1 00:00:12,400 --> 00:00:17,060 The priory of St Gervais, near Rouen in Northern France. 2 00:00:18,820 --> 00:00:21,620 The year is 1087. 3 00:00:25,620 --> 00:00:29,940 William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy and King of England, is dying. 4 00:00:33,400 --> 00:00:38,420 He's surrounded by clergy and his most trusted barons and knights. 5 00:00:41,020 --> 00:00:45,420 As the sun rises, William confesses his sins 6 00:00:45,420 --> 00:00:48,540 and calls on the Virgin Mary to pray for him. 7 00:00:48,540 --> 00:00:51,620 BELL TOLLS 8 00:00:53,340 --> 00:00:56,260 And then, he dies. 9 00:01:09,300 --> 00:01:12,100 What follows is a horrible scene. 10 00:01:12,100 --> 00:01:14,900 The men around William's body panic. 11 00:01:16,100 --> 00:01:20,620 Some galloped off, fearful of the chaos to come. 12 00:01:20,620 --> 00:01:25,700 Those who stayed plundered the King's possessions, seizing arms, vessels, 13 00:01:25,700 --> 00:01:30,260 linen, clothing, anything they could lay their hands on. 14 00:01:30,260 --> 00:01:34,900 Then they abandoned his corpse, stripped half-naked. 15 00:01:37,980 --> 00:01:43,660 So ended the life of one of the most powerful rulers in 11th century Europe. 16 00:01:48,100 --> 00:01:55,380 William the Conqueror established the Normans as a formidable force in history. 17 00:01:55,380 --> 00:01:58,540 He dominated Normandy for 52 years. 18 00:01:59,580 --> 00:02:04,940 But his greatest achievement was the conquest of England in 1066. 19 00:02:14,180 --> 00:02:19,420 The years that followed saw one of the most fundamental transformations in British history. 20 00:02:25,740 --> 00:02:28,900 The reign of William the Conqueror marks the end 21 00:02:28,900 --> 00:02:33,900 of Anglo-Saxon England. He imposed a new aristocracy, a new language, 22 00:02:33,900 --> 00:02:35,140 a new culture. 23 00:02:35,140 --> 00:02:39,460 He transformed England into a Norman stronghold. 24 00:02:39,460 --> 00:02:43,180 And the Normans didn't stop at the borders of England. 25 00:02:43,180 --> 00:02:48,260 Scotland, Wales and Ireland were also to feel their impact. 26 00:02:48,260 --> 00:02:52,620 The political and cultural landscape of Britain and Ireland today 27 00:02:52,620 --> 00:02:55,820 was forged by the Normans. 28 00:03:17,140 --> 00:03:19,780 England, 1066. 29 00:03:19,780 --> 00:03:25,180 One of the wealthiest and most efficiently-run states in medieval Europe. 30 00:03:25,180 --> 00:03:28,620 Now a country under Norman occupation. 31 00:03:44,900 --> 00:03:50,860 Just two months after his victory at the Battle of Hastings, William the Conqueror was in Westminster Abbey. 32 00:03:53,540 --> 00:03:57,140 He was about to achieve his greatest ambition, 33 00:03:57,140 --> 00:03:59,940 coronation as King of England. 34 00:04:08,300 --> 00:04:13,500 But it wasn't quite the glorious occasion William had in mind. 35 00:04:15,180 --> 00:04:19,180 The Archbishop of York asked the assembled Anglo-Saxon bishops and nobles 36 00:04:19,180 --> 00:04:22,300 if they were willing to have William crowned as their lord. 37 00:04:22,300 --> 00:04:26,540 Something of a formality, since they had already submitted to his power. 38 00:04:26,540 --> 00:04:30,300 With one voice, they dutifully cried out their assent. 39 00:04:30,300 --> 00:04:36,540 But the Normans on guard outside the abbey, hearing what they described as "incomprehensible shouting", 40 00:04:36,540 --> 00:04:40,900 feared treachery, and set fire to the buildings around the abbey. 41 00:04:46,860 --> 00:04:51,500 The coronation of England's first Norman King was descending into chaos. 42 00:04:58,420 --> 00:05:01,300 But greater turmoil was to follow. 43 00:05:04,820 --> 00:05:08,620 The coronation of William the Conqueror marks one of the sharpest breaks 44 00:05:08,620 --> 00:05:10,700 there has ever been in English history. 45 00:05:10,700 --> 00:05:12,620 Anglo-Saxon England was dead. 46 00:05:12,620 --> 00:05:15,260 The country was now ruled by the Normans. 47 00:05:15,260 --> 00:05:19,700 But the disastrous ceremony at Westminster Abbey was an indication 48 00:05:19,700 --> 00:05:26,020 that the relationship between the English and their new rulers wasn't going to be an easy one. 49 00:05:38,540 --> 00:05:43,300 William moved quickly to secure his power. 50 00:05:43,300 --> 00:05:49,620 He began distributing his newly conquered lands among Norman nobles and bishops. 51 00:05:49,620 --> 00:05:53,380 Within weeks, the English landscape was being transformed 52 00:05:53,380 --> 00:05:56,420 by the construction of motte-and-bailey castles. 53 00:05:59,940 --> 00:06:02,740 Built by locally conscripted labour, 54 00:06:02,740 --> 00:06:08,260 they were huge mounds of earth topped with wooden stockades. 55 00:06:08,260 --> 00:06:13,180 Many would later be replaced with monumental towers of stone. 56 00:06:17,780 --> 00:06:22,260 The English had never seen anything like this before. 57 00:06:23,300 --> 00:06:28,180 Traditional Anglo-Saxon fortifications were large defensive enclosures 58 00:06:28,180 --> 00:06:31,820 built to shelter the people from attack. 59 00:06:31,820 --> 00:06:36,300 Norman castles were compact military bases 60 00:06:36,300 --> 00:06:41,020 designed to defend the power of William's newly-imposed lords. 61 00:06:46,380 --> 00:06:51,740 This one in Colchester was partly built with bricks from ancient Roman ruins. 62 00:06:58,220 --> 00:07:00,540 It was the largest keep in Europe. 63 00:07:08,740 --> 00:07:13,700 Almost 80 years after the conquest, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle was still reporting 64 00:07:13,700 --> 00:07:19,740 that the Normans were "oppressing the men of the land with forced labour on the castles". 65 00:07:19,740 --> 00:07:24,140 And when they were built, "they filled them with devils and evil men". 66 00:07:24,140 --> 00:07:29,860 Clearly the local population regarded these places as dark and evil. 67 00:07:29,860 --> 00:07:32,500 And that was the Normans' intention - 68 00:07:32,500 --> 00:07:34,940 to intimidate the local community. 69 00:07:51,260 --> 00:07:58,340 Within 30 years, the Normans had built hundreds of these fortifications across the country. 