The Norman Heritage

1055-1200

Trevor Rowley

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2019
• Topic: History
• eBook ISBN:
  9780429602092
• Subtopic: World History
• Index: History

Originally published in 1983, The Norman Heritage looks at the Norman Conquest as a turning point in English history. The book argues that not only was this the last time that England was successfully invaded, but it followed a complete change in the ruling dynasty, the introduction of military feudalism, the reform of the church and the rapid spread of monasticism. The book suggests that such social and political changes were accompanied by dramatic architectural and topographical developments. Frenzied building activity resulted in the construction of cathedrals, churches, monasteries and castles and stone was used on a scale unknown since the end of the Roman Empire. The Norman desire to exercise regional political control and to simulate trade resulted in a rash of newly planned towns across the country. In many more subtle ways, Anglo-Saxon landscape was altered and modified by Norman coercion and influence. Through their energy and administrative ability, the Normans transformed the face of town and country alike, and this book traces the impact of the Norman Conquest upon the British scene, through both a historical narrative, surviving structural remains of buildings and the patterns of settlements, communications and land use that developed during this period.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Illustrations
• Acknowledgements
• General Editor’s preface
• Dedication
• Preface
• one The coming of the Normans
• two The Norman dynasty in England
• three Castles of the Conquest
• four The English landscape at the time of the Conquest
• five The towns of the Conquest
• six The impact of the Conquest on the church
• seven Forest, park and woodland
• eight The Norman impact on Wales and the Welsh borderlands
• nine The Norman heritage
• Appendix 1
• Appendix 2
• Appendix 3
• Further reading
• Index