i 9 4 THE DOMESDAY INQUEST 



to the arrival of King William, this church also received from 

 every sokeman I acre of annona, or ^d. 1 



But in Oxfordshire a distinction is drawn between the 

 church-shot and the annona, which latter term probably refers 

 to this payment of I acre of corn from every sokeman. At 

 Benson the church-shot was 1 is., and the annona of one year 

 was 30 ; at Headington, the church-shot was IQS. 6d., and 

 the annona was 8. And in the same way as the annona 

 at Aylesbury was due from eight hundreds, so, with all the 

 Oxfordshire manors to which annona was due, was associated 

 the soke of a certain number of hundreds ; thus 



Benson ... ... ... Annona ^30 Soke of 4.5 hundreds 



Headington ...... 8 2 



Kirtlington ...... 20 2 



Upton ... 2 3 



Shipton-under-Wychwood ^15 2 



Bampton ... ^15 ,,2 



Bloxham and Adderbury 2 ^28 los. 2 







All of these were royal manors, and the King also received 

 from the burgesses of Derby 12 thraves (trabes] of annona 

 at Martinmas, out of which the Abbot of Burton received 

 40 sheaves. 3 We have already seen that among the rents 

 of the shrievalty of Wiltshire, Edward of Salisbury received 

 142 acres of annona a due which reminds us of the gift of 

 I acre of annona to the church at Aylesbury by every soke- 

 man. 



Why the annona should in some places, as at Aylesbury, 

 be paid to the church, and in others, as Oxfordshire, be paid 

 to the King, or, as in Wiltshire, to the sheriff, is to me an 

 insoluble difficulty. Two explanations are possible : either it 

 was an ecclesiastical due which had been occasionally diverted 

 to the King ; or it was a secular due, which in some cases had 

 been granted by the King to the church. On a priori grounds 



1 D. B., I. 143 b 2. 2 id., I. 154 b. 3 id., I. 280 a 2. 



