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Presented by Professor Robert Bartlett, the series will bring the history of the Normans to life by uncovering the personal stories of shadowy figures like Tancred of Hauteville, best remembered as a poor 11th-century Norman lord who fathered no less than 12 sons, two of whom left their homeland and risked their lives to become great rulers in the Mediterranean and Middle East.
Sweeping across borders and centuries, Bartlett will journey from the stormy shores of Great Britain via Jerusalem to the Kingdom of Sicily, explaining how and why a dynasty of dukes and warriors became conquerors and kings. Bursting with colourful manuscripts, documents and artefacts, this series will give voice to an unfamiliar world of princess historians and mixed-race monks.
Martin Davidson, Commissioning Editor, History and Business, says: “The Battle of Hastings in 1066 is such an iconic landmark in our history, but what do we really know of the dynasty of dukes and warriors that staged this Norman invasion? And what do we know of the frenetic energy of the centuries that followed? I’m extremely pleased that a world authority like Robert Bartlett will be at the helm of our Norman season, providing BBC Two viewers with a definitive look at the warrior-race whose ambition and power transformed Europe and irrevocably changed the course of British history.”
In the first episode, Bartlett explores where the Normans came from and how they developed into the formidable force that conquered England in 1066. He tells how, under the leadership of a Scandinavian giant called Rollo, these descendants of the Vikings first established themselves in northern France and became an unstoppable force of Christian knights and warriors. They also established themselves as master builders of Christianity with the construction of extraordinary cathedrals across Normandy.
The second episode in the series sees Bartlett exploring the impact of the Norman Conquest of Britain and Ireland. He shows how William the Conqueror savagely cut down any opposition and built scores of castles and cathedrals to intimidate and control. He imposed a new aristocracy and commissioned Domesday Book, the greatest survey of England that had ever been attempted. This gave him an efficient instrument of control and a useful means of raising revenue.
England adapted to her new masters. Inter-marriage between the Normans and the English was common, giving rise to a transformation of the language and culture of the land. Bartlett argues that the political and cultural landscapes of Scotland, Wales and Ireland were also forged by the Normans. In Scotland, the Normans were invited in while they faced opposition in Wales and never managed to take the whole country. In Ireland, Bartlett shows how the Normans created a division between the English and the Irish that still exists to this day, laying the blueprint for colonialism in the modern world.
In the final episode Bartlett explores the impact of the Normans on southern Europe and the Middle East, far from the Norman kingdoms of Normandy and England. In the 11th century, the Normans spread south, fighting for control of southern Italy and the island of Sicily. There they created their most prosperous kingdom, in which different cultures lived alongside one another in relative harmony. Christianity and Islam existed in mutual tolerance and the Norman Kingdom of Sicily became a great centre of international culture and learning. Scholars from east and west flocked there, encouraging an exchange of ideas that would change the world.
Events in the Middle East provoked the more aggressive side of the Norman character. In 1095, the Pope called for Holy War against Islam. The Normans enthusiastically took up the challenge and headed east as part of the First Crusade. They passed through Constantinople, besieged and won the city of Antioch, and finally attacked the Holy City, winning Jerusalem back from the Muslims. Norman warriors rushed to liberate the Holy Sepulchre from Muslim hands. This bloody conquest left a deep rift between Christianity and Islam which is still being felt to this day
