William the Conqueror



William the Conqueror



The next interview I had was with William the Conqueror. He set up some very interesting things that will be helpful in making a fair and equal tax system. I won't ruin the rest for you, here’s William!

Q: How did you come to power?

A: I had to battle my way to the throne, let me tell you! The nobles picked the next king after King Edward died without an heir. They picked one of their own (shocking, I know), a man by the name of Harold Godwinson. He was the brother-in-law of the late King Edward. I was the Duke of Normandy and I decided that he was not worthy, so I went off to fight for the crown. I was not the only one that hid this idea though. Another man, Harald of Normandy came too. This battle became known as the Battle of Hastings. Since I became king, you know that I won this epic battle in the year 1066. I was officially crowned king on Christmas day.

Q: What did you do to set up as king?

A: I was busy! I got control of new lands and gave away a lot of fiefs to get them on my good side. I granted fiefs to Norman Lords, to the church, and of course, kept quite a few for the crown. All castles that were built were closely monitored by me or my people, no way was I going to let them get away with anything! I made all my vassals swear allegiance to me. I don't take backstabbing.

Q: I heard you made some sort of book...is this correct?

A: My Doomsday book? That’s an idea I take great pride in! What I came up with is a revolutionary tax system! I made everyone tell me what they have. As an example, you must tell me how much livestock, property, people, and buildings you have. And don't think I didn't think that people would lie to me either! I had royal exchequers go and check people out. I also used them to collect taxes, fees, fines and other dues. This was truly the best idea I had in office.

Q: How do you think your reign as king will impact the future?

A: Like I told you before, I think my Doomsday book will be extremely important. Most well-functioning societies need an accurate tax system. By knowing who has what, you can tax people much more fairly. It’s like knowing that someone is rich and someone is poor and charging them the same, now this isn't fair at all. Now, the poor person pays much much less than the rich man. This just made everything more equal. The other thing is my power. I think my reign really solidified what I like to call, the Executive Branch. This "branch" gives power to small groups of people (Mayors), then larger (Governors) until it gets to the largest ruler (President).  These people were meant to enforce the law, my job.