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THE LATEST PROGRAMME |
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The Norman Way presented by David Aaronovitch
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MENDING THE BROKEN CHAIN OF HISTORY
The English are often accused of being poor at foreign languages - yet there was a time when the country was a trilingual state... a time when the ranks of translators swelled and their skill became a proper profession... a time when many people would switch from one tongue to another, depending on the circumstances.
 THE NORMAN WAY explores aspects of the daily existence and preoccupations of our forebears in 11th & 12th century Norman Britain. This was the time when Britons were on the receiving end of a regime change inflicted by their Norman neighbours - a time when the interests of a stronger foreign power took precedence over local concerns. So what were the results of the culture-clash? ...and what were the wonders and blunders of the age?
In our third and final programme David Aaronovitch highlights parallels between then and now - bringing the period vividly to life with the help of contemporary accounts and chronicles, newest research-findings, and the latest archaeological evidence...
 The Bayeux Tapestry chronicled everything of historical import between 1064 and 1066, from the lead up to the Norman invasion to the outcome of the Battle of Hastings. In this particular detail of the tapestry we see Halley's comet (top, centre) as it traverses the sky. The people gathered below (left) point to it and cower in awe as they feel it is an evil omen. On the right, news of the comet is brought to King Harold, while beneath him a ghostly fleet of ships appears in the lower border ...a hint of the Norman invasion to come perhaps?
The Flying Monk or Brother Eilmer, in 1010 decided to repeat Icarus's attempt at flying by attaching a set of wings to his arms and jumping off  the tower of Malmesbury Abbey. He managed a downward glide of some 200 metres before crashing and seriously injuring his legs - he never flew or walked properly again. Brother Eilmer might not have been successful with his attempt to fly, but he was written into the history books of a later monk at the Abbey, the famous historian William of Malmesbury. Brother Eilmer also foresaw the Norman invasion following a sighting of Halley's comet - the second sighting of this comet in his lifetime. The Flying Monk put away his wings and became better known as a prophet.
Ely Cathedral: The present-day cathedral in Cambridgeshire was begun in 1083 and is one of the best examples of Norman architecture. The story of the cathedral dates back to Saxon times when it was founded, probably in 673 by the Saxon princess St Etheldreda.
It was the normanization of the churches that really tore apart the neatly organised Anglo-Saxon world. It was originally put forward by Duke William in 1066 as a reason for his campaign against England - the reform of the English Church. 11th century Normandy was an aggressive and competitive place, and the aristocracy went to great lengths to build bigger and better monasteries, abbeys and churches than their rivals. In fact, within 50 years of the Conquest all English cathedrals and most of the monasteries had been rebuilt; men trained in Norman monasteries replaced Anglo-Saxon bishops and abbots, and the liturgy employed on the Continent was introduced throughout England.
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Ivory chessmen probably made in Norway about AD 1150-1200. Found in the vicinity of Uig, on the Isle of Lewis, Outer Hebrides, Scotland. Photo credit: British Museum: Visit 'Compass' website to view enlarged picture showing the intricate detail in the expressions of each chessman.
The Lewis Chessmen:The chess pieces consist of elaborately worked walrus ivory and whales' teeth in the forms of seated kings and queens, mitred bishops, knights on their mounts, standing warders and pawns in the shape of obelisks.
They were found in mysterious circumstances, placed inside a small, drystone chamber in a sand dune. Various stories have evolved to explain why they were concealed there, and how they were discovered - all that is certain is that they were found some time before 1831.
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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)
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Listen To Programme III
