It was ordered by william the conqueror the winner of the recent battle of hastings so that william could determine how much money in taxes he could raise and to give william a better sense of the territory he had just conquered. The main index personarumcontains all references to people. Domesday carefully records the owners of each manor estate in 1086, as these were the people liable for tax. Its name domesday, the book of the day of judgment, attests the awe with which the work has always been regarded. The domesday book, our earliest public record, is a unique survey of the value and ownership of lands and resources in late 11th century england. The domesday book is one of medieval englands greatest treasures. Domesday book attributes about 29,000 parcels of property to people bearing some 1,200 different personal names. Apr 06, 2012 the domesday book provides extensive records of landholders, their tenants, the amount of land they owned, how many people occupied the land villagers, smallholders, free men, slaves, etc. It is the starting point of recorded history for the majority of english villages and towns which are organized by county. I have replaced the medial s with a short s to make the lists more readable. The domesday book is closely linked with william the conquerors attempt to dominate medieval england. For each name, there is a distribution map of all the occurrences of the name in domesday book.
To see full names of counties hold your mouse over the name. The section concludes with a list with hyperlinks to all the people bearing the name in question who have been identified. The name domesday book middle english for doomsday book came into use in the 12th century. The domesday book records details of a survey of land ownership and. Domesday book, the original record or summary of william is survey of england. Domesday book the domesday book was a survey designed to record everything that people owned in england. Domesday book contains some 45,000 personal names, many of them duplications since tenantsinchief held land in several counties. To further extend his grip on england, william i ordered that a. Undertenants were people who subletted part of the tenants land. Domesday book is a detailed survey and valuation of landed property in england at the end of the 11th century. The first, domesday people 1999, contains entries for domesday tenants.
A book of the names and address of people living in a city. Now available in one volume, here is the complete, authoritative translation from the original latin, together with an index of places and a glossary of terms used. This page simply records all owner names mentioned in domesday book. All land was ultimately owned by the crown, but held by lords, who provided military resources or tax in return. The first volume great domesday contains the final summarized record of all the counties surveyed except essex, norfolk, and suffolk. A few landowners are readily identifiable because the text supplies their titles. Handwriting analysis shows the domesday books records were all written down by one man, almost certainly an anglo saxon because place names and people names were spelled correctly normans tended to spell them incorrectly. It does not record names, nor does it give accurate population statistics, but it does give us an indication of the size of badsey, aldington and wickhamford. Along with a string of castles throughout england, the domesday book was to give william huge authority in england. Prosopography is the study of pedigree, biography, and genealogy, including the study of family names, and focusing especially on the person, his environment and his social status that is, the individual within the context of family and other social groups, the place or places in which he was active, and the function he performed within his society. Oakden the place names of staffordshire, the map of the ancient parishes of staffordshire c.
A brief guide to using the domesday book and associated documents to. Domesday book is the earliest, and by far the most famous, english public record. Sep 24, 2004 domesday book is one of the most famous documents in english historyand arguably in world history. Since the domesday book isnt just about houses, this makes sense. It is interesting to note that the domesday book compiled by the commissioners of william the conqueror in 1086, is named from the old english domes daeg i. You can also access the discover domesday exhibition, explaining why domesday. Based on extensive and wideranging research, the two volumes contain over eight thousand entries on persons.
Domesday book facts, summary, composition, creation. If you also leave out the churches as tenants and the surviving english tenants, fewer than 20,000 names remain, and about 8,000 of those are identified by forename alone. T he domesday book is the result of a record made at the time of william the conquerors survey of england in 1086. Domesday book sources for research in english genealogy. We looked at names from king henry iiis fine rolls th century a couple of weeks ago, so now lets go back a bit further and look at names from the domesday book 11th century what is the domesday book. Aug 14, 2010 this is mainly due to logistical difficulties the sheer scale of domesday book, its layout, and the challenge of differentiating people with the same names has prevented scholars from working this out. Its a land survey, compiled in 1086, that covered much of england and parts of wales. There are around 2 million words in the domesday book. A prosopography of persons occurring in english documents 10661166. Surnames mentioned in the domesday book british surnames. The domesday book online contents of the domesday book. The english people said this name, domesday book, was given to it, because, like the day of doom, it spared no one. Sawyer, ma assistant in history in the university of edinburgh domesday book is important not only for historians but also for students of english place names. While spending the christmas time of 1085 in gloucester, william had deep speech with his counsellors and sent men all over england.
There are some 418 towns and villages recorded in the domesday book, covering 40 of the old counties of england. The domesday book compiled in 10856 is one of the few historical records whose name is familiar to most people in this country. Introduction most local historians only paraphrase domesday entries. Its name domesday, the book of the day of judgment, attests the awe with which the work. Its interest to genealogists, of course, arises because it names the tenants in chief, and.
Presented here is the first complete, all latin index to the domesday book, comprising two indices personarum and one index locorum. Slade the staffordshire domesday an extract of vch vol iv, an extract from j. It records who held the land and how it was used, and also includes information on how this had changed since the norman conquest in. In 1085, king william i of england ordered a complete survey of all the land and property in the country. Domesday book was a comprehensive survey and record of all the landowners, property, tenants and serfs of medieval norman england which was compiled in 10867 ce under the orders of william the conqueror r. On july 29th 1711, mary dumsday, an infant, was christened in horsham.