70 00:07:58,340 --> 00:08:03,620 Few places were more than a day's journey from a castle. 71 00:08:05,140 --> 00:08:09,140 This was a complete militarisation of England. 72 00:08:12,380 --> 00:08:17,260 This stone keep was built to guard over William's new capital. 73 00:08:17,260 --> 00:08:20,540 It was the tallest building in the city. 74 00:08:20,540 --> 00:08:23,700 We now know it as the Tower of London. 75 00:08:27,020 --> 00:08:31,820 But England still wasn't safe for William's army of occupation. 76 00:08:42,780 --> 00:08:47,540 The Abingdon Chronicle tells us that Adelelm, the new Norman abbot of Abingdon, 77 00:08:47,540 --> 00:08:53,060 "in the first days of his abbacy went nowhere unless accompanied by armed knights". 78 00:08:53,060 --> 00:08:55,500 The situation was volatile. 79 00:08:55,500 --> 00:09:00,100 Anglo-Saxon rebels set up secret ambushes for the Normans 80 00:09:00,100 --> 00:09:03,460 and killed them in woods and remote places. 81 00:09:07,180 --> 00:09:12,300 To protect himself and his men from ambush and casual knifings, 82 00:09:12,300 --> 00:09:16,780 William introduced a special penalty targeting the English. 83 00:09:16,780 --> 00:09:19,820 It was known as the Murdrum Fine. 84 00:09:24,220 --> 00:09:27,860 Whenever an unknown man was found murdered, the surrounding villages 85 00:09:27,860 --> 00:09:31,420 had to provide evidence that he was English. 86 00:09:31,420 --> 00:09:37,540 In the absence of such evidence, it was presumed he was French and the villagers were fined. 87 00:09:37,540 --> 00:09:42,900 In William the Conqueror's England, the killing of Normans required a special punishment. 88 00:09:53,660 --> 00:09:56,180 Anglo-Saxon resistance was growing. 89 00:10:02,500 --> 00:10:07,340 In the North of England, it erupted into open warfare. 90 00:10:11,420 --> 00:10:14,740 Hundreds of years of Scandinavian influence 91 00:10:14,740 --> 00:10:19,820 had created a Northern aristocracy that was largely of Danish origin. 92 00:10:27,660 --> 00:10:34,020 Now the rebels joined forces with the King of Denmark, who was making his own claim on the English throne. 93 00:10:35,700 --> 00:10:40,860 In 1069, William marched on York to crush the rebellion. 94 00:10:46,140 --> 00:10:48,660 The Normans devastated the North of England. 95 00:10:48,660 --> 00:10:52,220 They sacked every village and farmstead as they went. 96 00:10:52,220 --> 00:10:59,380 Then William divided his troops into smaller bands who destroyed any crops and livestock they could find. 97 00:10:59,380 --> 00:11:06,220 This campaign of systematic slaughter and destruction is known as the Harrying Of The North. 98 00:11:27,020 --> 00:11:33,820 The Anglo-Norman historian Orderic Vitalis reports that more than 100,000 people died. 99 00:11:39,220 --> 00:11:45,260 Those who survived were reduced to eating horses, dogs and cats, 100 00:11:45,260 --> 00:11:48,260 and some say, even human flesh. 101 00:11:50,100 --> 00:11:53,980 A stream of refugees began pouring south. 102 00:11:58,460 --> 00:12:03,020 A monk of Evesham tells of "a huge crowd of old men, young men, 103 00:12:03,020 --> 00:12:06,340 "women with infants, fleeing the misery of famine". 104 00:12:06,340 --> 00:12:08,540 He describes their wretched state. 105 00:12:08,540 --> 00:12:13,700 "These people lay throughout the village, in doors and out, even in the churchyard. 106 00:12:13,700 --> 00:12:17,620 "They were sick, destroyed by famine before they arrived here. 107 00:12:17,620 --> 00:12:21,060 "Many died just as they tasted food." 108 00:12:25,220 --> 00:12:29,940 A huge area across Northern and Central England was laid waste 109 00:12:29,940 --> 00:12:33,260 by this scorched-earth assault on the Northern rebels. 110 00:12:36,860 --> 00:12:41,260 Plotting the settlements destroyed by the Normans shows the scar 111 00:12:41,260 --> 00:12:44,580 that was carved across the country by William's army. 112 00:12:50,260 --> 00:12:55,340 16 years later, these areas were still desolate wastelands. 113 00:13:01,940 --> 00:13:03,900 William was unrepentant. 114 00:13:03,900 --> 00:13:09,580 He spent Christmas 1069 celebrating amid the squalor and death in York. 115 00:13:09,580 --> 00:13:13,940 He even had his full coronation regalia sent up from London. 116 00:13:13,940 --> 00:13:16,900 And on the third anniversary of his coronation, 117 00:13:16,900 --> 00:13:21,540 he wore his crown and robes in the ruins of York Minster, 118 00:13:21,540 --> 00:13:25,660 a symbolic gesture of triumph over the rebels. 119 00:13:29,860 --> 00:13:37,660 All over England, Normans were taking the place of Anglo-Saxon bishops, sheriffs and landowners. 120 00:13:39,220 --> 00:13:42,420 English culture was being transformed. 121 00:13:45,260 --> 00:13:51,180 The conquest brought a small, mainly male group to power in England, 122 00:13:51,180 --> 00:13:55,300 a ruling elite of perhaps no more than 10,000 men. 123 00:13:55,300 --> 00:14:00,940 Inter-marriage was common, and the children of these Anglo-Norman marriages 124 00:14:00,940 --> 00:14:06,220 spoke English, because their mothers or wet-nurses were English. 125 00:14:06,220 --> 00:14:14,140 And the French and English languages are still today playing out that dance they began in 1066. 126 00:14:17,780 --> 00:14:20,620 In the three centuries that followed the conquest, 127 00:14:20,620 --> 00:14:24,500 thousands of French words entered the English language. 128 00:14:24,500 --> 00:14:27,140 At first, they were the words of power... 129 00:14:29,620 --> 00:14:31,740 ..politics... 130 00:14:34,260 --> 00:14:35,820 ..and law. 131 00:14:38,100 --> 00:14:43,380 But soon the language reflected Norman influence in every aspect of life. 132 00:14:49,740 --> 00:14:54,580 Some of the new words were very important, like "war" 133 00:14:54,580 --> 00:14:57,140 and "peace", "justice" and "court". 134 00:14:57,140 --> 00:15:02,700 And the reason the modern English language has so many different words for the same thing 135 00:15:02,700 --> 00:15:05,580 is that the Normans introduced French alternatives. 136 00:15:05,580 --> 00:15:09,140 So "royal" is derived from the French. 