September 28, 1066: ‘William the Conqueror’ reached England; how he reshaped country’s land ownership system
On September 28, 1066, William, Duke of Normandy, landed at Pevensey in southern England with an invasion force of around 7,000 men, including 2,000-3,000 cavalry. His arrival marked the beginning of the final phase of his bid for the English throne, but it was his subsequent conquest and consolidation of power that transformed the ownership and administration of land across England.William defeated King Harold II at the Battle of Senlac, near Hastings, on October 14. He was crowned King of England on Christmas Day 1066.The conquest was followed by a major redistribution of land. According to the Royal Family’s account of William I, his wholesale confiscation of land from English nobles and their heirs allowed him to grant land tenancy to Norman, French and Flemish allies in return for military service.William transferred land from nobles who had not supported him to Norman barons who had backed his conquest. The resulting feudal structure placed the king at the top: large areas of land were granted to barons, who in turn granted portions to knights, while peasants worked the land and paid taxes and provided produce.The shift was substantial. By the end of William’s reign, a small group of the king’s tenants had acquired about half of England’s landed wealth, while only two Englishmen still held large estates directly from the king, according to the Royal Family.William also created up to 180 ‘honours’ – estates scattered across different shires, generally centred on a castle. By the end of his reign, more than 80 castles had been built across England.
The Domesday Book
The redistribution of land also created a practical problem for William: he needed to know who held land and how much wealth it represented.The cost of his military campaigns, defence measures and the devastation in northern England prompted a detailed investigation into the kingdom’s land and wealth. The result was the Domesday survey of 1086 and the two-volume Domesday Book.The Domesday Book as a detailed survey of land, wealth and life in medieval England. Commissioners recorded who owned land, its value, the people living and working on it, woodland, animals and buildings, as well as the value of land and goods in 1066 and 1086.The survey provided a record that could be used for taxation and administration. According to BBC Bitesize, the Domesday Book recorded more than 13,000 places across England.Its figures also show the scale of the post-Conquest shift in landholding. William directly controlled about 20 per cent of the land, Norman nobility controlled about 50 per cent, the Church about 25 per cent, and English nobility about 5 per cent.The Royal Family states that the survey was also linked to William’s need to maximise tax revenues and establish the direct loyalty of his feudal tenants. In 1086, his 170 tenants-in-chief and other important landowners gathered for the Oath of Salisbury and swore fealty to him.
