CLEP Western Civ I

Answer: C - The Domes day Book, ordered by William I, was the first public record since antiquity and contained a detailed survey of the all the land in the kingdom and who owned it, demonstrating how effective centralized governance could be. Prior to the Norman period, while kings had been at the head of their kingdoms, they had never before managed them on such an intimate, localized level (albeit through delegation to a governmental hierarchy). The previous Anglo-Saxon kings created an advanced system of local governance, dividing the kingdom into shires and imposing local law enforcement. But, the Normans built on that by creating a public record of the kingdom so that they could more efficiently collect taxes in the shires, leading to a streamlined form of a feudal society. The record also allowed for more just mediation of conflict between citizens- the government could always look to the record to determine what rightfully belonged to whom. However, while the Normans administered feudal England effectively, they struggled considerably in other ways. Most notably, troubled successions following William I left England in turmoil and ultimately curtailed Norman rule after less than a century.