254 THE DOMESDAY INQUEST 



By both methods we come to the conclusion that Middle- 

 sex, Berks., and Wilts, were over-assessed, that Kent was 

 lightly assessed, and that Devon was considerably under- 

 assessed. 



We are not therefore surprised to find that the levy of the 

 Danegeld by hides died a quiet death during the reign of 

 Henry II. ; for the "carucage imposed by Richard I. in 1198 

 was levied from the carucates actually in cultivation." l 



Finally, notice should be taken of Mr. Corbett's ingenious 

 theory concerning the amounts of the Danegeld given by the 

 English Chronicle. He has made various calculations to show 

 that Domesday Book assesses the whole of England at 1200 

 hundreds. If the geld had been 2s. a hide, the yield of 1200 

 hundreds (supposing every hundred to have contained exactly 

 100 hides) would have been 12,000. And he points out that 

 all the sums stated by the Chronicle to have been collected 

 by way of Danegeld are multiples of 12,000. His table, with 

 sundry omissions, is as follows : 2 



A.D. 991 ;i 0,000 = f X ;i2,ooo, or a geld of zod. per hide 

 994 ;i6,ooo = ij X 32</. 



1002 ^24,000 = 2 X 4/- 



I0 7 ;3 6 > 000 = 3 X 6 /- 



1012 ^48,000 = 4 x 8/- 



1014 ^"21,000 = if X 3/6 



1018 ^72,000 = 6 X ,, I2/- 



Evidently the Chronicler knew the rate at which the geld 

 was levied in those years, and the number of hundreds in the 

 kingdom, and, acting on the supposition that each hundred 

 contained exactly 100 hides, he calculated these immense 

 totals. But we know that every Domesday hundred did not 

 by any means contain 100 hides, so that, while we are at 

 liberty to accept these rates, we must dismiss the totals as 

 obvious exaggerations. 



1 S. C., 257. 2 14 Trans. Royal Hist. Soc., 220. 



