90 THE DOMESDAY INQUEST 



One expression in Domesday Book reminds us that some- 

 times the bishop took his title from the district over which he 

 ruled rather than from the town where his see was fixed. " In 

 this manor of Hoxne was the seat of the bishopric of Suffolk. 1 



The Church land was about equally divided between the 

 bishops and the abbeys ; but the lands of the monasteries 

 where the bishops resided were reckoned among the possessions 

 of their sees ; thus the lands of Worcester Abbey were 

 reckoned as part of the possessions of the Bishop of Worcester, 

 and the lands of St. Paul's Cathedral were included among the 

 lands of the Bishop of London. In many cases it is impossible 

 to distinguish between the lands of the bishop and the lands 

 of the monastery. The bishop acted as abbot of the monas- 

 tery where was his cathedral church, and deputed its govern- 

 ment to a prior. There was no abbey which owned as much 

 cultivated land as the wealthiest bishops. The richest abbey 

 was that of Glastonbury, on whose lands 683^ teams were 

 employed in 1086 ; next to it came the Confessor's foundation 

 of Westminster, whose lands in fourteen counties were assessed 

 at 583^ hides in 1066, and employed 597^ teams in 1086 ; in 

 addition to his large estates in Suffolk, the Abbot of Ely 

 employed 535 teams on his lands ; Peterborough Abbey had 

 lands employing 476 teams ; and the possessions of Ramsey 

 Abbey employed 440 teams. The Church of St. Michael in 

 the place of Battle had land for 134^ teams only, while Bath 

 Abbey employed only 80 teams, and Burton only 31^. 



From the chartularies of the Benedictine abbeys that have 

 been preserved, we know that certain estates were assigned to 

 certain of the abbey officials, to enable them to perform the 

 duties of their offices. Domesday Book takes no notice of 

 these assignments, except in a few cases, where it is stated 

 that certain lands were assigned for the victuals or the cloth- 

 ing of the monks. The bordars on the inland of St. Martin 

 paid 6os. for shoes for the canons of St. Martin; 2 and the 

 1 D. B., II. 379. 2 id., I. 2 a 2. 



