Contemporary historians overtly eulogising the Norman achievement are shown to have employed a variety of literary strategies to convey implicitly their treacherous and predatory ways.

The Battle of Hastings in 1066 is the one date forever seared on the British national psyche. It enabled the Norman Conquest that marked the end of Anglo-Saxon England. But there was much more to the Normans than the invading army Duke William shipped over from Normandy to the shores of Sussex. How a band of marauding warriors established some of the most powerful dominions in Europe - in Sicily and France, as well as England - is an improbably romantic idea. In exploring Norman culture in all its regions, Leonie V Hicks is able to place the Normans in the full context of early medieval society. Her wide ranging comparative perspective enables the Norman story to be told in full, so that the societies of Rollo, William, Robert (Guiscard) and Roger are given the focused attention they deserve. From Hastings to the martial exploits of Bohemond and Tancred on the First Crusade; from castles and keeps to Romanesque cathedrals; and from the founding of the Kingdom of Sicily (1130) to cross-cultural encounters with Byzantines and Muslims, this is a fresh and lively survey of one of the most popular topics in European history.

A bold new history of the rise and expansion of the Norman Dynasty across Europe from Byzantium to England In the eleventh century the climate was improving, population was growing, and people were on the move. The Norman dynasty ranged across Europe, led by men who achieved lasting fame, such as William the Conqueror and Robert Guiscard. These figures cultivated an image of unstoppable Norman success, and their victories make for a great story. But how much of it is true? In this insightful history, Judith Green challenges old certainties and explores the reality of Norman life across the continent. There were many soldiers of fortune, but their successes were down to timing, good luck, and ruthless leadership. Green shows the Normans’ profound impact, from drastic change in England to laying the foundations for unification in Sicily to their contribution to the First Crusade. Going beyond the familiar, she looks at personal dynastic relationships and the important part women played in what at first sight seems a resolutely masculine world.

An interpretative analysis of the history of the cross-Channel empire from 1066 to 1204.

This book provides the most comprehensive examination of the Normans available, examining the emergence of the Normans, their characteristics as a group, and their various achievements in war, culture and civilization.

Carmen de Hastingae Proelio; Battle c.1100; Military architecture; Piety of Anglo-Norman Knightly Class; Military Architecture c.1200; The Byzantine View of the Normans; Henry I and Anglo-Norman Magnates; Anglo-Norman as aSpoken Language; Magnates, Curiales and the Wheel of Fortune; Bishop's Lynn; Battle Abbey. Contributors: C. CLARK, P.E. CURNOW, R.H.C. DAVIS, L.J. ENGELS, C. HARPER-BILL, J. HERMANS, C.W. HOLLISTER, M.D. LEGGE, D.M. OWEN, E.M.SEARLE.

Wace's Roman de Rou is both a valuable historical document and an important work of French literature. Composed during the 1160s and 1170s, it relates the origins of Normandy from the time of Hasting and Rollo (Rou) and continues as far as the battle of Tinchebray in 1106.

This is an introduction to the history of England and Normandy in the 11th and 12th centuries. Within the broad field of cultural history, there are discussions of language, literature, the writing of history and ecclesiastical architecture.