The Bayeux Inquest of 1133

by Taylor Dickinson

​Genealogy of the kings of England to Edward I.
Bodleian Library MS Bodl. Rolls 3, Folio: row 29, medallion 5
 

​Manuscripts:
The surviving returns can be found in the Red Book of the Exchequer, The National Archives (UK), E164/2
 
For more information about the survival of manuscripts see pages 13-14 of:
Vincent, Nicholas. "Introduction: Henry II and the Historians." In Henry II: New Interpretations New Interpretations, edited by Nicholas Vincent and Christopher Harper-Bill, 1-23. Woodbridge: Boydell Press, 2007.

Editions:
Navel, Henri. “L'enquête de 1133 sur les Fiefs de l'Évêché de Bayeux” Bulletin de la Societe des Antiquaires de Normandie, 42 (1934), 5-80.
 
Description: 
The Bayeux Inquest of 1133 was ordered by King Henry I in order to establish what service was owed to the duke, along with what was owed to the bishop by his knights and vavassors. The inquest was managed by twelve chosen men. The returns show that one knight in every ten was owed by the bishop, Odo, to the duke for service to the king of France and one in five were owed to the duke himself, ten and twenty knights respectively. Besides the distribution of ordinary feudal service, the returns show services of castle guard, as well as aids and relief owed to the bishop within the demesne and the fiefs.


Importance for the Study of Angevin History:
This inquest specifically sought to determine the extent of the bishop’s rights and possessions in 1050-1097, when the office was held by Bishop Odo. Henry I’s stake in the possessions was rooted in the profits that would fall unto him during the two-year vacancy before his nominee could be consecrated. He also remained in Normandy during this period. The inquest was, at its most basic, a fiscal investigation to see which sources of revenue belonging to the bishop could be appropriated by the duke. While it contains the earliest mentions of forty days’ service, as well as the distinction between equipment and plain arms, the 1133 inquest survived because Geoffrey used the returns as a formula for conducting his own inquests into the bishop’s fiefs later on.

Bibliography:
Harper-Bill, Christopher, and Nicholas Vincent, eds. Henry II: New Interpretations. Woodbridge: Boydell Press, 2007.
 
Haskins, Charles Homer. Norman Institutions. Vol. XXIV. Harvard Historical Studies. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1918.

Keefe, Thomas K. Feudal Assessments and the Political Community under Henry II and His Sons. Los Angeles:University of California Press, 1983.