always interesting to learn about the pushback to the Normans. When i was taught history when I was younger history books seemed to abridge the history just after 1066 and fastforward. But far from opposition melting away after Hastings its remarkable just how much armed resistence there continue to be to Norman rule great episode btw!
Thank you! I really apprecaite it. I am always supprised too, its amazing that the Normans were succesful with so much armed resistance against them! It was a bloodbath!
I was thinking the same thing. Not being from the UK, its history that I was taught is basically..... 1066..... nothing interesting..... Henry VIII and Elizabeth I.... nothing interesting.....
one day if you get a chance - an episode on Norman-Scotland relations around 1066-1200 would be amazing! I've been curious about the history of scotland in this era & the fact that William I appeared to [Largely leave them alone? unless i've missed something] but its not a subject i've made much progress with, apart from seeing a couple of unusually early romanesque churches up there
So today I just finished the final episode of this series which covers to the reign of Henry III, the father of Edward I. In the future I'll do a series on Edward I, William Wallace and Robert the Bruce, but I'll have a little break in-between! Quite a bit of reading and research when into this!
It is interesting to note that Robert de Bruce, a French Norman knight who came to England with William I the Conqueror, is an ancestor of King Robert the Bruce of Scotland.
@@AlexIlesUK I am descended from this early Robert de Brus, who may have come to England before the Conquest as I believe he was captain of the guard for Queen Emma, the Norman mother of Edward the Confessor. He had 2 sons, Robert and Adam. Robert went to Scotland with King David and became the ancestor of King Robert the Bruce, and Adam got the land in North Yorkshire. He is my ancestor. During the Scottish Wars of Independence this wanted to remain loyal to the English King, so took the name of their local village, Skelton.
@@AnneDowson-vp8lg The problem is that there is more than one Robert de Bruis. Robert Brus aka de Bruis, was born about 1030 in Normandy, France, died about 1094 at about age 64 in Normandy, France? His son Robert de Brus, was born about 1051 in Normandy, France. Died 1094 at about age 43 in Cleveland, Durham, England. Dates and places may not be correct, but Queen Emma (of Normandy) mother of Edward the Confessor and Alfred Ætheling died in 1051.
Im fascinated by how the Scottish king at the time of of the Norman invasion of 1066 onwards, and is successors, decided to deal with the Norman invasion. I mean Malcolm the 3rd and David the 1st. Obviously they had witnessed how the Normans had conquered England, and then Wales. The Scottish king would have been thinking, Scotland is next. The Normans at the time must have seemed unstoppable. So instead of trying to take a very defensive and antagonistic stance towards to the Normans, the Scottish king used shrewd diplomacy and invited some Norman lords to the Scottish court. Which resulted in a friendly agreements where the Scottish king gave some of the Norman lords, lands in Scotland. One family, the 'de Brus,' would later give rise to one of the greatest Scottish kings Robert de Brus ( Robert The Bruce ). This might seem at first, as giving into the Normans, but the Scots knew that the Norman aristocracy wouldnt be enthusiastic, in following their king, in an invasion into Scotland, where they might be invading some of the lands, that belonged to them. Norman nobility where out to get as much land and wealth as they could, for their own family. They had certain allegiances to their Norman king, but these really came second to their own interests.
"They had witnessed how the Normans had conquered England, and then Wales. The Scottish king would have been thinking, Scotland is next." Not in Malcolm III's case. He was burning the north of England for years before the Conquest, because he believed he was the rightful owner of the territory.
@@martinodoni8943 Yes Malcolm III had indeed being raiding and attacking the north of England. But after the Normans took control of what is England today, the situation changed. Though Malcolm still raided parts of the north of England, after this, it was more try and help The Anglo-Saxons who had been rebelling against Norman rule. Malcolm was now married to Margaret, the sister of Anglo- Saxon claimant to the English throne, Edgar Aetheling. In fact Malcolm III became related to the Norman aristocracy, when his daughter married the Norman/ English heir. His son in law was Henry the 1st of England. Who became king of England in 1100. It was more David I, Malcolm's successor, that encouraged the invitation of Norman knights into the Scottish court. Im sure Alex will go into it his next video.
@@TheEggmaniacDavid I was very selective in who exactly he invited into the Old North and awarded lands to there. Not all Norman Knights were actually Norman themselves. Plenty of Bretons, Flemish, etc.
