What survey of England was ordered by William the Conqueror in 1086?

The survey of England ordered by William the Conqueror in 1086 was the Domesday Book. It recorded landholdings, ownership, taxable value, livestock, ploughs, and other resources across much of England and parts of Wales.

William commissioned the survey after the Norman Conquest to clarify who controlled land and what obligations were owed to the Crown. Royal officials gathered information through local inquiries, with shire courts and jurors helping establish the facts. The record also compared holdings before and after the Conquest, especially under King Edward the Confessor.

The name “Domesday” appeared later and refers to the Last Judgment, suggesting that the book’s decisions were as final as divine judgment. It was written mainly in abbreviated Medieval Latin and survives in two principal volumes, Great Domesday and Little Domesday.

A common mix-up is calling it a census. It was primarily a fiscal and administrative survey, not a complete population count. The record remains one of the most important sources for understanding landownership and society in 11th-century England.