Коротка історія Англії, Детальна інформація

This went on perhaps all day. There were the same questions in each village. The name of the owner of the village was written down, and what the villagers possessed, and what it was all worth, and what they should pay to the King. The Anglo-Saxons were afraid of the registration and hated it. The villagers used to say that nothing could be concealed from the King’s officials just as you would not conceal anything from God on doomsday. The villagers were threatened to be punished on doomsday in case they didn’t tell the whole truth. That is why probably the book in which all these accounts were written was called by the people of England the Domesday Book.

All the King’s vassals were registered in the Domesday Book and William I could now see to it that they all performed their military service. William I knew the exact value of their estates and he demanded that when he called upon them they should bring a certain number of their retainers in proportion to the value of their estates. As the names of all the new owners of the estates were written down in official state document, the Domesday Book, the Norman lords were considered now the lawful owners of English lands. Thus the feudal registration of 1086 consolidated the position of the conquerors. Great changes were brought in life of the Anglo-Saxon peasantry as a result of the registration organised by William I. before the Conquest many peasants were serfs, or villains, as they were called in England. The villains were “bound to the soil and to the lord”. They belonged to the feudal estate, or to the manor, as it was called in England. They were not allowed to leave the lord of the manor. However, alongside with the villains there were many semi bondsmen whose services to the lord were much lighter than those of the villains. There were also many peasants who cultivated their own land whose freedom was slightly curbed because they could be tried only in the lord’s court. Now all those semi bond peasants were registered in Domesday Book as villains. Many of those who before the Conquest had been tried in the lord’s court and owed some minor service were also registered as unfree peasants. The cite just one example: in the country of Sussex 10,400 peasants families were registered of which 9,800 were registered as unfree families and only 600 as free.

In addition to everything else the peasants had to pay heavier taxes. Before the registration William I collected all the old taxes which had been imposed in England before the conquest. He continued to collect even the old Danegeld, a tax which had been imposed to organize resistance to the raids of the Danes. As a result of the registration the Conqueror had to exact data for taxation and increased the old taxes considerably. Moreover a heavy property tax was imposed on the population of England.

Thus the Norman Conquest aggravated feudal exploitation and it hastened the process of turning the free peasants into serfs. The Norman Conquerors became not only the owners of the English lands but also the masters of the people who lived on it.

The original of Domesday Book is kept now in the Public Record Office in London. In the reign of the William I it was looked upon as a tax book for gave the data for taxation. But its actual value is much greater. No other written document before or after has given us such a clear picture of the period.

The King’s Supporters

A monk wrote in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle “The King William was serve beyond all measure to those people who resisted his will. The earls who resisted him were kept in chains. He deprived bishops of their power and lands, and abbots of their abbacies, the cast earls into prison… There is no doubt that people were greatly oppressed in his lime.

He had castles built

And the poor men hard oppressed

The King was very stark

And took from his subjects many a mark

Of gold and more hundreds of pounds of silver,

Into avarice did he fall

And loved greediness above all,

He made great protection for the game

And imposed laws for the same

That who so slew hart to hind

Should be made blind

Hares too, did he decree, should go free

Powerful men lamented it

But he was so ruthless that he

Minded not their hatred

And they had to follow out

The King’s will entirely

If they wished to live or hold their lands

In spite of the serve measures taken by William I there were many supporters of his policy. His great supporters were Norman barons. The Normans enjoyed many privileges in the conquered country. All the members of the Great Council were Normans. All the sheriffs and other royal officials were Normans too. The same was true in the English Church where nearly all the priests, bishops and abbots were also Normans. England was ruled by foreign King and foreigners occupied all the highest offices. To defend their privileges the Normans , who were in the minority in the conquered country had to unite under a strong royal power. And the Normans barons supported William as they were interested in strengthening the royal power which helped them to suppress the Anglo-Saxons.

The Conqueror won the support of the Anglo-Saxon lords, too. Those who had not fought against him were left in possession of their estates. They became the King’s allies in his struggle against William I because only a strong King could protect them against tyranny of the great Norman barons who held now all the high posts in the state. The smaller lords too, both Norman and Anglo-Saxon, relied upon the King to help them to turn the free peasants into serfs and to put down their growing resistance.

The church helped greatly in strengthening the royal power. Evidence of this can be found in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle where a monk praises the Conqueror “The King William was a very wise man, and very powerful, and stronger than any predecessor of his. He was gentle to the good people who loved God… .In his days was the great Monastery in Canterbury built, and also very many others over all England… . This land … was well filled with monks… .And all the rich men over all England were with him: archbishops and bishops, abbots and earls…”. In return for its support of the Conquest the Church of England, the greatest feudal lord in the country, was granted some privileges. William established separate Church courts which decided all cases that concerned marriages, wills and accusations against the clerics. In this way the Church assumed certain state functions, that is, it was becoming an important part of the state machinery. Many new churches and cathedrals were built all over the country. Much gold, silver and precious stones were sent as gift to Rome.

And the clergy preached up William’s power and threatened anyone who dared to disobey the King with God’s punishment.

The town people supported the royal power too. William the conqueror took severe measures to establish peace in the country and now men could travel without fear of being robbed or murdered “Among other things”, the monk wrote, “one must forget to good order that William maintained in this land, to such a degree that any honest men can travel over his Kingdom without injury with his bosom full of gold”. In the reign of William I there was more merchants could move about without fear of loosing their goods. Trade connections with Normandy permitted the extension of trade on the Continent; trading was no longer limited to England. Towns began to grow and the town people paid high taxes to the royal treasury. The town people gave William their full support for granting them certain privileges and for protecting trade.