Episodios

  • DD - Episode 46 - Taunton

    DD - Episode 46 - Taunton
    Jul 8 2025
    In this episode of Domesday Delving, we explore the powerful and complex town of Taunton, Somerset—a Domesday entry bursting with legal privileges, economic reach, and a population that far exceeded what the record shows. From borough-rights and crime fines to buried lords and bishop-run courts, Taunton shows us what it meant to wield local power in medieval England—and what that still means for us today.

    Plus: a deep dive into swineherds, tax biases, and why local control isn't always local accountability.

    This episode brought to you by: Hermelinda Emelisse Theedom and Norman.

    Patreon: patreon.com/DomesdayDelving
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    26 m
  • DD - Episode 44 - Bedwyn

    DD - Episode 44 - Bedwyn
    Jun 24 2025
    This week on Domesday Delving, we journey to Bedwyn in Wiltshire, a royal estate so significant it was never taxed in hides. We explore the powerful symbolism of money, from medieval plough-teams and burgesses to today's digital currencies, and ask what it means when wealth loses its weight.

    Along the way, we look at coliberts, crown land, and why even the absence of a mint can tell us a great deal about value, power, and who gets remembered in history
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    16 m
  • DD - Episode 43 - Speen

    DD - Episode 43 - Speen
    Jun 17 2025
    This week, we delve into Speen in Berkshire, a village whose Domesday entry includes a church, a mill, and seven slaves. What begins as a straightforward exploration quickly spirals into a deeper conversation about the history of slavery, the role of the Church, and the uncomfortable ways in which religious institutions have justified, and at times resisted, systems of oppression.

    As promised, here are the links, in order, to Kidnap, Organ Grinders, and Payback:

    https://books2read.com/u/3JwE0e

    https://books2read.com/u/bOk1d0

    https://books2read.com/u/4AyO5e
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    13 m
  • DD - Episode 42 - Damerham

    DD - Episode 42 - Damerham
    Jun 8 2025
    This week on Domesday Delving, we travel to Damerham in Hampshire, a village with Neolithic tombs, a royal past, and a surprisingly tangled tax record.

    Once a royal estate and later a valuable holding of Glastonbury Abbey, Damerham’s Domesday entry reveals confusion over land value, rising rents, and a striking population of coliberts - freemen in a feudal world.

    We dig into the medieval tax system, ask who really pays for empire-building, and reflect on how today’s tax avoidance by global giants echoes the same patterns, squeezing the poorest while the wealthiest slip away. Yes, this one’s political. And yes, it needs to be.

    Also: Payback, the third book in the Orbitals series, is out now! Corporate cybercrime, revenge, and high-speed justice for just 99 cents this month. You can get it here: https://books2read.com/u/4AyO5e
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    15 m
  • DD - Episode 41 - Mortlake

    DD - Episode 41 - Mortlake
    Jun 3 2025
    This week, we head to Mortlake in Surrey, a manor so rich in assets it even held properties in London and Southwark.

    Once the domain of Archbishop Stigand and later seized by Lanfranc, Mortlake offers a window into the tangled relationship between church and state after the Norman Conquest. We look at the political rivalry between these two ecclesiastical giants, the Church's role in government, and how rural manors ended up controlling urban real estate.

    Along the way, we unpack strange terms like "messuage," revisit the question of Harold’s legitimacy, and explore what happens when religion and political power become too closely entwined.

    Domesday Delving has a Patreon here: patreon.com/DomesdayDelving

    And if you want to escape medieval England for a cyberpunk future, Payback is available here: https://books2read.com/u/4AyO5e

    This episode brought to you by Hermelinda Emelisse Theedom.
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    17 m
  • DD - Episode 40 - Upper Beeding

    DD - Episode 40 - Upper Beeding
    May 27 2025
    What do a royal farm, a fallen estate, and a couple of jars of honey have in common? This week we travel to Upper Beeding in Sussex, once one of the most valuable holdings in the entire county, to uncover a story of royal wealth, Norman redistribution, and the small, sweet traces of medieval beekeeping.

    We’ll explore the unique administrative structure of Sussex, explain what on earth a “rape” is (yes, really), and examine why a place that once rendered nearly £100 under King Edward was worth less than half that just twenty years later. Along the way, we dive into the fascinating, buzzing world of medieval beekeeping—complete with wax, war-hives, and the earliest beekeeping suits.

    And in our reflections from past to present, we consider what this tiny Domesday entry can teach us about fragile infrastructure, overlooked labour, and how much is hidden in the smallest details.Join the discussion in the Domesday Delving Facebook group, where you’ll find medieval honeycake and mead recipes inspired by this episode.

    Support the podcast at patreon.com/DomesdayDelving

    This episode brought to you with the support of Hermelinda Emelisse Theedom.
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    12 m
  • DD - Episode 39 - Special - Lady Asa

    DD - Episode 39 - Special - Lady Asa
    May 20 2025
    In this special episode of Domesday Delving, we take a step back from villages and livestock to explore one of the most remarkable stories buried in the margins of the Domesday Book: the case of Asa, a woman in pre-Conquest England who held land in her own right, kept it after separating from her husband, and stood as its lawful lady, only to lose it all after 1066.

    Her story isn't just a legal oddity. It’s a window into a world where Anglo-Saxon women had more rights than we often remember, and where the Norman conquest erased far more than just names on a page. Along the way, we explore how religious and cultural changes affected women’s rights, why Asa’s land was taken despite clear testimony in her favour, and how quickly rights can vanish when power decides they no longer exist.

    If you want to join the Patreon, here’s the link: patreon.com/DomesdayDelving
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    14 m