Florence of Worcester claims that the people were very unhappy about the survey as they feared the imposition of higher taxes and "as a consequence the land was vexed with much violence". At this meeting on 1st August, 1086, he made them all swear a new oath that they would always obey their king. When William the Conqueror knew who the main landowners were, he arranged a meeting for them at Salisbury. It is small wonder, therefore, that this was the aspect of the matter which most impressed - and distressed - contemporary observers." (5) In Domesday Book there is in fact sure testimony of the manner in which William took over (as has been seen) the taxational system of the Old English state, and used it to his own advantage. He sought therefore to ascertain the taxable capacity of his kingdom, and to see whether more could be exacted from it. It was imperative that he should know the resources of his kingdom, for his need of money was always pressing, and never more so than in 1085. Douglas, the author of William the Conqueror: The Norman Impact Upon England (1992), has argued: "Whatever may have been the exact process by which Domesday Book was compiled, it remains an astonishing product of the Conqueror's administration, reflecting at once the problems with which he was faced, and the character of his rule. It also suggested that the country had a population of 1,710,000people. On the basis of information already known or collected at the sittings of the courts, the objective was to record not only what land and other property, such as animals and ploughs, but who owned them and what they were worth in the reign of Edward the Confessor. The kingdom was divided into seven circuts and commissioners summoned to each county court landholders and manorial tenants. William's survey was completed in only seven months. Harrison has pointed out that "from this unique document we have an unparalleled picture of early medieval society in England, including much about the peasantry." (3) Domesday Book It provided an important source of information for historians. About a hundred years after it was produced the book became known as the Domesday Book. When the information was collected it was sent to Winchester where it was recorded in a book. They asked questions about the ownership of land, animals and farm equipment and also about the value of the land and how it was used.
William sent out his officials to every town, village and hamlet in England. Also, he had a record made of how much land his archbishops had, and his bishops and his abbots and his earls - and though I relate it at too great length - what or how much everybody had who was occupying land in England, in land and cattle, and how much money it was worth." (2) The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles reported: "The king sent his men over all England into every shire andd had them find out how many hundred hides there were in the shire, or what land and cattle the king himself had in the country, or what dues he ought to have annually from the shire. William planned to use this information to help him make the right judgements when people were in dispute over land ownership.
(3) There was a great deal of doubt about who owned some of the land in England. (2) The information about the distribution of the population would help William plan the defence of England against possible invaders. (1) The information would help William discover how much the people of England could afford to pay in tax.
There were three main reasons why William decided to order a survey. While waiting for the attack to take place he decided to order a comprehensive survey of his kingdom. In 1085 William the Conqueror returned to England to deal with a suspected invasion by King Canute IV of Denmark.