96 THE DOMESDAY INQUEST 



Ralph, Earl of Norfolk, and Roger, who had succeeded his 

 father in the earldom of Hereford in 1070, in a conspiracy 

 for which they all suffered the death-penalty, when their 

 earldoms reverted to the Crown. Morcar, too, had been 

 involved in Hereward's rebellion, and, after forfeiting his 

 earldom, was imprisoned till the death of the Conqueror. 



After the large English earldoms had been thus suppressed, 

 William, who had learnt wisdom from the troubles of the 

 Confessor and his own experience in Normandy, was most 

 careful not to revive them ; but in their place he created earls 

 of single shires in those parts of the kingdom which were most 

 liable to attack. For this purpose he had given the earldoms 

 of Kent and Cornwall to his half-brothers, Odo and Robert. 

 A new earldom of Durham was created and annexed to the 

 bishopric. Alan, one of his Breton followers, was made Earl 

 of Richmond, in North- West Yorkshire ; Hugh of Avranches 

 was made Earl of Cheshire ; and Roger Montgomery was 

 made Earl of Shropshire. The last two would secure the 

 western frontier against the Welsh ; the earldoms of Durham 

 and Richmond would secure the northern frontier against the 

 Scots ; and his two half-brothers were earls of those two 

 peninsulas which were most exposed to attack. The earldoms 

 of Norfolk and Hereford, which had been created within a few 

 years of the Conquest, lapsed after the rebellion of 1075. It 

 is said that William created Walter Gifard Earl of Bucking- 

 ham, Henry of Ferrars Earl of Derby, and William of 

 Warenne Earl of Surrey ; but Domesday Book does not 

 apply the title of "earl" to any of these, and although 

 the two former were large landowners in their respective 

 counties, William of Warenne did not own a single acre in 

 Surrey. 



Every earl owned large estates in the county over which 

 he had jurisdiction. Some of these were undoubtedly " comital 

 manors," and were annexed to the earldom as part of the 

 emoluments of the office. Certain houses in Stafford were 



