Domesday provided important data for the English king in 1086, and those data remain important for historians today. Although relatively few Domesday records discuss livestock—apart from the oxen that pulled the plows—documents from East Anglia and the southwest are exceptions to this rule. They show that the great preponderance of animals raised was sheep. These were grazed on the marshes of both regions. Apart from milk and meat, sheep provided wool. It is no wonder that England soon became the great exporter of raw wool to textile manufacturers in Flanders.

Question to Consider

Why do you suppose the people of East Anglia concentrated on raising sheep instead of other types of livestock?