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"The king had muckle thought and deep speech with his wise-men about this land, how it was set, and with what men. Then he sent his men over all England into each shire and let them find out how many hundred hides were in that shire, and what the king had himself of land or cattle in those lands, or what rights he ought to have in the twelve months from the shire."

These words refer to the Domesday [Doomesday] Book which was made in 1085-86 on command of William (I) the Conqueror. It was a record or survey, being the first of its kind ever made, of the property held in England. Yet ancient as it is, with certain changes it might describe the periodic valuations conducted by assessors' offices in thousands of towns and villages today.

There were two volumes - a quarto comprising Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk, and a large folio dealing with the rest of England. The Domesday Book looms large in the history of kings because it represented final authority and the last word in assessing procedure.

William I, sailing in 1066 from the Province of Normandy across the English Channel, defeated the forces of Harold of Saxony in the Battle of Hastings. Few events in the history of England have had as wide an impact on its cultural, social, economic and political life as this battle. However, the Domesday Book following soon after, with a detailed description of the national wealth, had a startling effect of a different kind.

Speculation abounds concerning the motivation behind the survey. Some historians suggest that fiscal considerations were of prime importance and ownership had to be determined so that taxes could be levied. Others see in it a subtle attempt to reveal the personal relationships of the tenure system which linked all landholders with the king. These or other possible motivations may have prompted the Great or Grand Inquest or Survey, which originated, as so many other matters of law did, at an early date, in England.

Feudalism, the system in which land was granted by the king or his lords to individuals, began in England when William landed on its shores. In return for land the benefactors or vassals pledged their military services. At the time of the survey, twenty years after the invasion, the Domesday Book exposed this relationship which was both derivative and dependent in nature. The king was lord over all and all titles flowed from his throne. Possession of any land was possible only with the king's permission, and thus a hierarchy was instituted with the king at the apex of the pyramid. Since land titles were thoroughly restricted to those who found favor with the monarch, any land except that of the king was held merely in tenure - the sovereign ownership remained with His Majesty.

Although England developed into a mighty sea power centuries later, this concept of land tenure continued as a deterrent to personal freedom. Explorers set out for various parts of the world but all discoveries, including those in North America, were held in the sovereign name of the crown. The English system of land tenure and its development in the colonies grew out of the medieval approach.