Annual Library Lecture: The Secrets and Silences of Exon Domesday

About

Exon Domesday is the oldest of the three original manuscripts surviving from William the Conquerors Domesday Survey of 1086. It was long recognised as connected with Domesday Book, but its importance has not been fully appreciated until very recently.

Our 2025 Annual Library Lecture will reveal some of the many secrets of Exon Domesday. Join us to discover why, where, and how it was written; how a collection of copies intended to be thrown away managed to survive; and how important Exon is for understanding the making of Domesday Book and the ambitions and capacities of William the Conquerors government. We will also hear about Exons gaps and silences, inviting speculation and further research.

Chris Lewis was part of the Exon Domesday collaborative research project team in 201417 and is one of the authors of Making Domesday: Intelligent Power in Conquered England (Oxford University Press, 2025). He has researched and published on Domesday Book, the Norman Conquest, and English history in the long eleventh century. He is a Fellow at the Institute of Historical Research, University of London.