Then I said, "Harold, duck! Look out for that arrow!"
Posted on 10/14/2016 5:35:22 AM PDT by harpygoddess
Today is the anniversary of the Battle of Hastings in 1066, in which William the Conqueror initiated the Norman conquest of England by defeating the forces of the Anglo-Saxon King Harold, who was killed in the conflict (although there's been recent speculation that Harold survived). William, Duke of Normandy, had been promised the English throne by his cousin, Edward the Confessor (reigned 1042-1066), and Harold, earl of Wessex, had sworn agreement to that succession. However, with the death of Edward, Harold crowned himself king, leading William to mount a sea-borne invasion to assert his own right.
Landing his army on the south coast of England, he confronted Harold at Hastings, routed the Anglo-Saxon army, declared himself King William I, and ultimately established Norman hegemony over all of England.
Shortly after the Normans conquered England in 1066, 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.
Thanks for providing a link to this. Classic Orwell at his best.
Polite people say “saliva” rather than “spit”.
Or, another way to picture time: less than ten Bob Hopes ago.
The NYTimes used to have a column for people to submit short pieces about interactions in the city. My favorite was by a man who went into a store to buy some things. The young person at the register rang up his order and said to him, “ That will be 10.66.” The man replied, “10.66, the Battle of Hastings.”
The register person gave him a blank stare and then said what? The man explained that the amount of the order was the same year as the Battle of Hastings. Another long blank stare. Then the kid said, “Can you do that with any number?”
I used to ask my class, “Where was the battle of Hastings fought?” Got the weirdest answers.
“Then the kid said, “Can you do that with any number?”
==
Probably the best laugh that I’ll have all day!
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I know a song about the Battle of Hastings. It’s very alliterative. I know how to do all the stitches in the Bayeux Tapestry, too.
Talk about useless stuff ...
Continuous if you overlook such events as Bosworth Field, the English Civil War, the Glorious Revolution, and the ‘45.
“England, since the conquest, hath known some few good monarchs, but groaned beneath a much larger number of bad ones, yet no man in his senses can say that their claim under William the Conqueror is a very honorable one.
A French bastard landing with an armed banditti, and establishing himself king of England against the consent of the natives, is in plain terms a very paltry rascally original. It certainly hath no divinity in it.”
Thomas Paine
St Crispian’s Day. We few we happy few.
That’s a speech from Shakespeare that needs to be recited to more than a few weak-kneed Rinos as we lead up to election day.
We once took a trip around the island of Manhattan on the Circle Line. While coming down the Hudson, the guide pointed out Grant’s Tomb on a bluff high above the river and told us that that’s where Grant was buried (I know entombed, not buried) with his horse. Later, when we visited the tomb, my wife asked where the horse wand was ridiculed by the guard. She was white-hot angry and wanted to sue the Circle Line.
Then I said, "Harold, duck! Look out for that arrow!"
The last successful invasion of England unless you count William of Orange in 1688.
The last successful invasion of England unless you count William of Orange in 1688.
The last successful invasion of England unless you count William of Orange in 1688.
He did not invade, he was invited in.
Being cheeky of course, because this is the same argument I hear about native land.
"Then came the Middle Ages, when everyone was middle aged. King Alfred conquered the Dames. King Arthur lived in the Age of Shivery. King Harold mustarded his troops before the Battle of Hastings."
"Joan of Arc was burnt to a steak. She was cannonized by George Bernard Shaw."
"The Magna Carta provided that no free man should be hanged twice for the same offense. The greatest writer of the futile ages was Chaucer, who wrote many poems and verse and also wrote literature. One popular story was about William Tell, who shot an arrow through an apple while standing on his son's head."
More Bloopers here:
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