Before the Normans

Before the Normans PDF

Author: Barbara M. Kreutz

Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press

Published: 2011-06-07

Total Pages: 267

ISBN-13: 081220543X

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Histories of medieval Europe have typically ignored southern Italy, looking south only in the Norman period. Yet Southern Italy in the ninth and tenth centuries was a complex and vibrant world that deserves to be better understood. In Before the Normans, Barbara M. Kreutz writes the first modern study in English of the land, political structures, and cultures of southern Italy in the two centuries before the Norman conquests. This was a pan-Meditteranean society, where the Roman past and Lombard-Germanic culture met Byzantine and Islamic civilization, creating a rich and unusual mix.

Ireland Before the Normans

Ireland Before the Normans PDF

Author: Donncha Ó Corráin

Publisher:

Published: 2006-06

Total Pages: 224

ISBN-13: 9781851825622

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A revised and expanded second edition of a classic work on the history of early medieval Ireland c.800 to the coming of the Normans, first published in 1972. It deals with the geography of power, kingship and society, the church and its structures, the Viking wars, the twelfth-century reform and the wars of the Irish dynasties, 950-1169. With a new bibliography and up-to-date references and notes.The book presents an original assessment of the changing structure of Irish society in the period of the Viking wars and beyond -- a period of violent change in some aspects but one of extraordinary continuity in others. The most interesting developments -- the simplication of Irish class structure, the emergence of a new monarchy based on farflung dynasties, and the reform of the Irish church and the growth of institutions -- are treated in detail.

The Normans

The Normans PDF

Author: Trevor Rowley

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2021-08-03

Total Pages: 268

ISBN-13: 1643136356

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A powerful and evocative portrait of the Norman Conquest of Europe, revealing the permanent cultural and political legacy that resulted in their ascendency. The Norman’s conquering of the known world was a phenomenon unlike anything Europe had seen up to that point in history. They emerged early in the tenth century but had disappeared from world affairs by the mid-thirteenth century. Yet in that time they had conquered England, Ireland, much of Wales and parts of Scotland. They also founded a new Mediterranean kingdom in southern Italy and Sicily, as well as a Crusader state in the Holy Land and in North Africa. Moreover, they had an extraordinary ability to adapt as time and place dictated, taking on the role of Norse invaders to Frankish crusaders, from Byzantine overlords to feudal monarchs. Drawing on archaeological and historical evidence, Trevor Rowley offers a comprehensive picture of the Normans and argues that despite the short time span of Norman ascendancy, it is clear that they were responsible for a permanent cultural and political legacy.

1066 and Before All That

1066 and Before All That PDF

Author: Ed West

Publisher: Skyhorse

Published: 2017-08-08

Total Pages: 179

ISBN-13: 1510719911

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A riveting account of the most consequential year in English history, marked by bloody conflict with invaders on all sides. 1066 is the most famous date in history, and with good reason, since no battle in medieval history had such a devastating effect on its losers as the Battle of Hastings, which altered the entire course of English history. The French-speaking Normans were the pre-eminent warriors of the 11th century and based their entire society around conflict. They were led by William 'the Bastard' a formidable, ruthless warrior, who was convinced that his half-Norman cousin, Edward the Confessor, had promised him the throne of England. However, when Edward died in January 1066, Harold Godwinson, the richest earl in the land and the son of a pirate, took the throne . . . . this left William no choice but to forcibly claim what he believed to be his right. What ensued was one of the bloodiest periods of English history, with a body count that might make even George RR Martin balk. Pitched at newcomers to the subject, this book will explain how the disastrous battle changed England—and the English—forever, introducing the medieval world of chivalry, castles and horse-bound knights. It is the first part in the new A Very, Very Short History of England series, which aims to capture the major moments of English history with humor and bite.

The Normans

The Normans PDF

Author: Lars Brownworth

Publisher: Crux Publishing Ltd

Published: 2014-01-03

Total Pages: 323

ISBN-13: 1909979031

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"Lars Brownworth’s The Normans is like a gallop through the Middle Ages on a fast warhorse. It is rare to find an author who takes on a subject so broad and so complex, while delivering a book that is both fast-paced and readable." Bill Yenne, author of Julius Caesar: Lessons in Leadership from the Great Conqueror "An evocative journey through the colourful and dangerous world of early medieval Europe" Jonathan Harris, author of Byzantium and the Crusades There is much more to the Norman story than the Battle of Hastings. These descendants of the Vikings who settled in France, England, and Italy - but were not strictly French, English, or Italian - played a large role in creating the modern world. They were the success story of the Middle Ages; a footloose band of individual adventurers who transformed the face of medieval Europe. During the course of two centuries they launched a series of extraordinary conquests, carving out kingdoms from the North Sea to the North African coast. In The Normans, author Lars Brownworth follows their story, from the first shock of a Viking raid on an Irish monastery to the exile of the last Norman Prince of Antioch. In the process he brings to vivid life the Norman tapestry’s rich cast of characters: figures like Rollo the Walker, William Iron-Arm, Tancred the Monkey King, and Robert Guiscard. It presents a fascinating glimpse of a time when a group of restless adventurers had the world at their fingertips.

1066

1066 PDF

Author: Peter Rex

Publisher: Amberley Publishing Limited

Published: 2011-04-15

Total Pages: 504

ISBN-13: 1445608839

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A radical retelling of the most important event in English history - the Norman invasion of 1066.

The Norman Conquest

The Norman Conquest PDF

Author: Hugh M. Thomas

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 208

ISBN-13: 9780742538405

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Exploring the successful Norman invasion of England in 1066, this concise and readable book focuses especially on the often dramatic and enduring changes wrought by William the Conqueror and his followers. From the perspective of a modern social historian, Hugh M. Thomas considers the conquest's wide-ranging impact by taking a fresh look at such traditional themes as the influence of battles and great men on history and assessing how far the shift in ruling dynasty and noble elites affected broader aspects of English history. The author sets the stage by describing English society before the Norman Conquest and recounting the dramatic story of the conquest, including the climactic Battle of Hastings. He then traces the influence of the invasion itself and the Normans' political, military, institutional, and legal transformations. Inevitably following on the heels of institutional reform came economic, social, religious, and cultural changes. The results, Thomas convincingly shows, are both complex and surprising. In some areas where one might expect profound influence, such as government institutions, there was little change. In other respects, such as the indirect transformation of the English language, the conquest had profound and lasting effects. With its combination of exciting narrative and clear analysis, this book will capture students interest in a range of courses on medieval and Western history.

The Normans and the Norman Conquest

The Normans and the Norman Conquest PDF

Author: R. Allen Brown

Publisher: Boydell & Brewer Ltd

Published: 1994

Total Pages: 280

ISBN-13: 9780851153674

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Classic work assessing the impact of the Norman Conquest in European context. The introduction of Brown's book should be made compulsory reading- LONDON REVIEW OF BOOKSThe `English' who faced the forces of William duke of Normandy on 14 October 1066 were by no means a pure-bred and unified race, norwas the flower of England's manhood laid low by an army of self-seeking Norman opportunists. R. Allen Brown traces the forces and influences that shaped both England and Normandy in the decades before 1066, and shows how the new order, emerging from the aftermath of the battle of Hastings, produced a degree of political unity and social dynamism previously unknown in England, bringing a reinvigorated nation fully into the mainstream of the dynamic expansion of western Latin Christendom.R. ALLEN BROWN was professor of History at King's College, London and founder of the annual Battle Conference on Anglo-Norman studies.