137 00:15:09,140 --> 00:15:10,820 "Kingly" or "queenly" 138 00:15:10,820 --> 00:15:12,620 from the Old English. 139 00:15:12,620 --> 00:15:15,660 The same with "country" - French. 140 00:15:15,660 --> 00:15:18,140 "Land" - English. 141 00:15:18,140 --> 00:15:20,380 "Amorous" - French. 142 00:15:20,380 --> 00:15:22,340 "Loving" - English. 143 00:15:24,100 --> 00:15:27,300 One of the things that can make Anglo-Saxon history 144 00:15:27,300 --> 00:15:34,740 seem strange or distant to us is the unfamiliarity of the names, the Ethelberts and Egberts. 145 00:15:34,740 --> 00:15:39,500 The Norman names - William, Henry, Richard, Robert - 146 00:15:39,500 --> 00:15:43,980 caught on amongst the conquered, and endure to this day. 147 00:15:43,980 --> 00:15:46,500 The ruling elite set the fashion. 148 00:15:46,500 --> 00:15:52,780 Soon William was the most common male name in England, even amongst the peasantry. 149 00:15:54,500 --> 00:15:57,180 Surnames beginning with "fitz" 150 00:15:57,180 --> 00:16:03,180 go back to the Norman practice of using "fils", meaning "son of", as part of the name, 151 00:16:03,180 --> 00:16:09,340 giving "Fitzsimmons", son of Simon, or "Fitzgerald", son of Gerald. 152 00:16:10,380 --> 00:16:16,260 The languages were blending together but French remained the tongue of the ruling class. 153 00:16:16,260 --> 00:16:20,540 And nowhere are these class divisions clearer than with meat and drink. 154 00:16:20,540 --> 00:16:24,620 "Pig" is English, "pork" French. 155 00:16:24,620 --> 00:16:28,860 "Sheep" is English, "mutton" French. 156 00:16:28,860 --> 00:16:33,580 So when it's in a cold and muddy field, covered in dung, it's named in English. 157 00:16:33,580 --> 00:16:40,180 When it's been cooked and carved and put on the table with a glass of wine, it's referred to in French. 158 00:16:46,060 --> 00:16:50,380 This association of "Frenchness" with the English upper class 159 00:16:50,380 --> 00:16:53,620 and Anglo-Saxon with coarseness and vulgarity 160 00:16:53,620 --> 00:16:56,900 is one of the Normans' most enduring legacies. 161 00:16:58,500 --> 00:17:05,900 But over the decades, the cultural distinction between Normans and Anglo-Saxons gradually evaporated 162 00:17:05,900 --> 00:17:13,300 and English evolved and prospered to become one of the most influential languages in the world. 163 00:17:13,300 --> 00:17:16,300 About 100 years after the Battle of Hastings, 164 00:17:16,300 --> 00:17:20,460 the King's treasurer, Richard Fitzneal, wrote that, 165 00:17:20,460 --> 00:17:25,180 "with the Normans and the English living side by side and inter-marrying, 166 00:17:25,180 --> 00:17:27,460 "the peoples have become so mingled 167 00:17:27,460 --> 00:17:33,260 "that nowadays it's impossible to tell who is of English and who of Norman descent." 168 00:17:33,260 --> 00:17:38,540 And French, the language of power of the Normans, was, by 1500, 169 00:17:38,540 --> 00:17:42,060 simply a foreign tongue to be learnt at school. 170 00:17:45,500 --> 00:17:52,300 But under William's rule, some Anglo-Saxons were still trying to resist Norman occupation. 171 00:18:02,660 --> 00:18:07,420 A few years after the conquest, an exiled English rebel called Hereward 172 00:18:07,420 --> 00:18:11,180 secretly returned to eastern England. 173 00:18:15,900 --> 00:18:20,780 When Hereward entered the house of one of his father's knights, he found them all in mourning. 174 00:18:20,780 --> 00:18:25,060 Only the day before, his younger brother had been killed by the Normans. 175 00:18:25,060 --> 00:18:29,780 His severed head was hanging above the door of the family house. 176 00:18:35,740 --> 00:18:42,060 Hereward found a group of drunken Normans still singing and celebrating. 177 00:18:42,060 --> 00:18:45,740 He jumped from the shadows and slaughtered them. 178 00:18:55,300 --> 00:18:58,260 When he left the house, Hereward hung the severed heads 179 00:18:58,260 --> 00:19:01,380 of the Normans above the door, in place of his brother's. 180 00:19:01,380 --> 00:19:05,460 His legend grew. Later he would be called Hereward the Wake. 181 00:19:05,460 --> 00:19:08,060 Some say because he was "ever watchful". 182 00:19:08,060 --> 00:19:09,900 Whatever the reason, 183 00:19:09,900 --> 00:19:13,980 Hereward was now ready to wage guerrilla war against the Normans. 184 00:19:22,340 --> 00:19:27,020 Like the rebels in the North, Hereward formed an alliance with the Danes. 185 00:19:33,780 --> 00:19:38,620 The Fens in the East of England became the centre of their revolt. 186 00:19:43,460 --> 00:19:50,660 This watery wasteland was studded with small islands, perfect hiding places for the rebels. 187 00:19:55,100 --> 00:19:59,060 Hereward was holed up in the island monastery of Ely. 188 00:19:59,060 --> 00:20:02,740 The Fens provided a natural defensive position. 189 00:20:02,740 --> 00:20:06,420 And because the rebels had stocked Ely with supplies of food, 190 00:20:06,420 --> 00:20:10,340 Hereward was confident he could survive the longest siege. 191 00:20:18,380 --> 00:20:23,820 The rebels had local allies who helped them find their way across the treacherous marshes. 192 00:20:35,620 --> 00:20:39,620 William prepared a major offensive against Ely. 193 00:20:42,820 --> 00:20:48,420 He constructed a long wooden ramp to gain access to the island. 194 00:20:51,820 --> 00:20:56,780 The Normans rushed across the causeway, eager for the loot they hoped to obtain, 195 00:20:56,780 --> 00:20:59,980 but under their weight, the causeway collapsed. 196 00:20:59,980 --> 00:21:03,660 In their heavy mail coats, the Norman knights had no chance. 197 00:21:03,660 --> 00:21:06,140 They sank into the muddy water. 198 00:21:06,140 --> 00:21:11,580 Skeletons in rotting armour were still being pulled from the fen many years later. 199 00:21:14,100 --> 00:21:19,020 For the next attack, William brought in siege machines. 200 00:21:19,020 --> 00:21:22,980 He also summoned supernatural forces. 201 00:21:22,980 --> 00:21:28,460 An old witch was recruited to terrorise the rebels. 202 00:21:28,460 --> 00:21:32,780 She was placed on a raised platform in the middle of his troops. 