A Second Domesday?

In 1279 England''s government embarked on a massive project rivaling Domesday in scale to record `land tenure and regalian rights throughout the country''. The reasons and scale of this inquiry remain enigmatic becuse the rolls only survive in a few counties in East Anglia and the midlands. This detailed study examines the logistics of this second Domesday placing it against a background of vigorous administration at a local and national level. Raban discusses the motivations of Edward I not least of which was a drive to rid the state of inefficiency the identity of the commissioners the location of inquests the structure of the hundreds the type of information gathered and the uses of the rolls. A final section lists and discusses the surviving rolls. Appendices present examples (in Latin with Englsh translation) of articles of inquiry.