http://www.medievalhistories.com/wp-content/uploads/William-the-Conqueror-from-the-Bayeux-tapestry-detail-500x333.jpg 500w, A lifetime of scholarship plus fifteen years of hard work has been invested in David Bates’ new biography of William the Conqueror. We should be grateful!
By David Bates
Series: The English Monarchs Series
Yale University Press 2016
ISBN-10: 0300118759
ISBN-13: 978-0300118759
Davis Barnes has had a long and productive career as professor in medieval history at the universities in Cardiff, Glasgow and London until 2008. He now holds an associative chair in medieval History at the University of East Anglia.
However, scrolling though his list of publications, it immediately becomes apparent that his distinguished career has been focused on the history of Normandy and England 900 – 1100 with a particular focus on the conquest and its aftermath. Of particular importance has been his engagement with the scholarly communities on both shores. Of particular interest has been his focus on the careers of some of the major actors: Odo, bishop of Bayeux and William the Conqueror.
Fifteen years ago David Bates agreed to write a biography of William the Conqueror based on his extensive scholarship. Mistakenly, he believed that this might build on existing scholarship and his own previous work. Delving into what was perceived as familiar texts, he nevertheless soon discovered that rereading the sources from one end to the other revealed a much more difficult subject than he had hitherto imagined.
Also, it soon became apparent that inspiration had to be sought in the anthropological turn, which medieval history of 10th century Normandy was early to adopt, but which has been a late-comer to the 11th century history of conquest and nation-building.
Subsequently this magisterial biography examines the life of this major figure in British and European history from a distinct multidisciplinary approach, considering not just the political and ideological ramifications of his rule but also the cultural, as witnessed by cross-Channel empire and its artistic legacy.
But we also get to know an individual with a distinct personality characterised by ruthless ambitions and cruelty. On one hand, he was capable at attracting widespread support from his close friends. On the other hand he was a formidable soldier, who never forgave his enemies, nor shied away from such brutal and pitiless acts as the Harrying of the North, in which vast segments of the population were killed off together with their beasts needed to work the land.
This is a magisterial biography summing up a lifelong scholarly endeavour to grasp the tiny details as well as the broad scope of the history of the 11th century and one of its main players.
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