An enjoyable read.
Howarth writes like a storyteller.
Shortly after the Normans conquered England in 1066, their monarch, William, seized all of the lands, then divvied up control among those soldiers and nobles who helped him defeat the Anglo-Saxons (and keeping a fair bit for himself). However, as dramatic as that was, it is even more shocking that today, most of Britain remains in the hands of the descendants of those early Norman conquerors.
My family was in the middle of the battle for the Normans, and were given a piece in the northwest.
See about their latest battle with Penzance for the world’s record for most pirates? Hastings still has it as Penzance’s latest bid failed as they came up short of the number of pirates needed to win due to a group of them not leaving a pub. It’s an ongoing battle.
http://www.cornwalllive.com/news/cornwall-news/penzance-pirate-heartbreak-latest-guinness-388870
I remember reading an article, I believe in National Geographic, in 1966 on this. I was 5 years old. It’s part of why I went on to get a BA in History.
But now England falls to another invasion.
Yesterday was the fast day of St. Edward the Confessor.
My paternal family line were part of that invasion from Normandy. My name is from Normandy and the family stayed in what became England until around 1730 when they ventured to Ameica. Their offspring then joined in the war to secede from the British empire.
An enjoyable read.
Howarth writes like a storyteller.
The Normans were a people that began as Norse invaders of the British Isles, then lost their foot-hold their to the Anglo-Saxons, and left for the northern shores of Gaul, which in time became Normandy (land of the Norse men - thus “Normans”), where they built up their duchy there, under permission of the Frankish kings. About 150 years later, under William and by then a mixture of Norse and Frankish culture and sentiment, they return to retake England as part of a royal succession contest.
What has always been interesting to me, is that lost (rarely discussed) in all the history of how the Normans were in England, lost out to the Anglo-Saxons, resettled in Normandy, and returned from Normandy to conquer England, is how they lost Normandy itself, as eventually Norman power in Normandy was lost to the Frankish Kings.
Not understanding what took place in Normandy itself, you’d think that “Norman England” after 1066 would reign in Normandy itself as well, and continue to. But that was not the case.
Nine hundred and fifty-one years ago.
Seems like the other day.
It's an honored tradition. The Saxons had done the very same thing to the Britons, and the Romans did it to the Celts, and I imagine the Celts did the same to whomever was there before them.
Well, as you can see from my screen name, I regard the year 1066 as probably only second in significance to the year Christ was born!
Keeping in mind that it is the victors that write the histories, at least before modern times, I cannot help but feel for Harold of Wessex, son of Godwin, and last Anglo-Saxon King of England. What few remember is that 1066 was a 3-corner battle for England, with Harold having already defeated a Scandinavian invasion under the command of Harald Sigurdsson Hardrada and Harold’s half-brother Tostig in Yorkshire, 180+ miles away from London.
Harold’s army was long assembled (7 months) waiting for William of Normandy’s attack. Harold had to release his troops as supplies ran low, then reassemble the core troops, march to the Hardrada invasion (4 days) and after the victory turn right around and march to Hastings, 250 miles.
One does wonder what the outcome might have been with a different sequence of events? If Harold or Hardrada had ended victorious, England would have stayed more Scandinavian and more inclined towards the Irish Church traditions at least for a longer time.
Amazing. It’s been good for England.
My 27th GGF
I watched a documentary on this; IIRC after William died he was left stripped naked on the floor of a looted castle.
In describing the battle itself, it was described how the Saxons had the upper hand and the Normans would soon be forced to leave due to lack of supplies. In their enthusiasm the Saxons charged, breaking the their shield wall that had served them well - and then some hand-picked Normans could reach Harold and kill him.
I supposedly had an ancestor that was given land after the conquest. Is there a place I could look to verify this? The town was Tod Morden (I think) and the land was Stanfield (stony field). He took the name of the area and so did those who worked on it.