Domesday

Domesday Book, commonly called Domesday, is the record of a great survey of England completed in 1086 by order of William the Conqueror. It was intended to determine who held what land and what taxes could be raised, in order to govern and administer the realm after the Norman conquest.

The survey covered much of England, collecting information county by county from local officials. It lists landholders and tenants-in-chief, the extent of land, its value, and the resources available. Entries describe ploughland and labor services, livestock, meadows, pastures, woodland, mills, and sometimes fishing, as well as the number of households and villagers. The data were organized in units such as hides and carucates and recorded in Latin.

There are several surviving manuscripts, the best known being the Great Domesday, a comprehensive county-by-county record. There is also a shorter version called the Little Domesday and a regional manuscript known as Exon Domesday. The Domesday Book is one of the most important primary sources for the study of medieval England, offering a detailed snapshot of landholding, demography, and the economy around the time of the conquest.

Today the Domesday Book survives in a small number of medieval manuscripts held by British libraries. It has been translated into modern English and published in editions, with online facsimiles available, making its data accessible to historians, genealogists, and the general public. Its legacy informs discussions of taxation, feudal rights, and the organization of land in medieval England.