The Norman Conquest : A New Introduction

The Norman Conquest was one of the most significant events in European history. Over forty years from 1066, England was traumatised and transformed. The Anglo-Saxon ruling class was eliminated, foreign elites took control of Church and State, and England''s entire political, social and cultural orientation was changed. Out of the upheaval which followed the Battle of Hastings, a new kind of Englishness emerged and the priorities of England''s new rulers set the kingdom on the political course it was to follow for the rest of the Middle Ages. However, the Norman Conquest was more than a purely English phenomenon, for Wales, Scotland and Normandy were all deeply affected by it too. This book''s broad sweep successfully encompasses these wider British and French perspectives to offer a fresh, clear and concise introduction to the events which propelled the two nations into the Middle Ages and dramatically altered the course of history.

The Norman Conquest was one of the most significant events in European history. Over forty years from 1066, England was traumatised and transformed. The Anglo-Saxon ruling class was eliminated, foreign elites took control of Church and State, and England’s entire political, social and cultural orientation was changed. Out of the upheaval which followed the Battle of Hastings, a new kind of Englishness emerged and the priorities of England’s new rulers set the kingdom on the political course it was to follow for the rest of the Middle Ages. However, the Norman Conquest was more than a purely English phenomenon, for Wales, Scotland and Normandy were all deeply affected by it too. This book’s broad sweep successfully encompasses these wider British and French perspectives to offer a fresh, clear and concise introduction to the events which propelled the two nations into the Middle Ages and dramatically altered the course of history.

''Fluent, wide-ranging and up-do-date, this is an excellent synthesis of recent work on the ever-fascinating topic of the Norman Conquest. It reveals not only how much was achieved by twentieth-century historians of the Conquest, but how much still remains to be discovered.''

Nicholas Vincent, Professor of Medieval History, University of East Anglia