Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 255, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 12 November 1917 — Doomsday Book. [ARTICLE]

Doomsday Book.

The Doomsday book was a valuation survey of England made by William the Conqueror. It was begun in 1085 and completed two years later. The book records the owners of land, the nature of its cultivation, the number of its inhabitants and their respective classes —whether freemen, villeins jor. serfs. The compilation of the book made taxation on a sound baste possible, besides being a census roll and a record of property valuations. The survey Was called the Doomsday Book because in the eyes of the people it was like the great reckoning of doetpsday. ■ .. ■ . '■ ■