Thanks nickcarraway.
Posted on 01/05/2023 2:55:16 PM PST by nickcarraway
In 1066, Duke William of Normandy left France on a fleet of ships to fight his cousin and competitor for the vacant English throne, Harold Godwinson, and at the Battle of Hastings, the matter was settled. Harold, the last Anglo-Saxon claimant, was dead, and a new age for England began.(1)
Had the EU existed then, he'd have never had the chance. Given current EU red tape, efforts to make a replica of La Mora, the ship Williams used to become The Conqueror, mean it may still not be ready for the 1,000 year anniversary. Unless Great Britain, having shucked off their two-decade experiment in the EU, build it for them.
The place that decreed that water would not cure thirst is saying La Mora II is a yacht and so won't be allowed to sail unless it meets modern EU Maritime Affairs regulations. It's supposed to be long and thin, as memorialized in the even longer Bayeux tapestry, but the EU says a boat a hundred feet long and only 15 feet wide isn't seaworthy.
Bayeux Tapestry. Scene 38, public domain from the website of Ulrich Harsh
Saying a boat that crossed the English channel to successfully take over England couldn't have done it isn't as stupid as Galileo declaring the moon had no impact on tides, and those only happened once a day, but it is close. You'd think the EU, smarting for losing $12 billion a year that England can now spend at home, would want a reminder about how they took over the place in the past, but the group behind the project says red tape will mean another 5 years before they'll even know if they can put an oar in the water.
NOTE: (1) Harald Hardrada, King of Norway, and Harald's brother Tostig were also not buying claims of a deathbed bequeathal by King Edward and intended to press their claim. William benefited by arriving last when the Anglo-Saxon army was weakened.
A French bastard arriving with armed banditti and establishing himself the King of England against the consent of the natives is in plain terms a very paltry rascally original and certainly has no divinity in it…. If the succession runs in the line of the conqueror the nation runs in the line of being conquered and ought to rescue itself
Thomas Paine...
Maybe Greta can help design a solar and wind powered version.
Wind power. What a concept.
“the moon had no impact on tides, and those only happened once a day, but it is close....”
Norway, not an EU nation has no trouble building and sailing replicas of Viking ships. They could probably make a replica of La Mora in forty some years before 2066.
“Harald Hardrada, King of Norway, and Harald’s brother Tostig were also not buying claims of a deathbed bequeathal by King Edward and intended to press their claim.”
Having played this scenario quite a few times on Crusader Kings, I’ll say it would have been very possible for the vikings to conquer England. They could raise a big, competent army and had no problem raising more money than their opponents because they could raid all the Christians around while the Christian rulers couldn’t get away with it. But even if they had won they wouldn’t have been able to hold on to it, because the viking succession laws were just plain stupid.
As soon as whichever viking conquered England had died, the whole place would have gotten split up between his 6 sons and their sons and any other disloyal vassal who wanted to carve out their own kingdom, and they’d all end up fighting each other, and then the Saxons would have revolted and kicked them all out anyway.
40 years to build a little boat may not be enough?
Guess that’s how bad things have gotten.
“May not be in time for the 1000th”. Come on!
Except it was very much in debate whom had been declared successor.
So sad that so much turmoil resulted from heirless but very pious Edward the Confessor.
Thanks nickcarraway.
Well look how long it has taken to build a high speed rail system in California.
100’ X 15’ isn’t seaworthy?? I remember a 90 X 15 that was quite seaworthy, and fast, several decades ago.
But let’s compare...
WWII Fletcher Class DDs 370’ X 39.5’; 3.7X15=55.5 = “not seaworthy”?
USS Indianapolis, CA-35, flagship for the commander of Scouting Force 1 for eight years, then flagship for Admiral Raymond Spruance in 1943 and 1944 while he commanded the Fifth Fleet; ran the Little Boy A-bomb parts to Tinian...not seaworthy?
610’ X 66’ ... 6.1X15=91.5: Oops; 25’ too skinny to be seaworthy.
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