Domesday Book Report

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The Domesday Book was a great invention of the time. The object of the Domesday Book was not to extort money, but to represent a full report of the financial and military resources of the kingdom ("Middle Ages"). This book, developed by King William the Conqueror in 1086, contained land ownership and tax information for early English towns. In early England, the King was the sole power (Trueman). King William sat at the top of the social tree, while peasants were at the bottom. He granted land to tenants-in-chief in return for their assistance. Next on the social ladder, after tenants-in-chief, came under-tenants which are compared to the middle class today. The last group was the peasants, which were villagers, borders, and cottars. Peasants also did all the land work. King William was on top of early England’s social latter (“Domesday Book Online”). The book was based on the feudal system, which was imposed by King William. It enabled King William the ability to ensure that all landowners and tenants swore allegiance to him. Swearing allegiance to the king was a major requirement in the feudal system ("Middle Ages"). On the other hand, the king was required to protect England’s people from all possible danger. With the need to defend England from possible invasion threats from Scandinavia, and the costly campaigns being fought in northern France, the vast army William amassed required substantial funding (Domesday Book Online). Funding for all of the king’s expenses is composed of taxes. The Domesday Book is used for taxing the townspeople and funding protection for all of England’s towns. Furthermore, the Domesday Book was a census commissioned by William the Conqueror to survey his newly conquered lands. Reports showed the wealth of the country. However, it also showed the suffering. In fact, many towns reported having fallen into decay
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