The significance of Domesday Book | Exit Quiz | Oak National Academy

In which year did William order the survey that became Domesday Book?

• 1066

• 1075

• 1085

• 1087

Answer explanation

In 1085, towards the end of his reign, William ordered an ambitious survey of his kingdom.

Which of these were questions asked by the commissioners of the Great Survey?

• How many hides of land are there?

• Who owned the manor in the time of Edward the Confessor?

• How much is the land worth now (in 1085)?

• How many enslaved people work the land?

• How many knights does the land support?

Answer explanation

The Great Survey asked detailed questions about the value of the land and how is was used, often comparing 1085 values with values in 1066.

Match the keywords to their correct definitions.

• manor

• gathering specific details by asking people questions

• survey

• a unit of land overseen by a lord

• geld

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

Answer explanation

A survey gathers specific details by asking people questions. The geld was a tax developed as a way of raising the huge sums of money needed to defend England from Viking invasions and attacks. A manor was the key unit of land in the Great Survey.

Complete this sentence: in 1086 William summoned the tenants-in-chief to a grand ceremony where they paid ___.

Answer explanation

Homage involved a vassal swearing to serve and obey their lord.

Domesday was commissioned at a time when England faced invasion from which country?

Answer explanation

William had heard that Denmark was planning an enormous invasion - however, the invasion never happened.

Which of these do historians consider likely reasons why William ordered the Great Survey that became Domesday Book?

• to settle legal disputes over land

• to confirm what his tenants owed him in return for their land

• to show how much Norman rule had benefitted the English

• 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

Answer explanation

While we do not know William's actual reasons for Domesday Book, we can see how it would have helped him extract the maximum from his tenants and from tax-payers, and also the opportunity it gave to resolve disputes over land.