203 00:21:35,100 --> 00:21:37,180 From her lofty position, 204 00:21:37,180 --> 00:21:40,340 she ranted at the isle and all who dwelt there. 205 00:21:40,340 --> 00:21:43,020 She threatened destruction and defeat, 206 00:21:43,020 --> 00:21:48,820 and she always concluded her incantations by flashing her bare backside at them. 207 00:21:53,540 --> 00:21:56,540 Now Hereward set fire to the Fens. 208 00:21:56,540 --> 00:22:01,220 The platform burned down and the witch broke her neck. 209 00:22:01,220 --> 00:22:04,140 But it was too late. 210 00:22:04,140 --> 00:22:10,940 Local monks had betrayed the rebels, and led the Norman army along a secret path to the island. 211 00:22:18,820 --> 00:22:22,820 Hereward's forces were defeated. 212 00:22:36,220 --> 00:22:39,540 William, victorious, marched on. 213 00:22:39,540 --> 00:22:45,140 And work soon began on another monumental symbol of Norman authority, 214 00:22:45,140 --> 00:22:48,260 the magnificent abbey church at Ely. 215 00:23:02,380 --> 00:23:06,140 The Normans were among the greatest church builders in Europe. 216 00:23:10,700 --> 00:23:15,460 Alongside hundreds of castles, they built abbeys and cathedrals 217 00:23:15,460 --> 00:23:19,340 on a scale never seen before in England. 218 00:23:32,820 --> 00:23:39,060 In Normandy, they'd used them to proclaim their fervent Christianity, wealth and power. 219 00:23:42,140 --> 00:23:48,860 Now they were stamping the same monumental style over their newly conquered territory. 220 00:23:48,860 --> 00:23:54,780 Ely Cathedral has the Norman trademark stone columns and soaring arches. 221 00:23:54,780 --> 00:23:59,180 It also has one of the longest naves in the country. 222 00:23:59,180 --> 00:24:02,500 Cathedrals like this were built to last. 223 00:24:12,780 --> 00:24:16,900 Scarcely a stone survives from the cathedrals of Anglo-Saxon England, 224 00:24:16,900 --> 00:24:21,340 but go to Ely, or Durham, or Gloucester, or Winchester, 225 00:24:21,340 --> 00:24:25,580 and you can still see the magnificent churches the Normans built. 226 00:24:25,580 --> 00:24:30,340 They were imposing sights and also a permanent reminder 227 00:24:30,340 --> 00:24:34,340 to the Anglo-Saxons that they were a conquered people. 228 00:24:52,580 --> 00:24:57,860 20 years into his reign, William launched an entirely new venture. 229 00:25:00,300 --> 00:25:05,180 Until now, he hadn't tampered with England's efficient tax system. 230 00:25:05,180 --> 00:25:09,500 It was still pouring silver into the royal treasury. 231 00:25:09,500 --> 00:25:12,700 But now his tactics changed. 232 00:25:23,020 --> 00:25:29,140 In 1086, Norman officials arrived in towns and villages all over England. 233 00:25:30,700 --> 00:25:36,020 They came with soldiers, but they were also armed with parchment and ink. 234 00:25:39,780 --> 00:25:46,820 These were William's commissioners and they summoned apprehensive men from every village in the shire. 235 00:25:49,900 --> 00:25:52,540 The commissioners asked the following questions - 236 00:25:52,540 --> 00:25:54,220 "What is the name of the manor? 237 00:25:54,220 --> 00:25:57,580 "Who held it in the time of King Edward?" Who holds it now? 238 00:25:57,580 --> 00:25:59,420 "How many hides of land are there? 239 00:25:59,420 --> 00:26:01,540 "How many ploughs belonging to the lord? 240 00:26:01,540 --> 00:26:03,060 "How many belonging to the peasants? 241 00:26:03,060 --> 00:26:06,140 "How many villagers are there in the manor? How many cottagers? 242 00:26:06,140 --> 00:26:08,740 "How much meadow? How many mills?" 243 00:26:13,900 --> 00:26:19,940 These questions were being asked in public inquests all over England. 244 00:26:19,940 --> 00:26:25,940 The Normans had begun the greatest national audit ever undertaken in Europe. 245 00:26:28,940 --> 00:26:31,220 The Survey Of The Whole Of England 246 00:26:31,220 --> 00:26:33,340 is what the Normans called it, 247 00:26:33,340 --> 00:26:39,460 but the English people, whose homes and fields, livelihoods and livestock it catalogued, 248 00:26:39,460 --> 00:26:44,220 had another name for it - Domesday, the Day of Judgement. 249 00:26:49,780 --> 00:26:55,780 The Domesday inquisition was carried out with characteristic Norman energy and discipline. 250 00:26:57,940 --> 00:27:03,620 Within six months, almost the whole country had been assessed and documented. 251 00:27:17,020 --> 00:27:21,060 And this is the final document, Domesday Book itself. 252 00:27:21,060 --> 00:27:24,980 The smaller volume is a detailed survey of East Anglia, 253 00:27:24,980 --> 00:27:30,020 the larger volume, a survey of the rest of the country - Great Domesday, it's called. 254 00:27:30,020 --> 00:27:35,140 It was written throughout by one scribe who used running headings, 255 00:27:35,140 --> 00:27:38,660 red ink and capitals to pick out individual entries. 256 00:27:38,660 --> 00:27:42,020 It's a masterpiece of design and layout. 257 00:27:43,660 --> 00:27:46,500 We're not sure why William commissioned Domesday. 258 00:27:46,500 --> 00:27:50,700 But the very last question asked by the survey gives us a clue. 259 00:27:50,700 --> 00:27:53,580 "Can more be had than is had?" 260 00:27:53,580 --> 00:27:56,220 William was looking for more money. 261 00:28:00,500 --> 00:28:06,100 Domesday Book gives us a unique insight into the Anglo-Norman world. 262 00:28:06,100 --> 00:28:11,940 And it gave William more information about his kingdom than any previous English king. 263 00:28:15,100 --> 00:28:19,380 We know, for example, that this was an overwhelmingly rural society. 264 00:28:19,380 --> 00:28:22,820 No more than 5% or 10% of the population lived in towns. 265 00:28:24,060 --> 00:28:28,140 Domesday tells us there were 6,000 mills in the country. 266 00:28:28,140 --> 00:28:35,300 And we know that on the lords' farms in East Anglia, there were 150,000 sheep and 35,000 pigs. 267 00:28:38,300 --> 00:28:41,700 The Domesday entry for the village of Gidding near Huntingdon 268 00:28:41,700 --> 00:28:47,860 records that 65 peasant families worked the land here in 1086. 269 00:28:47,860 --> 00:28:53,300 It also shows what the conquest of England meant for ordinary Anglo-Saxons. 