My surname came to Britain with the Normans, and I must say that my forebears have had a bad press in their adopted homeland. From Hereward the Wake [3] to Robin Hood, Anglo-Saxon legends have depicted us as despotic and cruel, whereas we were great builders of castles and cathedrals, brilliant horsemen and tip-top administrators, as well as being despotic and cruel.
My surname came to Britain with the Normans, and I must say that my forebears have had a bad press in their adopted homeland. From Hereward the Wake [3] to Robin Hood, Anglo-Saxon legends have depicted us as despotic and cruel, whereas we were great builders of castles and cathedrals, brilliant horsemen and tip-top administrators, as well as being despotic and cruel. Anyway, it was good to have the refreshingly un-youthful and un-strident Professor Robert Bartlett (more Norman names) giving us his authoritative account of the antecedents and legacy of 1066 and all that. It’s about time we Viking-Frenchmen had a spokesperson.
Links
[1] https://theartsdesk.com/users/gerardgilbert
[2] https://www.addtoany.com/share_save
[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hereward_the_Wake
[4] https://theartsdesk.com/print/1945?page=0,1
[5] https://theartsdesk.com/tv
[6] https://theartsdesk.com/topics/england
[7] https://theartsdesk.com/topics/france
[8] https://theartsdesk.com/topics/bbc-two
[9] https://theartsdesk.com/topics/history
[10] https://theartsdesk.com/topics/reviews