A brilliant global history of the Normans, who--beyond the conquest of England--spread their empire to eventually dominate Europe, the Mediterranean, and the Middle East.
Across the generations, the Normans made their influence felt across Western Europe and the Mediterranean, from the British Isles to North Africa and even to the Holy Land, with a combination of military might, political savvy, deeply held religious beliefs, and a profound sense of their own destiny..
It is a tale of ambitious adventures and fierce pirates, of fortunes made and fortunes lost.
Empire of the Normans tells the extraordinary story of how the descendants of Viking marauders in northern France came to dominate European, Mediterranean, and Middle Eastern politics.
They cerated a new Europe in the image of their own nobility, recording their power with unprecedented vision, including the Domesday Book .
From Scandinavia down to Sicily, Malta, and Seville, the Normans built magnificent castles and churches.
During the next century, as the Norman kings laid the foundations of modern Britain, their power would spread irresistibly across Europe.
Over the coming decades, the Anglo-Saxon kingdom would be rebuilt around a new landowning class.
In a few short months, the leader of northern France became the dominant ruler of Britain.
A momentous event in European history, the defeat of the Anglo-Saxons had the most dramatic effect of any defeat in the high Middle Ages.
No longer would Anglo-Saxons or Vikings rule England; this was now the age of the Normans.
He had survived the carnage of the Battle of Hastings and, two months later on Christmas day, he would be crowned king of England.
William The Bastard had emerged from interloper to successor of the Norman throne.
As Harold II, the last crowned Anglo-Saxon king of England, lay dying in Sussex, the Duke of Normandy was celebrating an unlikely victory. 14th October 1066.
A brilliant global history of the Normans, who--beyond the conquest of England--spread their empire to eventually dominate Europe, the Mediterranean, and the Middle East
