What were tournaments?
Fighting was a matter of honour for knights. When there was no obvious reason to fight, the knights had to invent one. Tournaments were contests in which knights fought each other with various weapons. They wore heavy armour that was supposed to prevent injury, but they were frequently maimed or killed.
Tournaments were popular events at which heavy bets were placed on favourite knights. They served as a useful form of training for real warfare.
What was the Domesday Book?
Once the Normans had secured their hold over their new territory, they wanted to know exactly what it was worth. In 1085, King William commissioned a great survey of his whole kingdom. It would list every town, village and farm, who owned what, and how much each holding was worth, so that taxes could be applied. All this information was written down in the Domesday Book. This book is still in existence today.
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