By Sarah Orne Jewett. Here is the story of the Normans, written in the days before the poison of political correctness destroyed simple factual accounts of the history of our people.
Beginning with the Scandinavian raiders who settled in northern France, the book follows their rapid development from Viking adventurers into rulers, soldiers, churchmen, and statesmen.
Jewett recounts the establishment of the Duchy of Normandy, the careers of its early dukes, and the political struggles that prepared the way for William the Conqueror. The Norman invasion of England and the Battle of Hastings receive particular attention, together with the changes in government, landholding, warfare, and society that followed the conquest.
The narrative also extends beyond England to the Norman campaigns in southern Italy and Sicily, where ambitious warriors created powerful new states in the Mediterranean. Their encounters with Byzantines, Lombards, Arabs, and crusaders reveal the extraordinary reach of Norman power and the adaptability that enabled them to succeed in widely different lands.
Written in a clear and energetic style, The Normans presents the major personalities, battles, and political developments of the Norman age. It offers a detailed account of how a comparatively small warrior people reshaped kingdoms, founded dynasties, and left a permanent mark on the history of France, England, Italy, and the wider medieval world.
First written in 1886, available now in this authentic reproduction, with all illustrations.
Topics: the Sea Kings and Vikings, Viking voyages, settlements, Northmen in France, Rolf the Ganger, Harold Harrfager, Jarl Ragnvald, Charles the Simple, Christians, Hastings, Bayeux, William Longsword, Charlemagne’s reign, Charles the Fat, the Cloister, Richard the Fearless, Normandy against France, Hugh Capet, Richard the Good, Robert of France, Danes in England, Robert the Magnificent, Baldwin of Flanders, pilgrimage to Jerusalem, Normans in Italy, Sicily, Pope Leo X, Robert Guiscard, William the Conqueror, William de Talvas, Aethelred, the Danegeld, Knut, Edmund Ironside, Godwin, Edward the Confessor, the Dover Quarrel, Normans in England, castles, the Battle of Val-Es-Dunes, Guy of Burgundy, Hasting the Pirate, the Abbey of Beck, cathedrals, Benedictines, Matilda, the French invasion, King Harold, the Norman plan, Tostig, Harold Hardrada, Stamford, Hastings, Queen Matilda, laws against slavery, Odo’s plot, William Rufus, Robert of Normandy, Henry Beuclerc and hundreds of other important tidbits.
Softcover, 373 pages
