Tax fairness in eleventh century England

Accounting Historians Journal, The,  Jun 2002  by McDonald, John

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Abstract: Alongside the Roman census from Augustus' time and the ecclesiastical surveys or polyptychs of the 8th and 9th century Carolingian kingdoms, the Domesday Survey of 1086 occupies a most significant place in accounting history. Domesday Book, the outcome of the Survey, lists the incomes, tax assessments, wealth and resources of most estates in England and was used as a working accounting document by the monarch and public officials to raise taxes, distribute resources and consolidate power. Although the Domesday document itself survives, many details of its construction and use have been lost in the mists of time. This paper describes research to discover how taxes were levied and which estates and tenants received favorable treatment.

INTRODUCTION

In the accounting history literature, Godfrey and Hooper [1996] have convincingly argued that aspects of Domesday Book, the results of a survey commissioned by William the Conqueror, illustrate the concepts of accountability, decision-making and control.

Domesday Book served many purposes. It documented feudal tenancy arrangements and was a land register being used extensively to resolve land disputes in the courts. Indeed, the book's name derives from this use. The manuscript refers to itself as the "Discriptio", and it was only after Williams' death referred to as "Domesday Book", the book of last judgment, for in land disputes there was no appeal beyond its pages - land rights could be traced to Domesday Book but no earlier.

As well as being a legal document, the book had a financial and decision-making purpose. It lists the incomes, tax assessments, wealth and resources of most estates in England and was used as a working accounting document by the monarch and public officials to raise taxes, distribute resources and consolidate power. As Godfrey and Hooper [1996, p. 51] state "By providing a valuation and audit of the resources of the feudal tenants-in-chief in 1086, Domesday enabled William and his successors to optimize both their wealth, through fiscal policy and efficient use of the country's resources, and their power within the feudal structure of medieval England. For the English monarchy of the period, Domesday served both accountability and decision-making needs".

Together with other ancient surveys that assisted financial accountability, the Roman tax census during the four centuries following Emperor Augustus and the ecclesiastical polyptychs of the 8th and 9th centuries which were used for tax and accounting purposes, the Domesday Survey occupies a landmark position in accounting history. Godfrey and Hooper [1996, p. 39] argue, "Domesday represents a partial extension of and evolution from what might be broadly termed public sector accounting as practiced in both the Roman and Carolingian periods".

Although the Domesday document itself survives, many details of its construction and use have been lost. This paper describes research to discover how the taxes were levied and which estates and tenants received favorable treatment. Domesday Book records the tax assessments for the geld, a non-feudal tax levied by the king. The tax assessments are reported in hides and fiscal acres and are often referred to as the hidage system. In this paper, frontier methods are used to investigate who, and which estates, received beneficial hidation, and what factors were associated with favorable tax assessments.

DOMESDAY ENGLAND AND THE DOMESDAY SURVEY

The Domesday Survey was carried out 20 years after William invaded England from France. By 1086, Norman rule had been largely consolidated, although only after rebellion and civil dissent had been harshly put down. The Conquest was achieved by an elite. It did not result in a mass movement of people, and, although the Normans brought new institutions and practices, these were superimposed on the existing order. Most of the Anglo-Saxon aristocracy were eliminated, the lands of over 4,000 English lords passing to less than 200 Norman barons, with much of the land held by just a handful of magnates.

William I ruled forcibly through the Great Council. England was divided into shires, or counties, which were subdivided into hundreds. There was a sophisticated and long established shire administration. The sheriff was the king's agent in the county, royal orders could be transmitted through the county and hundred courts, and an effective taxation collection system was in place.

England was a feudal state. All land belonged to the king. He appointed tenants-in-chief, both lay and ecclesiastical, who usually held land in return for providing a quota of fully equipped knights. The tenants-in-chief might then grant the land to sub-tenants in return for rents or services, or work the estate themselves through a bailiff.

Manorialism was a pervasive influence, although it existed in most parts of England in a modified form. On the manor the peasants worked the lord's demesne in return for protection, housing, and the use of plots of land to cultivate their own crops. They were tied to the lord and the manor and provided a resident workforce. The demesne was also worked by slaves who were fed and housed by the lord.