Thanks for a good summary of a complicated point in history. Keep up your efforts in distilling the complex nature of history for us into summaries that are as close to the known facts as can be analysed. From a viewer in Aus.
As a UK citizen living overseas I have to ask (if you have the time) in the future, would you be able to try to ascertain whatever happened to the Saxon soldier Hereward the Wake? He was I believe there at the battle of Hastings & was a resistance fighter against the Normans thereafter. As a teenager I lived in the Fens & hence my interest in Hereward the Wake. Thankyou for your historically detailed interesting video which also leads me to ask ‘What would have happened had William had lost that (in)famous battle … .. . .? 🤔
Harry the torturer sounds like a character in a Guy Richie Film,It’s often with a sense of regional pride, that I count the ruins of many Norman castles,most of them originally Motte and Bailey,built first to subdue the ancestors,the Norman’s would not have enjoyed they’re stay in Northumbria
Ive always been fascinated about the immense history within this time period, from Alfred the Great to William the Conqueror. I grew up in a village between Northwich and Knutsford and am now settled in Hexham, which is very much like home to me, both in rich history and as small market towns. Great video, loved your enthusiasm and knowledge. I work in Newcastle college as a lecturer, maybe we'll meet up 😂 Edited to say, with my students on a tour. Would be a great enrichment day for them. 👍
@AlexIlesUK ... hi Alex. I will reach out, I think it would be fantastic for our students to acknowledge and learn more about the rich history of the city they live in. Thank you and I'll converse next by email tomorrow. 👍
Hi Alex. What a great find your channel is. I really enjoyed your video. Having lived in Durham for over 40 years and loving history ive always been interested in this immediate post invasion period but never heard it explained with such clarity before. Thank you,
I really wish we English could have kicked out the Normans. Still here 1000 years later, having stolen our lands and still holding on to it with an iron grip. The landed-gentry (Normans) and the cap-doffing class system still casts a long shadow over England and the English. I mean, just try roaming freely across many parts of our land! Or, god-forbid, speak with a non-RP, regional accent!! Your career ladder and social-standing will reach a fairly solid impassable ceiling. Not to mention the degradation of our fine Old English tung into a mish-mash of Romance words supplanting (case in point) many good English words. Anyway, a superb history lesson, including much that I didn't know. Thanks!! I have subscribed and look forward to the next instalment.
Glad you enjoyed it, pre-norman England wasn't free either and I'm sure history may have panned out in a similar way even without the Normans. Powerful people preserve their power one way or another.
Hey. I just discovered your channel and I'm loving it. I always wish there were history channels who just gave me the info I want and didn't plaster it with dramatised voiceovers or cartoon illustrations. You take this seriously and I appreciate that :)
After 1066 there was no English nobility after 1066 these were Norman Kings why do people call them English Kings quite ridiculous these were Norman Kings
Bruces mother was countess of Carrick so a Gael, her sisters married to Island chiefs and Bruce himself claimed descent from the Scottish kings. Baliol and Comyn probably had a nearer claim. Edward I obliged the nation by selecting which claim was strongest. In other words the easiest manipulated. He invaded and exterminated the people of Berwick and the wars of Independence began. His massacring of the people of Berwick
Well you could say that, you could also say that Harold was the last English king ever. Hastings was England's darkest day and William was the biggest thief in history. He'd be running Blackrock if he was alive today.
This is very interesting. The most I ever heard of the English resistance to the Normans was about Hereward the Wake fighting out of the Isle of Ely, only recently I have read about Gospatrick's and Waltheof's bid to kick the Normans out of Northumbria and Mercia respectively. The Norman military elite had a poor view of the English, they horribly mistreated them as they push north and invited death and destruction upon themselves which in turn was visited upon the English with vengeance as William came back and lay waste to the North to deny any invader the use of the land and support from the people. As for Scotland, the Anglo Saxons kings had a mutually respectful relationship with the Scottish leadership, even acknowledging the Scots victory at Carham which took away Lothian from Northumbria. The Normans tended to follow this practice, but only because they had to deal with a lot of problems on their side of the border and in Normandy. Indeed even up to the Renaissance there were what were called 'debatable land' along the border. Ironic that the the descendants of English refugees and those of Normans invited to Scotland provided the bulwark of Scots fighting elite against English invasions.
