King tells the story of England's greatest medieval public
record. IN THE EARLY of 1085, William I of England, also known
as William the Conqueror, held his Christmas curia regis (royal
court or "King's Court") at Gloucester. It was there William, in
his 20th year as king, announced his plans for a survey of the
English possessions he had conquered in 1066. The book resulting
from this survey became known as Domesday. The name "Domesday"
was applied within a few generations. Henry II's treasurer,
Richard Fitz Nigel, wrote of Domesday, "This book is
metaphorically called by the native English, Domesdai, the Day
of Judgement. For as the sentence of that strict and terrible
last account cannot be evaded by any subterfuge, so when this
book is appealed to on those matters which it contains, its
sentence cannot be quashed or set aside duke of Normandy, was
crowned king of England on Christmas Day, 1066. He commissioned
Domesday 19 years later. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for 1085
tells ". the king had important deli