Domesday Book Glossary
The Domesday Book offers great insight into life
at the time of the Norman Conquest. When you read through the
records contained in the Domesday Book, you run across a great
many terms which may be confusing, such as 'bordars', 'geld',
'hundreds', and so on. This short glossary of terms is intended
to help you better understand the terminology of the Domesday
Book. As for the actual book, there are several paid versions
online, but as of this writing, no free access to a complete
translation. The best hard copy version that I'm aware of is
the one I use: the Penguin Classic, 'Domesday Book; A Complete
Translation' (ISBN 0-141-43994-7). You can purchase a copy through
Amazon.co.uk here.
Acre
The Norman acre was a unit of measure both of length and area.
In length, an acre was 66 feet long, in area, 160 square feet
(4 times 40 Perches). An acre could be used as a value to to
assess geld, with 120 acres equalling one Hide.
Alod
Land held by right of freehold.
Arpent
A measure of land used for vineyards, originally
100 square Perches.
Berwick
A outlying estate
Bookland
Land given by royal charter.
Boor
A peasant of low standing. This term was on the way out, to be
replaced by 'Villan'.
Bordar
A peasant, lower on the social ladder than a Villan.
Bovate
One-eighth part of a Carucate.
Cartage
The obligation of providing carts for the transportation of a Lord's
goods.
Carucate
An area of land equal to the amount that could be worked by a team
of eight oxen. In some areas the Carucate was the measure used
to assess geld, in stead of the Hide.
Ceorl
A free peasant, with a Wergeld of at least 200s.
Cottar
A cottager, similar in status to a Bordar.
Demesne
Land in the pesonal possession of a Lord, used to support
that Lord rather than the tenants working it.
Dreng
A free man holding land in exchange for personal service. Used
primarily in Yorkshire and Lancashire.
Free Man
A landholder of non-noble status. Freemen were often in the command
of a Lord.
Frenchman
A settler from abroad (not necessarily French) of non-noble status.
Frenchmen were freeholders.
Furlong
A unit of measure equal to the length of a ploughed furrow, or
40 perches long.
Geld
Tax, assessed per hide.
Hide
The standard unit of land measure, used to assess geld (tax). In
theory each hide was divided into four equal parts, called Virgates.
Hundred
The largest administrative division of a Shire. The Hundred
was nominally 100 hides, but in practice the size of a Hundred
varied widely from place to place.
League
a measure of distance, 1000 paces in length, or roughly 1 1/2 Roman
miles. In the later medieval period the league was equal to 12
Furlongs, whereas the mile was standardized at 8 Furlongs.
Manor
An estate. Manors could be vastly different in size, and might
have an official lord's residence, or castle, at its centre.
Mill
Usually a corn mill for grinding grain, powered by water. Windmills
did not come into use until well after the Conquest.
Perch
A measure of land varying from 14 to as much as 28 feet.
Plough
One way of assessing the value of an estate was to estimate the
number of eight-ox plough teams needed to cultivate the land.
Thus, a Domesday entry might say a 'Then as now, 2 1/2 ploughs",
meaning that there was enough land on the estate to require 2
1/2 ox teams to work it. This measure could also be used to assess
the value of the estate for taxation.
Radman
Literally, 'riding man', a servant who attended his lord, and
often rode escort.
Render
A payment (usually payment in kind, such as livestock or grain).
Render was sometimes used to determine the value of a manor.
Soke
The right to administer a given place and its people
Sokeman
A free man owing service to the Lord of a Soke
Sheriff
The royal official in charge of a Shire. The Sheriff was responsible
for finiancial and judicial administration, as well as overseeing
royal castles and estates in the Shire.
Shire
An administrative district, roughly equivilent to our modern county.
The term Shire might also refer to the Court of that county.
TRE
Shorthand for the Latin phrase Tempore Regis
Edwardi, which translates
loosely as 'In the time of King Edward'. Generically used to
indicate the state of things before the Norman Conquest in
1066.
Villan
The nominally free inhabitant of a village, a villan was better
off than a bordar.
Virgate
A measure of land equating to one-quarter of a Hide.
Wergeld
A combination of Old English terms meaning 'man money', the wergeld
was originally a sum of money paid by the kin of a man
who had killed another to the deceased man's kin. The payment
of a wergeld was supposed to avoid blood feuds. The actual amount
paid depended upon the social status of the dead man.
A note about Administrative districts
For the purposes of taxation there were essentially three levels
of administrative district in Norman England. In descending order
of size and importance these were the Shire, the Hundred, and
the Vill, corresponding very roughly to our modern Counties,
local districts, and towns/villages.
More:
Domesday England map
History
Prehistory - Roman
Britain - Dark Ages - Medieval
Britain - The Tudor Era - The
Stuarts - Georgian Britain -
The Victorian Age
Contents © David Ross and Britain Express
Home
> History > Medieval
> Domesday Glossary