I had never heard of the Anglo-Saxon diaspora ending up in Byzantium - and absolutely hadn't heard of an Anglo-Saxon settlement in the eastern Black Sea/Caucasus region. It's wild to think about how many cultures were just Mongoled out of existence - Like those Goths that took over the Crimean peninsula for like 500 years until the Golden Horde rode in & the Goths & their Germanic language just got absolutely steamrolled out of history.
In Williams' defense,he did try to bring the nobility over after his victory at Hastings. But much like the Romans treatment of Boudica. Their treatment of the Anglo-Saxons didn't help William. I can imagine William rolling his eyes each time he was told of another revolt!😊 well done!
Really good summary explains a lot. It was not a good time for English history, change comes at a huge cost, in hindsight the Saxons could have not rebelled but there again many of the Normans were thugs. Saying that they were churchmen and only did what the clergy were allowing them. Fyi the (275 ships of saxons) some went to Byzantium some were thought to have gone to central Europe - Crimea and Ukraine. Incidentally they also faced the Normans again in Italy and were slaughtered there too. The elite hoscarls and varangian guard- good fighters but simply no match for Nasty Normans - still the English hierarchy.
@@AlexIlesUK oh to be a fly on a tree for it! My godparents are in Newcastle, too, so I love it when i get to visit both Lewes and Newcastle from NZ and just sink my feet into the history they have 😅 who knows when that'll be affordable again!
Is the affect of the Norman Conquest similar to the Spanish Conquistadors in Mexico? These Normans created a Class System like the Spanish conquistadors created a Caste System in Latin America?
Well, I sometimes say that to wind people up, I think Glasgow would make for a better Capital of Scotland, but I think that'll cause fireworks in some People's heads !
How wonderful to listen to ..Knowledge in a clear way..Wonder how Anglo or Nirman we are😮 Your looks look pure..😊 Mine I do know have Welsh French and Olde English..That I know of😊...Thank You
@@AlexIlesUK well a group of warriors came from Ulster and founded the kingdom of Dalriada but Gaels were always in Argyle, and in south west Scotland, well most of southern Scotland, not so much in pictland even Argyle where they formed an aristocracy, the picts took back Dalriada in the 8th century, going back to southern Scotland DNA analysis has found Ulster and southern Scotland are basically the same group since the crossover from neolithic culture to tin and bronze when the Indo-Europeans arrived in these islands. The culture basically ebbed and flowed between p and q Celtic culture with the same settlement and religious practices, note Beltane was celebrated through out Scotland and Ireland including the borders and Lothian's but not Northumberland so pointing to a shared cultural heritage not always shared by the hierarchy of different warrior bands , there's a lot more DNA info coming out of university s on these subjects that's connecting lots of dots that's for sure. Pretty much the extent of extensive settlement of Northumbrias in Scotland isn't much beyond berwickshire, beyond that is Northumbrian overlordship of the old goddoin community, in records aristocracy in Lothian (including the borders as the name used to apply to) had Brythonic names even at Northumbria's height. But yeah I grew up being taught the Scots came from Ulster but the truth seems to point otherwise. Another interesting note is that there is only two existing preindustrial village's that follow a Anglo-Saxon settlement pattern which indicates like the DNA that there wasn't much change on the ground. This type of info is certainly upending a lot of received wisdom from written records that's for sure.
@stuartjackson8091 ok, where to start. The Neolithic population - we don't know much about them and yes they are homogeneous, but they are replaced by the Bronze age populations and the Bronze age population go on to form the different peoples of the British isles. Where the Scots of Dal Riata settled, Brythonic names are replaced - there's very few that survive on the west. Shared cultures across Scotland - I wish I could talk to you in person as I don't think the comments section helps to convey what I need to to explain the information.
@@AlexIlesUK that's what I was trying to explain, when the beaker people moved in at the end of the neolithic period they mapped it out in research programme in Northern Ireland, I can send you links, don't worry I know my stuff, you seem to be missing a few of the points I'm making. I studied Scottish ethnology and Scottish history at Edinburgh, and keep abreast of latest research, taught by Ian Fraser who did a lot on toponymy so with that I'll leave it be, though I will try and find the links to the DNA stuff, though I'm not counting the northern isles as the Norse obliterated the culture there.
@stuartjackson8091 please do. I'd reply to all your points but I'm time poor currently so I can't reply in great depth on RU-vid to each comment. The Northumbrians and all Anglo-Saxons mixed far more with native Britons and other cultures than history books have shown and it's not a 'English Vs Celts' story as has been taught by nationalists.