270 00:29:02,260 --> 00:29:06,700 Domesday Book tells us that most of Gidding had passed into the hands of Norman lords, 271 00:29:06,700 --> 00:29:09,340 William Engaine and Eustace the sheriff. 272 00:29:09,340 --> 00:29:12,580 And it records the moment of dispossession. 273 00:29:12,580 --> 00:29:18,260 "In Gidding there are six free men, Alfwold and his five brothers. 274 00:29:18,260 --> 00:29:19,940 "Now Eustace holds that land. 275 00:29:19,940 --> 00:29:25,820 "Alfwold and his brothers claim that Eustace took the land from them unjustly." 276 00:29:25,820 --> 00:29:31,780 In those simple words, we have a stark image of the Anglo-Saxon dispossessed by the Normans. 277 00:29:34,540 --> 00:29:39,620 Domesday reveals that every level of Anglo-Saxon society 278 00:29:39,620 --> 00:29:43,060 was turned upside down by the conquest. 279 00:29:43,060 --> 00:29:46,660 And it's not surprising who gained most from the process. 280 00:29:49,660 --> 00:29:54,620 The King and his family possessed about 20% of the wealth of England. 281 00:29:54,620 --> 00:29:58,100 Another 25% was in the hands of the Church. 282 00:29:58,100 --> 00:30:03,260 Of the remaining 55%, the vast majority, half of England, 283 00:30:03,260 --> 00:30:06,540 was now in the hands of Norman barons, 284 00:30:06,540 --> 00:30:12,100 leaving a bare 5% to the surviving old English nobles. 285 00:30:14,900 --> 00:30:17,700 This was the most complete replacement 286 00:30:17,700 --> 00:30:22,540 of one ruling class by another ever recorded in English history. 287 00:30:32,660 --> 00:30:36,380 As a result of William's new authority in England, 288 00:30:36,380 --> 00:30:41,060 Normandy was now one of the most powerful principalities in France. 289 00:30:44,020 --> 00:30:49,100 But in 1087, he had to defend his duchy from a French invasion. 290 00:30:57,020 --> 00:31:03,340 He routed the French army, quickly took the town of Mantes and burned it to the ground. 291 00:31:08,180 --> 00:31:11,700 But the battle ended badly for William. 292 00:31:15,060 --> 00:31:19,740 By now, William was about 60 years of age and very fat. 293 00:31:19,740 --> 00:31:24,740 One report says that his horse stumbled in the burning ruins of Mantes 294 00:31:24,740 --> 00:31:29,820 and the pommel of the saddle pierced the King's distended belly. 295 00:31:29,820 --> 00:31:34,300 He was carried back to a quiet priory in Normandy to recover. 296 00:31:40,540 --> 00:31:45,780 The injured King was taken to the priory of St Gervais near Rouen. 297 00:31:49,500 --> 00:31:55,500 All that remains from that time is the ancient crypt beneath the 19th-century church. 298 00:31:59,980 --> 00:32:04,420 Clergy and aristocracy gathered around the King's bed. 299 00:32:06,020 --> 00:32:09,140 William begged them to pray for him. 300 00:32:11,860 --> 00:32:14,780 According to the historian Orderic Vitalis, 301 00:32:14,780 --> 00:32:19,780 he also made a surprising confession of his sins against the English. 302 00:32:23,540 --> 00:32:27,780 "I hated the native sons of the kingdom more than was just. 303 00:32:27,780 --> 00:32:31,860 "I cruelly mistreated both the nobles and the common people. 304 00:32:31,860 --> 00:32:34,620 "I unjustly dispossessed many 305 00:32:34,620 --> 00:32:39,540 "and I killed a countless multitude by sword and famine." 306 00:32:39,540 --> 00:32:42,780 This doesn't sound like the William we know, 307 00:32:42,780 --> 00:32:47,500 but Orderic, as the son of an English mother and a Norman father, 308 00:32:47,500 --> 00:32:50,940 must have had complicated feelings about William the Conqueror, 309 00:32:50,940 --> 00:32:55,620 and, as a good monk, he gave William the kind of deathbed speech 310 00:32:55,620 --> 00:32:58,660 that a repentant King ought to have made. 311 00:33:06,180 --> 00:33:08,380 Whatever his final words, 312 00:33:08,380 --> 00:33:14,060 soon after dawn on the 9th September, 1087, William died. 313 00:33:22,100 --> 00:33:27,700 According to Orderic, when the citizens of Rouen heard the news they were completely terrified, 314 00:33:27,700 --> 00:33:30,300 rushing around like drunken men 315 00:33:30,300 --> 00:33:33,860 and hiding away their possessions in fear. 316 00:33:33,860 --> 00:33:39,700 His knights and barons immediately left William's body, rushing off to protect their estates. 317 00:33:44,620 --> 00:33:49,020 Looters now descended on William's body. 318 00:33:49,020 --> 00:33:52,100 The man who'd been anointed King of England 319 00:33:52,100 --> 00:33:56,780 was stripped of his possessions and left almost naked on the floor. 320 00:34:01,220 --> 00:34:04,100 But worse was to follow. 321 00:34:08,420 --> 00:34:13,780 Before his funeral, it was discovered that the specially prepared stone sarcophagus 322 00:34:13,780 --> 00:34:16,740 was too small to contain the King's body. 323 00:34:20,780 --> 00:34:25,020 The monks attempted to force William's corpse into the space. 324 00:34:25,020 --> 00:34:28,980 According to Orderic, "His swollen belly burst, 325 00:34:28,980 --> 00:34:32,820 "and an intolerable stench filled the noses of the crowd. 326 00:34:32,820 --> 00:34:37,860 "Even the sweet smell of the incense used in the service couldn't mask it." 327 00:34:37,860 --> 00:34:45,220 And so the funeral rites of the most powerful man in Europe were rushed to a hasty conclusion. 328 00:35:06,380 --> 00:35:08,100 The Conqueror was dead. 329 00:35:08,100 --> 00:35:11,060 But his legacy would endure. 330 00:35:12,180 --> 00:35:16,180 For the next 500 years, the kings and queens of England 331 00:35:16,180 --> 00:35:20,740 would also rule a large part of Northern France. 332 00:35:20,740 --> 00:35:24,540 Britain's ties with Scandinavia were broken. 333 00:35:24,540 --> 00:35:31,580 To this day, the country still looks south to mainland Europe for its alliances and influences. 334 00:35:34,620 --> 00:35:38,620 England was now a Norman fortress. 335 00:35:38,620 --> 00:35:44,900 Beyond lay Scotland, Wales and Ireland - three different lands, 336 00:35:44,900 --> 00:35:47,460 three different encounters with the Normans, 337 00:35:47,460 --> 00:35:52,140 three different legacies that endure to this day. 338 00:36:02,940 --> 00:36:06,660 First came Scotland, with its own royal dynasty, 339 00:36:06,660 --> 00:36:11,220 but poorer than England, and weakened by internal divisions. 