1 August 1086
Domesday Book published

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William I is presented with the Domesday Book, the first census of England, at Old Sarum (near present-day Salisbury), where the greatest landowners also swear allegiance to him. The census is complete after officials have been sent to every county in England – except the four northern shires, which are under threat from the Scots – to record who owns what and where, so the king can raise money for defence purposes. Orderic Vitalis, a chronicler, says: 'There was not even an ox or a cow or a pig left that was not set down in writing.' The total value of the holdings is £73,000. The name 'Domesday Book' is given to the manuscript a century later because, like the Day of Judgement, it cannot be avoided.

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