I've focused on the North East as it's where I live and work. I may do that, but I've had a lot of negative comments from the Welsh on this channel so I'm less than keen to cover their history.
@@AlexIlesUKNo need to. Stick to what you are knowledgeable on and have a passion for. Although as a partial Coeling myself I love Welsh history. Even the Welsh themselves didn't/don't get along so I don't hold it against you if some of them annoy you lol.
Loathian was the homeland of the goddodin the English took it in the mid 7th century controling it for around 200 years the Edinburgh was taken by the new kingdom of Alba aroubd 950 and by 1015 Lothian was back under Celtic control, Welsh was still spoken in the mid borders and mid Lothian up till the 12th century, as can be seen from maps of place names English was mostly in Berkshire and some of East Lothian, while in mid to west Lothian and the western boarders Gaelic was dominant by that time.
Here's a question, you say 'back under Celtic control ' as if the Scots and Britons had more in common with each other than the Angles and the Gododdin. The Gododdin were under Roman influence and most of the Northumbrian territory was under Roman control, alongside this for three hundred years Lothian had been Anglian. So the Scots would have been very foreign to them!
@@AlexIlesUK no the goddoin controlled pretty much down to where the current border is, there was another kingdom below the goddoin, that had a seat at what is now called Bamburgh castle, Picts took part in the battle Carrick and formed alliances with Scots and Britons in attacking the Romans, and later against the English but by then also with Norse. They are brochs in goddoin territory built in the borders that were under siege from Romans as can be found in archeological records from Roman missile's, plus going back to the cultural heritage of Beltane and other festivals as well as settlement patterns and material heritage, I'm sure it was different for those living close to the wall but the goddoins base was Edinburgh. Definitely Celtic connections.
Ok, to respond to that comment, you've mixed up a lot of history. Firstly you can't trust any 'map' you find online for Vortadini or Gododdin territory as it's modern approximations. The battle of Catterick was fought against Anglians, not Romans. There were people of all groups on all sides as proven by the poem. The Picts and Britons raided each other just as much. Bamburgh is another hold but we don't know who is in control, or where the territorial authority stretched from. The Brochs are late Iron Age and yes Roman material is found at them and most settlements in the borders - they trained with the Romans.
I am very interested in this period of history in and around the borders and will watch your other RU-vid about this. My ancestors were the Gospatricks, Dunbars and Dunkeld line but my line of the family left the borders after Bannockburn and traveled south to Kent via Haworth.
In William's army when he campaigned in the north, do we know if he had much (or any at all) of Breton knights/soldiers? If Bretons were present there, I like to see the Harrying of the North as vengeance against the Anglo-Saxons for the fall of Hen Ogledd. As Bretons are descendants of Britons, they now get to avenge themselves against the Germanic descendants of the Anglo-Saxon migrants that destroyed and took over the Celtic north of England.
Its a revenge of sorts but not that as hard edged. Lots of Breton lords and knights came over as adventurers in William's army. The Bretons of Norman times weren't of the same mindset as the Briton refugees who came to Amorica later known as Brittany. They didn't behave any better or worse towards the English as the Franco Norse descended Normans and generally followed Norman military rules of engagement. Thanks to the Breton lords who came over with the Normans to Britain, we get the Tales of King Arthur and his knights of the Round Table.
I'd say that's not the case, the Bretons seem to be more connected with Devon and Cornwall than with the Hen Ogledd. Also the Hen Ogledd fought each other more than the Anglo-Saxons, they were their own enemy and murdered Urien of Rheged, destroying themselves. I often find this romantic idea of the Hen Ogledd as pan-celtisism fighting the Germanic English to be such a silly one.
No, Englands flag wasnt the St. Georges cross until the reign of Edward I, he wanted to increase chivarly and the Knightly values. Prior to that we don't have a flag of England outside of the flags of Royal Houses. I belive St. George was honoured in Georgia for far longer than in England.
Is it that much different than what Athelstan had to do 150 years before. I suppose he spoke french that makes it worse lol but those barbaric northerners were always kicking off and siding with danes 🤣🤣
The Normans had zero justification for invading England. They were greedy brutal power-mongers. They were not interesting in making a country - as the Anglo-Saxons were - but in taking a country for their own power and riches. The feudal system came in soon after thanks to the Normans. That shows what they wanted with England. To nail it down for the Norman aristocracy.
The feudal system was already in place in many ways in England before the conquest but I'd agree, the wealth of England attracted the Normans for certain.
