 |
|
|
THE LATEST PROGRAMME |
|
|
|
|
The Norman Way presented by David Aaronovitch
|
|
|
|
|
|
CONQUERING
Picture the scene: a regime change has just occurred in England, in 1066.
The old leader has been removed from power and the new rulers insist theirs will be a wise and fair administration. Many locals are resentful of this foreign intrusion - murderous attacks on the occupying forces continue long after the official victory - and the new regime's spin-doctors do everything they can to paint the takeover in a positive light. It could be a 21st century scenario - but actually, it's how things were after the Norman Conquest.
David Aaronovitch explores what happens during the regime change which occurred in 1066. He begins by examining the invasion itself and how it was portrayed by the Norman chroniclers - after all, history is always written by the victors.
So how accurate is our view of that period? Was William the Conqueror a ruthless invader, or the true heir to the throne? How unsophisticated were the Anglo-Saxons and how brutal were the Normans? And was King Harold really killed by an arrow in the eye?
|
|
| |
A silver penny from the reign of Cnut, King of Denmark and England 1016-1035. Minted at Exeter (c 1023-29). Photo credit: British Museum: Compass.
Anglo Saxon Cnut Coin: The inscription on the front of the Silver penny reads CNVT / RECX A : ‘Cnut, King of England’ and on the reverse EDSIE ON ECXÆEST : ‘Eadsie at Exeter’ - the moneyer who authorised the minting of the coin. This is the second version of the Cnut penny with the king depicted wearing a pointed battle helmet, and these coins were still in circulation at the start of King William I's reign.
|
Silver disc brooch of Ædwen, Anglo-Scandinavian, first half of 11th century AD, found in Sutton, Isle of Ely, Cambridgeshire, England. Photo credit: British Museum: Compass, London.
Ædwen's Brooch: One of the pieces of Anglo Saxon jewellery found at the Sutton site. It is inscribed with a curse. An inscription in Old English on the back may be translated as: 'Ædwen owns me, may the Lord own her. May the Lord curse him who takes me from her, unless she gives me of her own free will'.
|
  |
|
Left Detail: Harold's death scene drawn by Antoine Benoît 1729. From a photograph loaned by Dr David Hill & John McSween; reproduced by kind permission of the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris.
Right Detail: Engraving of Charles Stothard's drawing made in the early 19th century. Reproduced from 'The Battle of Hastings 1066' by Dr M.K. Lawson, Tempus publishing Ltd 2002.
The Bayeaux Tapestry: Notice the discrepancies between Antoine Benoît's original drawing on the left and the Stothard engraving on the right, made some 90 years later. Some historians now believe that the tapestry interpretation of King Harold II shown with an arrow in the eye is due to an error in judgement.
Further Reading:
"Domesday Book: A Complete Translation" (Penguin)
"Gesta Regum Anglorum" - by William of Malmesbury (Oxford Medieval Texts)
"Ecclesiastical History" - by Orderic Vitalis, edited by Marjorie Chibnall (Oxford Medieval Texts)
"Historia Anglorum" - by Henry of Huntingdon, edited by Diana Greenway (Oxford Medieval Texts)
"Gesta Guillelmi" - by William of Poitiers, edited by Marjorie Chibnall and R.H.C. Davis (Oxford Medieval Texts)
"The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles" - translated & collated by Anne Savage(Papermac)
"William the Conqueror" - by David Bates (Tempus)
"The Battle of Hastings, 1066" - by M.K. Lawson (Tempus)
"Conquest and Colonisation: the Normans in Britain 1066-1100" - by Brian Golding (Palgrave Macmillan)
"The English and the Normans" - by Hugh M Thomas (OUP)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Listen To Programme I
