5/03/2012

May 3: The Domesday Book

During 1086, a census of English property holdings was made for William the Conqueror, who had assumed control over the island after invading 20 years prior. The reason this survey was sardonically called the "Domesday Book" is that its assessments, whether accurate or not, were as unchangeable for tax purposes as the Last Judgment is supposed to be for souls.