340 00:36:15,900 --> 00:36:19,980 The Normans didn't have to fight for Scotland. 341 00:36:19,980 --> 00:36:22,180 They were invited in. 342 00:36:31,900 --> 00:36:34,020 Dunfermline Abbey in Fife, 343 00:36:34,020 --> 00:36:39,940 founded before the end of the 11th century by Margaret, Queen of Scotland. 344 00:36:42,660 --> 00:36:47,580 Margaret was a member of the Anglo-Saxon royal dynasty. 345 00:36:47,580 --> 00:36:50,660 She fled to Scotland after the Battle of Hastings, 346 00:36:50,660 --> 00:36:55,500 took refuge in the court of King Malcolm, and became his wife. 347 00:37:00,420 --> 00:37:02,460 Margaret was a formidable figure, 348 00:37:02,460 --> 00:37:06,020 with the blood of the old Anglo-Saxon kings flowing in her veins. 349 00:37:06,020 --> 00:37:10,340 She insisted on a new level of ceremony in the Scottish royal court. 350 00:37:10,340 --> 00:37:13,860 And she was also a determined and active Christian 351 00:37:13,860 --> 00:37:18,260 who prayed, studied the Bible and did good works for the poor. 352 00:37:18,260 --> 00:37:22,660 She and her children would initiate a transformation of Scotland 353 00:37:22,660 --> 00:37:29,580 that would make it more like Norman England, but also strong enough to resist it. 354 00:37:33,300 --> 00:37:38,540 After her death in 1093, Margaret was regarded as a saint. 355 00:37:38,540 --> 00:37:43,460 Her son David continued his mother's work on this grand abbey. 356 00:37:53,260 --> 00:37:58,220 Dunfermline Abbey was built as a burial place for Scottish kings and queens. 357 00:37:58,220 --> 00:38:02,420 Margaret, Malcolm and three of their sons all lie here. 358 00:38:08,500 --> 00:38:13,500 It was built by a Scottish king, but in the finest Norman style. 359 00:38:24,180 --> 00:38:29,940 In Scotland, this Norman masterpiece wasn't a declaration of conquest. 360 00:38:29,940 --> 00:38:33,300 It was the symbol of a new alliance. 361 00:38:35,380 --> 00:38:42,780 David's sister was married to the youngest son of William the Conqueror, King Henry I of England. 362 00:38:42,780 --> 00:38:46,700 And David took full advantage of this family connection. 363 00:38:53,660 --> 00:38:56,380 As brother-in-law of the English king, 364 00:38:56,380 --> 00:39:02,980 David had already won rich prizes - land, office, and the title of earl. 365 00:39:02,980 --> 00:39:07,540 And as a relative of the English king, he was unafraid of the Norman barons. 366 00:39:07,540 --> 00:39:10,700 He understood that Norman knights and castles 367 00:39:10,700 --> 00:39:15,060 could be used to buttress his kingdom rather than destroy it. 368 00:39:16,820 --> 00:39:24,300 When David became king in 1124, he invited large numbers of Norman knights to settle in Scotland. 369 00:39:35,180 --> 00:39:40,980 At this period, there was no fundamental barrier to being a lord both in Scotland and in England. 370 00:39:40,980 --> 00:39:42,940 That was the Norman way. 371 00:39:42,940 --> 00:39:44,900 And for David, it was perfect, 372 00:39:44,900 --> 00:39:50,420 because it made Scotland more able to resist conquest from the south. 373 00:39:57,020 --> 00:40:04,260 As Norman castles went up across the land, they also helped subdue the King's Scottish opponents. 374 00:40:04,260 --> 00:40:09,460 By 1150, David had turned Scotland into a thriving European kingdom. 375 00:40:10,420 --> 00:40:14,900 He addressed his royal charters "To all his officials and good men 376 00:40:14,900 --> 00:40:21,300 "of the whole kingdom - French, Scottish, English and others born elsewhere." 377 00:40:22,900 --> 00:40:29,420 Scotland was a multi-ethnic country united under its own royal dynasty. 378 00:40:33,900 --> 00:40:39,020 At the end of the Middle Ages, Scotland survived intact as an independent kingdom. 379 00:40:39,020 --> 00:40:41,900 Margaret and her descendents had ensured that. 380 00:40:41,900 --> 00:40:45,780 It was a country partly settled and shaped by the Normans, 381 00:40:45,780 --> 00:40:50,300 but still with its own laws, its own currency, its own identity. 382 00:40:50,300 --> 00:40:56,940 A sovereign nation set apart from England in a way that has consequences to this day. 383 00:41:05,540 --> 00:41:08,220 The story in Wales was very different. 384 00:41:08,220 --> 00:41:15,100 Here the Normans came as conquerors into a land where many Welsh princes were fighting among themselves. 385 00:41:22,060 --> 00:41:26,900 William's forces laid the foundations of their first stone castle in Wales 386 00:41:26,900 --> 00:41:30,540 here at Chepstow in 1067. 387 00:41:30,540 --> 00:41:34,220 A monumental keep, designed to intimidate. 388 00:41:48,180 --> 00:41:53,900 This was the base from which the Normans intended to penetrate deeper into Wales. 389 00:41:56,180 --> 00:41:58,980 But it wasn't going to be easy. 390 00:42:09,580 --> 00:42:13,700 To conquer England, William had to defeat one Anglo-Saxon king. 391 00:42:13,700 --> 00:42:19,500 In Wales, the Normans faced many competing princes and independent principalities. 392 00:42:19,500 --> 00:42:21,980 England had been conquered in a day. 393 00:42:21,980 --> 00:42:25,540 The Normans took Wales piece by piece. 394 00:42:36,580 --> 00:42:40,020 The conquest of Wales took 200 years. 395 00:42:41,060 --> 00:42:45,380 Norman knights and barons settled in the valleys and coastal plains, 396 00:42:45,380 --> 00:42:48,900 sometimes inter-marrying with the Welsh princely families. 397 00:42:58,700 --> 00:43:05,020 This is Cilgerran Castle, in the border country known as The March Of Wales. 398 00:43:09,700 --> 00:43:14,620 In the 12th century, it was the home of a Welsh princess called Nesta. 399 00:43:16,180 --> 00:43:20,500 She had married one of the Norman settlers, Gerald of Windsor. 400 00:43:24,500 --> 00:43:26,740 Nesta was a famous beauty. 401 00:43:26,740 --> 00:43:29,780 It appears that men found her irresistible. 402 00:43:29,780 --> 00:43:34,980 Her cousin, Owain ap Cadwgan of Powys, was inflamed with passion for her. 403 00:43:34,980 --> 00:43:39,740 One night, he and 15 companions burrowed under the castle door 404 00:43:39,740 --> 00:43:43,140 intending to torch the place and abduct Nesta. 