Decoding Domesday (Paperback)

New light is shed on the motives and objectives for the compiling of the still-mysterious Domesday Book, revolutionising our understanding of the period. The Domesday Book is one of our major sources for a crucial period of English history; yet it remains difficult to interpret. This provocative new book proposes a complete re-assessment, with profound implications for our understanding of the society and economy of medieval England. In particular, it overturns the general assumption that the Domesday inquest was a comprehensive survey of lords and their lands, and so tells us about the economic underpinning of power in the late eleventh century; rather, it suggests that in 1086 matters of taxation and service were at issue and data were collected to illuminate these concerns. What emerges from this is that Domesday Book tells us less about a real economy and those who sustained it than a tributary one, with much of the wealth of England being omitted. The source, then, is not the transparent datum that social and economic historians would like it to be. Inreturn, however, the book offers a richer understanding of late eleventh-century England in its own terms; and elucidates many long-standing conundrums of the Domesday Book itself. DAVID ROFFE is an honorary research fellow at Sheffield University. He has written widely on Domesday Book and edited five volumes of the Alecto County Edition of the text.

General

Imprint:	The Boydell Press
Country of origin:	United Kingdom
Release date:	March 2015
First published:	2007
Authors:	David Roffe
Dimensions:	234 x 156 x 26mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Paperback - Trade
Pages:	394
ISBN-13:	978-1-78327-019-4
Categories:	Books > Humanities > History > World history > 500 to 1500 Books > Humanities > History > British & Irish history > General Books > History > British & Irish history > General Books > History > World history > 500 to 1500
LSN:	1-78327-019-5
Barcode:	9781783270194

Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate? Let us know about it.

Does this product have an incorrect or missing image? Send us a new image.

Is this product missing categories? Add more categories.

Review This Product

No reviews yet - be the first to create one!