Ruadh Butler explains how Norman military prowess relied on adopting and adapting ideas from conquered cultures. Thanks to a 12th century ancestor I find myself an Irishman bearing an English version of a Norman word for a Frankish court position as a surname. While identity in Ireland always makes an interesting subject, the background to the […]
After Hastings
This year marks the 950th anniversary of the Battle of Hastings, one of the most famous events in British history. On 14 October 1066, English and Norman armies each numbering in the thousands clashed at the site now occupied by Battle Abbey in East Sussex, in a fierce struggle for the English crown that ended […]