405 00:43:43,140 --> 00:43:45,780 Her husband would surely have been killed. 406 00:43:45,780 --> 00:43:50,380 But the quick-thinking Nesta ensured that Gerald of Windsor escaped 407 00:43:50,380 --> 00:43:52,620 down the toilet chute. 408 00:44:10,660 --> 00:44:15,340 Nesta's sons and grandsons dominated south Wales in the 12th century. 409 00:44:18,980 --> 00:44:23,060 They became part of a new Anglo-Welsh aristocracy, 410 00:44:23,060 --> 00:44:27,500 which maintained an uneasy autonomy from the English throne. 411 00:44:27,500 --> 00:44:30,860 They were known as The Marcher Lords, 412 00:44:30,860 --> 00:44:33,180 the lords of the frontier. 413 00:44:39,460 --> 00:44:41,900 The Marcher Lords were fiercely independent. 414 00:44:41,900 --> 00:44:44,580 In Wales, they were the ultimate authority, 415 00:44:44,580 --> 00:44:49,340 with their own law-courts, chanceries and the right to make peace and war. 416 00:44:49,340 --> 00:44:53,260 In the 13th century, one unfortunate messenger who turned up in the March 417 00:44:53,260 --> 00:44:58,380 with a royal writ, was forced to eat it, along with its wax seal. 418 00:44:58,380 --> 00:45:02,540 The King's writ did not run in the March. 419 00:45:12,820 --> 00:45:17,540 Nesta's descendants were at the forefront of the next phase of Norman expansion. 420 00:45:17,540 --> 00:45:19,860 But they weren't all warriors. 421 00:45:19,860 --> 00:45:22,300 One was an influential clergyman. 422 00:45:23,980 --> 00:45:29,620 He grew up here at Manorbier Castle on the south-west coast of Pembrokeshire. 423 00:45:29,620 --> 00:45:32,620 His name was Gerald of Wales. 424 00:45:36,260 --> 00:45:39,620 Gerald was destined for the Church from birth. 425 00:45:39,620 --> 00:45:43,660 His older brothers wanted to become knights, like their father. 426 00:45:43,660 --> 00:45:47,700 While they were building sand castles on the beach at Manorbier, 427 00:45:47,700 --> 00:45:51,420 Gerald was busy constructing sand churches. 428 00:45:51,420 --> 00:45:55,540 He was given the best literary education his age could provide. 429 00:45:55,540 --> 00:45:59,100 And he went on to become one of the great historians of his time. 430 00:46:03,380 --> 00:46:08,900 Gerald of Wales would write the most vivid account of the Norman expansion into Ireland. 431 00:46:10,660 --> 00:46:16,260 He records that in 1166, Dermot Macmurrough, the deposed ruler 432 00:46:16,260 --> 00:46:20,220 of the Irish kingdom of Leinster, was trying to win back his throne. 433 00:46:20,220 --> 00:46:23,660 He enlisted Norman mercenaries, 434 00:46:23,660 --> 00:46:29,140 with promises of "land and money, horses and armour, gold and silver". 435 00:46:31,500 --> 00:46:38,620 Dermot found eager recruits among the Marcher Lords, many of them sons and grandsons of Nesta 436 00:46:38,620 --> 00:46:42,140 and Gerald of Windsor - the Fitzgeralds. 437 00:46:44,980 --> 00:46:51,860 Gerald of Wales recorded the exploits of his warrior relatives with a large dose of family pride. 438 00:46:51,860 --> 00:46:54,940 "Who are those who penetrate to the heart of the enemy? 439 00:46:54,940 --> 00:46:56,620 "The Fitzgeralds. 440 00:46:56,620 --> 00:46:59,020 "Who are those who preserve the country? 441 00:46:59,020 --> 00:47:00,500 "The Fitzgeralds. 442 00:47:00,500 --> 00:47:03,300 "Who are they whom the enemy fears? 443 00:47:03,300 --> 00:47:04,980 "The Fitzgeralds." 444 00:47:04,980 --> 00:47:07,980 The Normans were on their way to Ireland. 445 00:47:26,060 --> 00:47:29,860 Ireland was a collection of warring Christian kingdoms. 446 00:47:31,380 --> 00:47:39,220 The first army of Norman mercenaries landed on the south coast, here at Bannow Bay, in 1169. 447 00:47:39,220 --> 00:47:44,100 30 knights, 60 men at arms, and 300 archers. 448 00:47:48,380 --> 00:47:52,140 The actions of this tiny force of Norman Welsh lords 449 00:47:52,140 --> 00:47:55,300 would establish links between England and Ireland 450 00:47:55,300 --> 00:47:59,540 that have been a determining feature of Irish history to this day. 451 00:48:07,460 --> 00:48:11,180 Joining forces with the Fitzgeralds was another Norman, 452 00:48:11,180 --> 00:48:15,660 Richard Fitzgilbert de Clare, better known as Strongbow. 453 00:48:26,140 --> 00:48:30,620 Strongbow could trace his descent right back to the dukes of Normandy, 454 00:48:30,620 --> 00:48:33,900 and his family had been amongst the richest in England. 455 00:48:33,900 --> 00:48:37,220 But Strongbow had fallen on hard times. 456 00:48:37,220 --> 00:48:41,540 He came to Ireland attracted by Dermot's offer of riches. 457 00:48:41,540 --> 00:48:47,220 And the Irish King had also promised his daughter Aoife in marriage. 458 00:48:50,580 --> 00:48:55,700 Under the leadership of another Fitzgerald, Raymond le Gros, or Raymond the Fat, 459 00:48:55,700 --> 00:48:59,060 Strongbow's forces prepared for the next assault. 460 00:49:02,100 --> 00:49:07,300 They landed here, at Baginbun, in the spring of 1170. 461 00:49:07,300 --> 00:49:12,060 Centuries later, the battle was still remembered in a traditional rhyme. 462 00:49:12,060 --> 00:49:16,540 "At the creek of Baginbun, Ireland was lost and won." 463 00:49:19,700 --> 00:49:24,500 The small but deadly Norman army was heavily outnumbered by the Irish forces. 464 00:49:24,500 --> 00:49:27,780 100 Normans versus 3,000 Irish. 465 00:49:27,780 --> 00:49:32,620 But Raymond cunningly drove a herd of cattle into the Irish ranks, causing chaos. 466 00:49:32,620 --> 00:49:39,300 And the Normans took advantage of the confusion to slaughter 500 of their enemy and take 70 prisoners. 467 00:49:48,740 --> 00:49:54,620 One of the Marcher knights had brought his mistress with him on campaign, Alice of Abergavenny. 468 00:49:58,300 --> 00:50:03,940 The lover of Alice of Abergavenny was one of the Marchers killed in the battle. 469 00:50:03,940 --> 00:50:06,540 Her revenge was ruthless. 470 00:50:06,540 --> 00:50:12,340 Wielding an axe, she beheaded each one of the prisoners with her own hands, 471 00:50:12,340 --> 00:50:17,660 and the decapitated bodies were then tossed off the cliffs into the sea below. 