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Year 10
AQA

Domesday Book

I can explain the significance of Domesday Book.

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New
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Year 10
AQA

Domesday Book

I can explain the significance of Domesday Book.

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Share activities with pupils
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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. In 1085, William ordered a survey to detail the possessions of his new kingdom of England.
  2. The survey was compiled in 1086, and the two volumes of records became known as Domesday Book.
  3. Historians do not fully agree on the purpose, but Domesday Book gave William a very detailed account of landholding.
  4. Domesday may also have provided William with an accurate account of the tax and soldiers his new kingdom could provide.
  5. Domesday increased William’s royal authority: the capacity to seize and distribute lands, and to charge accordingly.

Keywords

  • Survey - a survey is an examination of specific details, opinions, behaviour, etc., made by asking people questions

  • Manor - a manor is a unit of land overseen by a lord - a lord’s large manor house is also a feature

  • Geld - geld is the name of a tax traditionally used to defend England against (Viking) invasions

Common misconception

People think the survey and Domesday Book are one and the same thing.

In fact, the survey was ordered in 1085, and later compiled into what became known as Domesday Book.

Domesday Book is available online. Have students search for their local record to identify key details like who held the manor in 1066 and in 1085, the geld owed, and how many mills or enslaved people there were.
Teacher tip

Content guidance

  • Depiction or discussion of discriminatory behaviour

Supervision

Adult supervision recommended

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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Starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Whose land did William claim for the Normans?
all Anglo-Saxon earls
Correct answer: Anglo-Saxons who had fought against him
only the House of Godwin
Q2.
Which of these changed William's attitude to including Anglo-Saxons in positions of power?
the building of castles
the efficiency of the tax system in gathering money
Correct answer: the uprisings against Norman rule
religious reforms in England
Q3.
What was the name of the important Norman landholders who held land directly from the monarch?
housecarls
Correct answer: tenants-in-chief
thegns
villeins
Q4.
Complete the sentence with the correct answer: William introduced a new system of landholding that more strictly tied the landholder to the .
Church
Correct answer: landowner
military
peasantry
Q5.
How many of William’s top-ranking lords held 25% of the land in England?
Correct answer: 10
20
30
Q6.
Complete this sentence: The Normans introduced stricter landholding rules and many Anglo-Saxon landholders often had their landholdings .
Correct Answer: forfeited, Forfeited

Exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
In which year did William order the survey that became Domesday Book?
1066
1075
Correct answer: 1085
1087
Q2.
Which of these were questions asked by the commissioners of the Great Survey?
Correct answer: How many hides of land are there?
Correct answer: Who owned the manor in the time of Edward the Confessor?
Correct answer: How much is the land worth now (in 1085)?
Correct answer: How many enslaved people work the land?
How many knights does the land support?
Q3.
Match the terms to their correct definitions.
Correct Answer:survey,gathering specific details by asking people questions

gathering specific details by asking people questions

Correct Answer:manor,a unit of land overseen by a lord

a unit of land overseen by a lord

Correct Answer:geld,the name of a tax used to defend England against Viking attacks

the name of a tax used to defend England against Viking attacks

Q4.
Complete this sentence: in 1086 William summoned the tenants-in-chief to a grand ceremony where they paid .
Correct Answer: homage, Homage, fealty
Q5.
Domesday was commissioned at a time when England faced invasion from which country?
Correct Answer: Denmark, denmark
Q6.
Which of these do historians consider likely reasons why William ordered the Great Survey that became Domesday Book?
Correct answer: to settle legal disputes over land
Correct answer: to confirm what his tenants owed him in return for their land
to show how much Norman rule had benefitted the English
Correct answer: to help calculate the geld tax that could be raised to defend England
to replace the Anglo-Saxon way of gathering taxes with a new feudal system

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