The Unhappy Death of the Conqueror
The Personal Cost of Conquest
The Highs, Lows, and Haunted Death of William the Conqueror A Bitter Harvest? He was born a bastard and died a king. Few figures in human history have cast a…
The Feigned Retreat
Iron Brotherhood: The Staunchest Companions of William the Conqueror
Brotherhood of Steel: The Companions at Battle's End History books often paint the Norman Conquest of 1066 as a singular achievement—the masterstroke of one brilliant, ruthless Duke who dragged England…
The Medieval Shieldwall: heart-stopping in so many ways
The Iron Pulse of the Shieldwall: The Science and Soul
The Early Medieval Shieldwall: Not for the Faint-hearted There was nothing remotely romantic about standing in a medieval shieldwall, it was simply a highly efficient expedient to winning medieval battles, …
The Conqueror’s Children: William and Mathilda’s best and worst
Like many medieval monarchs, William ‘the Bastard’, Duke of Normandy and King of England, fulfilled his destiny by creating a dynasty that, although it did not last long, was full…
From Conqueror to King
The Importance of William the Conqueror’s Follow-up Actions
Whether William the Conqueror was a brilliant strategist or just a lucky general has been a matter of conjecture, depending on whose side you were on. However, no one could…
If the Conqueror had stayed at home.
After attending a recent enactment at Battle Abbey, I was reminded of the old Irish saying, “If ifs and buts were pots and pans, they’d be no need for tinkers'…
Godwinson, the Bastard, Hardrada: evil men or merely opportunists?
During 1066 the belligerent war leaders of Harold Godwinson, Harald Hardrada, and William of Normandy met on various fields of battle in England. They all believed that they had a…
William the Conqueror: Great General or a Good Manager?
William the Conqueror: Great General or Good Campaigner It is a much-mooted question as to whether or not William the Conqueror deserved to win the Battle of Hastings. It is…
