Ely Inquiry
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The Ely Inquiry or Inquisitio Eliensis [IE] was a satellite of the 1086 Domesday survey. Its importance is both that it gives a more detailed account of the local area than Domesday Book itself, and that its prologue offers an account of the terms of enquiry of the Domesday survey.
Origins
According to David C. Douglas, the Ely Inquiry was the product of an ecclesiastical landlord using the Domesday survey to produce a record of his own estatesJ. G. Edwards ed. Historical Essays in Honour of James Tait (Manchester 1933) p. 56 – something supported by the way it records the lands of one tenant-in-chief across many different Domesday circuits.[http://www.domesdaybook.net/domesday-book/domesday-inquest/inquisitio-eliensis Ely Investigation]
Prologue
The prologue to IE gives an account of the methods of the Domesday inquest, working by way of reports (under oath) of sheriffs, Barons "and of their Frenchmen and of the whole hundred, of the priest, the reeve, and six villeins of each vill".Quoted in D. Barber, The Early Middle Ages (London 1966) p. 92 It records a series of questions to be asked with respect to each manor, adding that all the answers were to be given in triplicate – "hoc totum tripliciter" – so as to cover three distinct times: Edward the Confessor's day, the time of the Conquest (1066), and the present-day (1086).J. Gillingham ed., Proceedings of the British Conference 2004 (2004) p. 132 and p. 149
While sometimes taken to fully reflect the actual Domesday process, the prologue is perhaps better seen as an abbreviated guide to the questions used,D. Roffe, Decoding Domesday (2015) p. 60 not as necessarily having a direct link to the official specifications.J. Gillingham ed., Proceedings of the British Conference 2004 (2004) p. 132 and p. 149
Survey
The survey provides more information than its main equivalent, Little Domesday.H. C. Darby, The Domesday Geography of Eastern England (2006) p. 153 In particular it gives more details about the jurors behind it,R. Fleming, Domesday Book and the Law (2003) p. 20 as well as stressing the local roles of sokemen.J. H. Round, Feudal England (2015) Section XVI
Its summaries emphasise taxable capacities; while its closing schedules have been interpreted as records of early stages of the inquest (which had been edited out in the main work).D. Roffe, Domesday Now (2016) p. 20
See also
References
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Further reading
- English Historical Documents, v. 2. 1042-1189, (ed. David C. Douglas with George W. Greenaway). 1st ed. 1953, 2nd ed. 1981 No: 215
External links
- [http://www.domesdaybook.net/domesday-book/domesday-inquest/articles-of-inquiry Articles of Inquiry]