Editing Berkhamsted (section)

===1066 and the Domesday survey===
{{main|Norman conquest of England}}
The Anglo-Saxons surrendered the crown of England to [[William the Conqueror]] at Berkhamsted in early December 1066.{{sfn|Remfry|1998|p=9}}<ref name="castle1066">{{cite episode|title=1. Instruments of Invasion|series=Castles: Britain's Fortified History|credits=Presenter: [[Sam Willis]], Director: Ben Southwell|network=BBC|airdate=4 December 2014|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b04t6n19/castles-britains-fortified-history-1-instruments-of-invasion|station=BBC 4|minutes=5.05 – 6.20}}</ref> After William defeated and killed [[Harold Godwinson|Harold II]] at the [[Battle of Hastings]] in October, he failed in an attempt to capture London from the south. William led his army around [[London]], crossing the [[River Thames]] at [[Wallingford, Oxfordshire|Wallingford]], "laying waste" while travelling through southeast England. At Berkhamsted, he received the surrender of [[Edgar the Ætheling]] (heir to the English throne), [[Ealdred (archbishop of York)|Archbishop Ealdred]], [[Edwin, Earl of Mercia|Earl Edwin]], [[Earl Morcar]] and the leaders of London.<ref name = "castle1066"/><ref name=mills1996 >{{cite journal |last=Mills |first=Peter  |year=1996 |title=The Battle of London 1066 |journal=London Archaeologist |volume=8 |issue=3 |pages=59–62 |url=http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archiveDS/archiveDownload?t=arch-457-1/dissemination/pdf/vol08/vol08_03/08_03_059_062.pdf }}</ref> It is not known why the town was chosen as the meeting place, except that it was in a defensive location north-west of London.{{refn|Historians in the past, have believed the town was of [[Mercia]]n importance or in the existence of a pre–Norman conquest fortification (there is reference to land called "Oldeburgh"). The Anglo-Saxon word ''[[burgh]]'' hints at a pre-conquest fortification. The notable early 20th century historian [[G. M. Trevelyan]], and earlier historians [[Samuel Lewis (publisher)|Samuel Lewis]] and [[Sir Henry Chauncy]], believed that the town was once an important Mercian settlement.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.historicalpageants.ac.uk/pageant-month/essentially-historical-play-berkhamsted/|title='Essentially an historical play': Berkhamsted pageant play, 1922|access-date=13 November 2014|last=Carter|first=Laura|publisher=Redress of the Past|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141128050918/http://www.historicalpageants.ac.uk/pageant-month/essentially-historical-play-berkhamsted/|archive-date=28 November 2014|df=dmy-all}}</ref> Two medieval ditches have been excavated in recent years, both of which were discovered on Bridgewater Road, north of the river, that may have been part of a ditch that surrounded the early medieval town.<ref name="343-351" />|group = "Notes"}} William was crowned in [[Westminster Abbey]] on Christmas Day, 1066.<ref name=mills1996 /> After his coronation, William granted the "Honour of Berkhamsted" to his half-brother, [[Robert, Count of Mortain]],{{sfn|Page|1908|p=[https://archive.org/stream/victoriahis02page#page/165/mode/1up 165]}} who after William became the largest landholder in the country. Robert built a wooden fortification that later became a royal retreat for the monarchs of the [[Normans|Norman]] and [[Plantagenet]] dynasties.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/berkhamsted-castle/history/|title=History of Berkhamsted Castle|publisher=english-heritage.org.uk |access-date=18 August 2017}}</ref><ref>{{NHLE|num=1010756|desc=Berkhamsted motte and bailey castle|access-date=18 August 2017}}</ref>

According to the [[Domesday Book]], the lord of Berkhamsted before the Norman conquest was Edmer Ator (also referred to as Eadmer Atule), [[thegn]] of [[Edward the Confessor]] and King Harold.{{refn|Edmer Ator was evidently a senior landholding noble who had held 36 places over 7 counties prior to the Norman conquest, as recorded in the Domesday Book.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://domesdaymap.co.uk/name/161450/edmer-ator/|title=Name: Edmer Ator|publisher=Open Domesday|access-date=7 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141009013428/http://domesdaymap.co.uk/name/161450/edmer-ator/|archive-date=9 October 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref>|group = "Notes"}} The Domesday survey records that there was enough land for 26 plough teams, but only 15 working teams. There were two flour mills (Upper and Lower Mill), woodland for 1,000 pigs, and a vineyard.{{sfn|Thompson|Bryant|2005|pp=6, 12}} The total population was calculated to be either 37 or 88 households; the families included 14 villagers, 15 smallholders, 6 slaves, a priest, a dyke builder (possibly working on the earthworks of the castle) and 52 [[Burgess (title)|burgesses]].<ref name=opend/> Some historians have argued that the number of 52 burgesses in Berkhamsted was a clerical error, as it is a large number for a small town.<ref name="EB1911">{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Berkhampstead|volume=3|page=782}}</ref>{{sfn|Slater|Goose|2008|pp=226–227}} Berkhamsted was described in the Domesday Book as a ''burbium'' ([[ancient borough]]) in the [[Tring]] [[Hundred (county subdivision)|Hundred]].<ref name=opend>{{cite web|url=http://opendomesday.org/place/SP9907/berkhamsted/|title=Place: Berkhamsted| publisher=Open Domesday |access-date=21 November 2014}}</ref><ref name="web.dacorum.gov.uk">{{cite web|url=http://web.dacorum.gov.uk/docs/default-source/planning-development/berkhamsted-conservationareaconsultationreport.pdf?Status=Master&sfvrsn=0|title=Berkhamsted Conservation Area Character Appraisal & Management Proposals|access-date=23 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304063326/http://web.dacorum.gov.uk/docs/default-source/planning-development/berkhamsted-conservationareaconsultationreport.pdf?Status=Master&sfvrsn=0|archive-date=4 March 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>{{refn|Later in the [[Middle Ages]] the Tring Hundred merged with the Danais Hundred, "which overlapped it", to form the Dacorum Hundred. Danais referred to [[Danes (Germanic tribe)|Danish]] settlers in the area. A monk writing about this area described it as "the Hundred of the Danes", using the word ''Daneis''. The word was later incorrectly transcribed as "Danicorum" and subsequently shortened to "Dacorum".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dacorumheritage.org.uk/about-us/about-dacorum/|title=About Dacorum|publisher= Dacorum Heritage Trust|access-date=20 January 2015}}</ref>|group = "Notes"}} [[Marjorie Chibnall]] argued that Robert, Count of Mortain intended Berkhamsted to be both a commercial and a defensive centre;<ref name="Chibnall1991">{{cite book|author=Marjorie Chibnall|title=Proceedings of the Battle Conference 1990|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tu4Eu5ozEVIC&pg=PA134|year=1991|publisher=Boydell & Brewer Ltd|isbn=978-0-85115-286-8|pages=134–}}</ref> while [[John Hatcher (Cambridge)|John Hatcher]] and [[Edward Miller (historian)|Edward Miller]] believed that the 52 burgesses were involved in trade, but it is unknown if the burgesses existed before the conquest.<ref name="HakMill">{{cite book | last1=Hatcher  |first1=John |last2=Miller |first2=Edward |year=2014 |title=Medieval England: Towns, Commerce and Crafts, 1086–1348 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aGHXAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA27 |publisher=Routledge |page=27 |isbn=978-131787287-0 }}</ref>