Doom, which is the true root of domesday, is an old english word of germanic origin meaning statute, judgement. The domesday book was compiled on the orders of william the conquerer to catalogue the ownership and value of land in the newly conquered territories of england. The majority of these still exist in some form today. By contemporaries the whole operation was known as the description of england, but the popular name domesday i. A prosopography of persons occurring in english documents, 10661166, k. Note that the same name is not necessarily the same person. The duchy of normandy was formed by the treaty of saintclairsurepte in 911 between king charles iii of the west franks and rollo also. I have transcribed all names exactly as they appear in my sources with one exception. The precise purpose of the enterprise is not known but the most likely reason was to determine who legally owned what land, to settle disputes of ownership and to measure. Remember that domesday book is actually a 12th century name for william the conquerors survey, not what it. Domesday book is one of the most famous documents in english historyand arguably in world history.
Domesday is now available online, and you can search for your town or village, and download images of domesday along with an english translation of the entry. A prosopography of persons occurring in english documents 10661166 i. The survey was ordered by william the conqueror at christmas 1085 and undertaken the following year. The domesday book was commissioned in december 1085 by william the conqueror, who invaded england in 1066. The place names found in the domesday book are township and estate names, and may include other villages and hamlets that receive no specific mention in the text. Either king william himself, or one of around 1,400. By contemporaries the whole operation was known as the description of england, but the popular name domesdayi. Occasionally little domesday li sts them individually, and some of these freemen were women. People didnt like the domesday book as, who in their right mind wants to give away their money to the tax man, that was the point. Female names in the domesday book nancys baby names. The name domesday book, commonly applied from the 12th century ce, may derive from doom, the term for a customary law in anglosaxon england, or be a reference to the day of judgement, referred to in the bibles book of revelation, reminding that the records in domesday book were final and could not be disputed. Domesday extracts online service offering high quality prints and pdfs of domesday book for your chosen settlement. The earliest names accorded to it the kings book and the great book of winchester, where it was first kept, in the royal treasury, were displaced as early as the twelfth century by a title which recalled the wonder with which the subjugated english had seen their norman. The normans who invaded and settled in normandy, the northwest region of modern france, in the 8th10th century were descendants of vikings from the northern countries of europe danish, norwegian, orkney.
The domesday book is the record of the great survey of much of england, and parts of wales, completed in 1086, done for william i of england, or william the conqueror the domesday book also known as domesday, or book of winchester was a record of all taxable land in england, together with such information as would indicate its worth. Associated with the reign of william the conqueror, the domesday book was created to provide the king with a means of maintaining control over medieval england. The domesday book provides extensive records of landholders, their tenants, the amount of. Click on a county name on the map to continue, or use the list of links below it. An index of personal and place names in domesday book woodbridge, 1997 k. He also wanted to discover how much tax he was owed and knew a.
Thanks to the anglosaxon chronicle it is known that the census was planned in 1085, and it was completed in 1086. Prosopography is the study of pedigree, biography, and genealogy, including the study of family names, and focusing especially on the person, his environment and his social status that is, the. Remember that domesday book is actually a 12th century name for william the conquerors survey, not what it was originally called. In the 11th century, surnames were still in a state of flux and many people still did not have what we would consider a. Known as the domesday book, this survey contained all the details of the names of places, the number of people, goods, and animals, and the use and the owners of the land. The domesday book is actually not one book but two. This first english census, considered by some as the most remarkable administrative accomplishment of the middle ages, provides a record of english social. Domesday book woodbridge, 1999 a list of corrections to this and the companion volume, compiled by rosie bevan, is available on the foundation for medieval genealogy website. It recorded every piece of property and every particular concerning it. These were little domesday covering norfolk, suffolk, and essex, and great domesday covering much of the remainder of england and parts of wales. It is the record of a survey which, according to the anglosaxon chronicle, william the conqueror ordered to be taken at christmas 1085. It may therefore be claimed that because of its scope and.
The world of domesday exhibition depicts life in 11th century england. This is the first of two volumes offering for the first time an authoritative and complete prosopography of postconquest england, 10661166. As expected, the domesday book shows us that the areas where there is a greater number of occurrences of scandinavian place names elements are those within the danelaw, and, in general, where scandinavian settlement was the strongest, during the 8th, 9th and 10th century. The national archives is the home of domesday book, the oldest surviving public record.
Domesday book is a manuscript record of the great survey of much of england and parts of. Domesday book volume 1 of domesday people, katharine stephanie benedicta keatsrohan a prosopography of persons occurring in english documents, 1066 1166 k. Domesday book encompasses two independent works in, originally, two physical volumes. Domesday book simple english wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Little domesday covering norfolk, suffolk, and essex, and great domesday covering much of the remainder of england except for lands in the north that later became westmorland, cumberland, northumberland, and the county palatine of durham and parts of wales bordering, and included within. The survey was executed for william i of england william the conqueror. This is mainly due to logistical difficulties the sheer scale of domesday book, its layout, and the challenge of differentiating people with the same. Scandinavian elements found in the domesday book english. The placenames found in the domesday book are township and estate names, and may include other villages and hamlets that receive no specific mention in the text. The domesday book is the record of the great survey of much of england, and parts of wales, completed in 1086, done for william i of england, or william the conqueror the domesday book also known as domesday, or book of winchester was a record of all taxable land in england, together with such information as would indicate its worth as the scribes went round england, they were protected. As the anglosaxon chronicle indignantly declared, not a rood of land, not a peasants hut, not an ox, cow, pig, or even a hive of bees escaped. The domesday book was created around 20 years after the battle of hastings, when william i demanded information about the ownership status of the country he was now ruling. According to the domesday book, over ten percent of englands population in 1086 were slaves. For these three counties the full, unabbreviated return sent in to winchester by the commissioners is preserved in the second volume little domesday, which.
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