbishops, bishops, magnates, and English landowners. There follows a description of the land held by each.

A distinction between Jews and Christians was not made, for the simple reason that there were very few, if any, Jews in England at this time. Jewish people did not start emigrating to Britain until after the Norman Conquest and this was a gradual movement. By the next century however there was a sizable Jewish population in most towns. Later kings encouraged them to settle, while exploiting them, because moneylenders were always needed.

As for other non-Christians, theoretically there had been no such thing in England since the final conversion of the heathen Vikings settlers at the end of the tenth century.

Answer: The Public Record Office

The Public Record Office, at the end of Chancery Lane in central London, was built on the site of a hostel known as Domus Conversorum. This was a chapel and home for Jews who had converted to Christianity, founded by Henry III. Some monuments from the original chapel are on display in the Record Office. Also translations of Domesday Book are available as you would probably need to be something of a Latin scholar and expert historian to decipher the original! The office became the National Archives in 2003.

The Tower of London is another achievement of William the Conqueror's, which has been a landmark in London for centuries. The Keep, which is the oldest part of the original Tower, was built in 1078.

The British Museum is situated in the Bloomsbury area of London. Founded in 1753, it contains a priceless collection of artefacts and documents.

Buckingham Palace was built by the Duke of Buckingham in 1703, and reconstructed by John Nash between 1825 and 1836 as a residence for Queen Victoria. It contains a great collection of fine paintings and other treasures rather than significant historical documents.