The Norman Church, Lanfranc & the Domesday Book
The Church’s Role in Norman England
The Church was essential to William’s rule. It provided educated administrators, moral authority, and a network of parish churches that reached every community in England. Bishops and abbots held land as tenants-in-chief under the feudal system, meaning they owed the king military service just like secular lords. The Church legitimised William’s rule — Pope Alexander II had blessed the invasion and sent a papal banner.
However, the Anglo-Saxon Church had problems by Norman standards. Some practices differed from continental norms, and the most prominent example of this was Archbishop Stigand.
The Significance of Stigand
Stigand had been Archbishop of Canterbury since 1052, but his position was controversial. He held two bishoprics at once (Canterbury and Winchester), which was against Church rules (pluralism). He had received his pallium (the symbol of papal authority) from an antipope — a pope later declared illegitimate. The papacy considered Stigand’s appointment invalid.
Stigand’s irregular position was one reason Pope Alexander II supported William’s invasion. William used papal backing to present the Conquest as a religious mission to reform the corrupt English Church. Stigand was finally deposed in 1070 and replaced by the Norman Lanfranc.
Lanfranc’s Reforms
Lanfranc was an Italian-born scholar and monk who had been abbot of William’s monastery at Caen in Normandy. As Archbishop of Canterbury from 1070, he carried out sweeping reforms of the English Church:
Replacing English churchmen: By 1087, only one English bishop (Wulfstan of Worcester) remained. All other bishops and most abbots were Norman. This was Normanisation of the Church in practice.
Ending corruption: Lanfranc attacked simony (buying and selling Church positions) and pluralism (holding multiple positions). He insisted on clerical celibacy (priests should not marry), though enforcement was patchy.
Reorganisation: Lanfranc established a clear hierarchy with Canterbury as the supreme archbishopric above York. He moved some bishoprics from rural villages to towns (e.g. from Dorchester to Lincoln) and introduced regular Church councils to standardise practice. He also rebuilt Canterbury Cathedral and many other churches in the grander Romanesque style.
Church courts: Lanfranc separated Church courts from secular courts. Previously, bishops had sat in shire courts alongside the sheriff. Now, Church courts handled moral and religious offences (like adultery and oath-breaking) separately from royal courts. This gave the Church greater independence in its own sphere but also extended its authority.
Lanfranc was also a loyal political ally of William. He served as regent when William was in Normandy and helped suppress the revolt of the earls in 1075, coordinating the military response that crushed the rebellion before William even returned. He was both a churchman and a political operator — his loyalty to William was crucial to the stability of Norman England. The partnership between William and Lanfranc illustrates how the Normans used the Church as a tool of government: bishops held land as tenants-in-chief, owed military service, and served in administrative roles alongside their religious duties.
The Domesday Survey and Domesday Book
In 1085, William ordered a comprehensive survey of all land and resources in England. The immediate trigger may have been the threat of a Danish invasion — William needed to know exactly what resources he could call upon. Commissioners were sent to every shire to record who owned each piece of land, what it was worth, how many people lived there, and what livestock and equipment they had. To ensure accuracy, a second set of commissioners checked the first group’s findings. The survey covered almost all of England (though some northern areas and major cities like London were omitted). The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle recorded that “not even one ox, one cow, or one pig escaped notice” — reflecting both the thoroughness of the survey and the resentment it caused.
The resulting Domesday Book (completed 1086) recorded three snapshots: who held the land in 1066 (under Edward the Confessor), who held it when William granted it, and who held it in 1086. This allowed William to settle disputes, prevent fraud, and see exactly how much the Conquest had changed England’s landownership.
For government: The Domesday Book gave William detailed knowledge of his kingdom’s resources. No medieval ruler had ever possessed such comprehensive information. It confirmed feudal landholding — once recorded in Domesday, ownership was legally fixed. It settled disputes over who owned what and prevented lords from claiming more than they were entitled to.
For finance: The survey revealed exactly what each estate was worth, allowing William to set fair (and maximum) tax levels. It prevented lords from hiding wealth or underreporting their resources. It confirmed that William could extract more revenue from England than any Anglo-Saxon king had managed.
For historians: The Domesday Book is the most detailed record of any medieval society in Europe. It reveals the extent of the Norman land transfer (almost total), the impact of the Harrying of the North (“waste” entries), and the structure of English society twenty years after the Conquest.