The grip the Normans exerted on Europe and the Middle East was more the result of a militarised diaspora and crafty opportunism than of conscious empire-building, argues Levi Roach in a new book
Save time by listening to our audio articles as you multitaskIn exchange Rollo would make a pledge of service to the king and convert to Christianity. He had no hesitation in accepting the terms while demanding yet more territory. But when it came to displaying gratitude by kissing Charles’s feet, as custom required, he got one of his men to do it. Also refusing to kneel, Rollo’s henchman simply grabbed the king’s ankle, pulled the royal foot to his lips and sent the monarch sprawling.
Yet even at what seemed to be the apotheosis of Norman power and influence, the idea of what it was to be one was becoming elusive. By assimilating and marrying wherever they showed up, the Normans willingly blended their identity with the locals’. By the time of Frederick’s coronation, Normans in England, although still French-speaking, thought of themselves as English.
Some of the ground covered by the book may be familiar to history buffs: from the high-stakes conquest of England to the fighting qualities that Normans brought to the near-miraculous triumph of the First Crusade.
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