The Norman yoke: 1067 and all that [audio 43min]
'Norman saw on English oak,
On English neck a Norman yoke;
Norman spoon in English dish,
And England ruled as Normans wish.’
Taken from Sir Walter Scott’s novel Ivanhoe, these words encapsulate the idea of 'the Norman Yoke'--that the Battle of Hastings sparked the cruel oppression of Anglo-Saxon liberties by a foreign ruling class. Certainly, William the Conqueror writ large his occupying power in castles and cathedrals, but how true is the idea of a Norman yoke? Or were tales of beastly Normans and suffering Saxons invented by later generations looking for the origins of Englishness? Presenter Melvyn Bragg investigates the history of ideas and debates their application in modern life with his guests Sarah Foot, Regius Professor of Ecclesiastical History at Christ Church, Oxford; Richard Gameson, Professor in the Department of History at Durham University; and Matthew Strickland, Professor of Medieval History at the University of Glasgow. Baron Bragg--historian, journalist, novelist--is Domus Fellow, St Catherine's College, Oxford; Chancellor of Leeds University; President of Britain's National Campaign for the Arts; a Governor of the London School of Economics; and Chair of Britain's Arts Council Literature Panel.
Read entire article at BBC Radio 4 "In Our Time"
On English neck a Norman yoke;
Norman spoon in English dish,
And England ruled as Normans wish.’
Taken from Sir Walter Scott’s novel Ivanhoe, these words encapsulate the idea of 'the Norman Yoke'--that the Battle of Hastings sparked the cruel oppression of Anglo-Saxon liberties by a foreign ruling class. Certainly, William the Conqueror writ large his occupying power in castles and cathedrals, but how true is the idea of a Norman yoke? Or were tales of beastly Normans and suffering Saxons invented by later generations looking for the origins of Englishness? Presenter Melvyn Bragg investigates the history of ideas and debates their application in modern life with his guests Sarah Foot, Regius Professor of Ecclesiastical History at Christ Church, Oxford; Richard Gameson, Professor in the Department of History at Durham University; and Matthew Strickland, Professor of Medieval History at the University of Glasgow. Baron Bragg--historian, journalist, novelist--is Domus Fellow, St Catherine's College, Oxford; Chancellor of Leeds University; President of Britain's National Campaign for the Arts; a Governor of the London School of Economics; and Chair of Britain's Arts Council Literature Panel.