Most
royal writs were addressed to the sheriff and county courts. They
also led the county militia in time of war or rebellion. At times,
a sheriff usurped royal rights, used royal estates for his own
purposes, encroached on private land and rights, extorted money,
and collected revenues only for his own pockets. Over the
centuries, there was much competition for the authority to select
the king, e.g. by the king, the county court, the barons, and the
Exchequer. There was also much pressure to limit his term to one
year. Also, the powers of the sheriffs slowly declined.
Royal income came from customary dues, profits of coinage and of
justice, and revenues from the King's own estates. For war, there
was no change in the custom that a man with five hides of land was
required to furnish one heavy-armed horseman for forty days
service in a year. The fyrd was retained. A threat of a Viking
invasion caused the Conquerer to reinstate the danegeld tax at 6s.
per hide, which was three times its old rate. (The price of an ox
was still about 30d.) To impose this tax uniformly, he sent
commissioners to conduct surveys by sworn verdicts of appointed
groups of local men. A detailed survey of land holdings and the
productive worth of each was made in 1086. The English called it
the "Doomsday Book" because there was no appeal from it.
The survey revealed, for instance, that one estate had "on the
home farm five plough teams: there are also 25 villeins and 6
cotters with 14 teams among them.
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