472 00:50:32,620 --> 00:50:37,180 Not long afterwards, 200 knights and 1,000 infantry 473 00:50:37,180 --> 00:50:41,420 under Strongbow's leadership stormed the town of Waterford. 474 00:50:44,900 --> 00:50:49,980 The Norman mercenaries would quickly restore Dermot to power. 475 00:51:00,180 --> 00:51:04,620 The day after his victory, with the bodies of the dead still piled in the streets, 476 00:51:04,620 --> 00:51:08,540 Strongbow won his prize and married Dermot's daughter. 477 00:51:08,540 --> 00:51:13,220 Soon afterwards, he succeeded Dermot as ruler of Leinster. 478 00:51:13,220 --> 00:51:17,220 Waterford, Wexford and Dublin were in his hands. 479 00:51:17,220 --> 00:51:20,580 Another Norman knight had conquered a kingdom. 480 00:51:25,020 --> 00:51:30,980 Back in England, Henry II, great-grandson of William the Conqueror, was worried. 481 00:51:30,980 --> 00:51:37,780 This band of independent Normans appeared to be setting up a power-base across the Irish Sea. 482 00:51:40,220 --> 00:51:46,660 In 1171, Henry became the first king of England to land on Irish shores. 483 00:51:46,660 --> 00:51:49,100 And he came with a huge army. 484 00:51:52,460 --> 00:51:57,940 400 ships carrying 4,000 soldiers and 500 knights. 485 00:51:59,740 --> 00:52:02,420 But this was a bloodless invasion. 486 00:52:04,460 --> 00:52:09,340 The Irish kings knew it was pointless to resist such a vast force. 487 00:52:09,340 --> 00:52:11,900 Strongbow, too, capitulated. 488 00:52:17,980 --> 00:52:24,620 When Henry returned to England six months later, he left a royal representative in Dublin, 489 00:52:24,620 --> 00:52:29,900 an English presence that would remain for more than 700 years. 490 00:52:29,900 --> 00:52:33,380 Ireland was England's first colony. 491 00:52:33,380 --> 00:52:37,700 The first colonial institutions were moulded here. 492 00:52:37,700 --> 00:52:43,500 And it was also the crucible of a new colonialist mentality. 493 00:52:56,980 --> 00:53:03,620 In the National Library of Ireland, there's a remarkable manuscript dating to the late 12th century. 494 00:53:03,620 --> 00:53:06,380 The Topography Of Ireland. 495 00:53:10,580 --> 00:53:16,780 This is Gerald of Wales' extraordinary account of Ireland in an age of conquest. 496 00:53:16,780 --> 00:53:22,140 And it reveals the emergence of a new attitude towards conquered peoples. 497 00:53:24,980 --> 00:53:32,460 Gerald tells a story about some Anglo-Norman sailors driven to shore by a storm in the Atlantic. 498 00:53:32,460 --> 00:53:36,940 They encounter a little boat being rowed by two Irishmen. 499 00:53:40,580 --> 00:53:42,780 Here they are, 500 00:53:42,780 --> 00:53:45,420 portrayed almost completely naked. 501 00:53:45,420 --> 00:53:49,140 And nakedness is, of course, one of the great symbols of savagery. 502 00:53:49,140 --> 00:53:54,580 These Irishmen marvel at everything they see, as if it's quite unfamiliar. 503 00:53:54,580 --> 00:54:00,180 When they are offered bread and cheese, they decline it, not knowing what these things are. 504 00:54:00,180 --> 00:54:04,940 They say they are accustomed to eat only raw meat, fish and milk. 505 00:54:09,580 --> 00:54:14,700 Nor is their religious education anywhere near civilised standards. 506 00:54:14,700 --> 00:54:18,060 "When asked whether they were Christians and had been baptised, 507 00:54:18,060 --> 00:54:22,780 "they answered that until now they had heard nothing of Christ and knew nothing about him." 508 00:54:26,740 --> 00:54:29,540 The story must be an invention. 509 00:54:29,540 --> 00:54:33,260 The Irish were converted to Christianity long before the English. 510 00:54:33,260 --> 00:54:39,940 What Gerald is doing is creating a powerful image of nakedness, rawness and religious ignorance. 511 00:54:39,940 --> 00:54:44,580 He is justifying the Norman conquest and colonisation in Ireland 512 00:54:44,580 --> 00:54:48,940 by portraying the native Irish as backward and barbaric. 513 00:55:09,380 --> 00:55:14,620 The Normans colonised and exploited the fertile coastal plains of Ireland. 514 00:55:14,620 --> 00:55:19,020 The poorer areas were left to the native Irish. 515 00:55:20,620 --> 00:55:25,020 This gulf between the English and the Irish has never been bridged. 516 00:55:26,980 --> 00:55:31,940 Ireland remains divided, not exactly as it was in the Middle Ages, 517 00:55:31,940 --> 00:55:35,660 but as a direct consequence of the Norman invasion. 518 00:55:39,020 --> 00:55:42,700 In England and in Scotland, the Norman story is one of 519 00:55:42,700 --> 00:55:47,700 assimilation, inter-marriage and adaptation to local society. 520 00:55:49,940 --> 00:55:51,540 But in Ireland, 521 00:55:51,540 --> 00:55:55,900 the colonisers thought they were superior to the colonised. 522 00:55:55,900 --> 00:56:02,220 They treated them with disdain and emphasised separation and distance, not integration. 523 00:56:02,220 --> 00:56:05,380 They had taken a turn that was to be crucial 524 00:56:05,380 --> 00:56:10,260 in the later history of European imperialism across the globe. 525 00:56:22,220 --> 00:56:30,100 The Norman expansion into England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland was a decisive historic intervention. 526 00:56:31,140 --> 00:56:35,620 In different ways, it shaped the future of each of these lands. 527 00:56:44,180 --> 00:56:46,540 The Normans conquered England so thoroughly 528 00:56:46,540 --> 00:56:50,340 that the native royal dynasty and aristocracy disappeared forever. 529 00:56:50,340 --> 00:56:56,860 Scotland found a way to do business with the Normans, and has survived as a country distinct from England - 530 00:56:56,860 --> 00:57:02,620 separate if not sovereign, with its own law, church and educational system. 531 00:57:02,620 --> 00:57:06,500 Wales and Ireland became half-conquered countries. 532 00:57:06,500 --> 00:57:10,260 Bitter divisions have flared up regularly ever since. 533 00:57:10,260 --> 00:57:15,140 The Normans didn't only conquer England in 1066, they went on to 534 00:57:15,140 --> 00:57:21,380 create the political and cultural landscape of Britain and Ireland that we know to this day.