The Norman Conquest

by D.J.A. Matthew

336 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1966

Reviews

[Mark Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting book that covers a complicated subject. It dispels the idea that the Normans were harsh rulers. Some old English ways they kept and some they slowly changed. They won the hearts and minds of the English more that I thought they had.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like a history book that ends with attitude., "For the Conquerer (William) did not claim (England) by Conquest but by heredity and was not known as Conquerer to his contemporaries. . . (The Norman period) has been studied more for what it is supposed to have resolved and achieved, than for its slow and painful manner of achieving."

I liked the accounts of William of Normandy, military service by knights, homage, and his personal power. Following the Conquest of 1066, the issues of Hastings and Kingship, English allegiance, castles, and knights as Norman symbols (not English), difficulties in law, and the role of the church are kind of interesting.