norman conquest – The Wargaming Erratic

September is a busy month for battle anniversaries in Yorkshire not least in 1066.

On the 20th the Vikings of King Harald defeated the Saxons of Earls Edwin and Morcar at Germany Beck in what is now Fulford. There are not many references to this battle – given that two climatic battles followed, its understandable.

The battle was according to records fought near where the beck joins a sharp turn in the river Ouse.

Crucially the defeated Saxons made good their escape as a rising tide flooded the beck. This meant they could fight another day.

There is a tapestry of the Fulford battle displayed at various locations over the years since it was made in 2012 after ten years effort!

On the 25th September the Saxons under King Harold of England defeated Harald and the Viking host at Stamford Bridge.

It was the end of the Scandinavian Viking threat after hundreds of years of invasion.

A tapestry of the Stamford Bridge battle can be seen in the old railway station at Stamford Bridge.

It was another Viking Scion – the Norsemen who took land in the Carolingian Empire and called it Normandy – who a few generations later then defeated the English in turn at Hastings.

It can be argued that without Fulford and Stamford Bridge there would have been no Hastings and maybe a different war between Harold and William might have played out.

So maybe instead of waiting for yet another Norman invasion (the bayeaux tapestry is en route to the UK) you could visit these other tapestries when they are on show instead or as well as.

People remember William for what followed yet Harold had marched 500 miles with his household troops and won a great victory putting together two separate regional armies before arriving at Hastings: William fought an outstanding adversary.

Back in 2020 I put together some shield wall armies and had some fun trying out various rules.

https://thewargamingerratic.home.blog/2020/09/06/prelude-to-wargames-rules-tested/

Not content with “off piste” in my last post I am looking at books in this post. The thread of wargaming is still there and my current painting enthusiasm waxes and wains around what I am reading.

To sustain a period of painting I need the books to back it up. Until recently the Normans had been a period admired from a distance but avoided. My interests at best for the years 500-1200AD were mostly Byzantine. One of my favourite authors has been John Julius Norwich. He wrote Normans in Sicily many years ago and it is still recommended reading. This book had always been on the edge of my reading list not least because the Mediterranean Normans appear in other books by John Julius Norwich – notably the Middle Sea.

So my interest kept returning to Southern Italy and this period. It was not a large step to head north to Normandy and then England. I have begun to read more about the Normans in England. Previously I had just given a nod to Hastings.

A visit to Sicily furthered my interests. The multi ethnic multi religious nature of the Normans in Sicily seems unique for the period. Then a speculative purchase found in a discount bookstore got me reading about the Normans in a broader context.

“A brief History of the Normans: The conquest that changed the face of Europe by Francois Neveux caught me eye. Francois being Professor of History at Caen University was well placed to talk about the people of that area.

Published by the Little Brown Book Group in 2005 ISBN10 – 1845295234.

The book starts well before the Normans could even claim Normandy. And in this sense I enjoyed this particular book linking as it did the Carolingian era to that of Normandy and the rise of France.

In fact the chapters before Hastings were a mine of information and written in a way that kept me turning the pages rapidly. Somehow after that the story line lost its edge although it was still an enjoyable read.

My next foray into the period was on the Saxon side. Edward the Exile, son of Edmund II Ironside, the potential heir returning to England in August 1057 was killed within 2 days of his landing. Its author Gabriel Ronay made the pre-Hastings era an interesting and broader story than simply Harold versus William.

Both these books offer a more European perspective of the English problem of succession.

The book finishes with more Saxon aspects of Williams conquest

And then I picked up Marc Morris’s Norman Conquest. I hoped I would enjoy his story and I have not been disappointed. Suitably detailed, the narrative moves along quickly without becoming superficial.

The James Aitcheson Trilogy of historic fiction I found by pure accident. I picked up the second part in a charity shop and then bought the first book on kindle.

Not a great fan of historic fiction stories the trilogy covers a rather overlooked period post invasion. The author reveals his historian first author second character. Some good observation of the period makes the story settings believable and engaging. The whole story line though is incredulous – hang on this is fiction though – and the main characters move around a bit too easily. The very modern conversation style mixed with using old Saxon and Welsh place names did not really work for me.

Given these fiction books are the first ones I have finished in a long time thats a compliment. And at least the cover picture is of the period – too many historical books having sloppy front covers simply then disappoints me on reading as well.

Right now I am reading some modern travelogue – fingers crossed my Norman painting does not dry up.