William the Conqueror: life of the week
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Hello and welcome to Life of the Week, where leading historics delve into the lives of some of history's most entrust and significant figures from ancient Egyptian theories and medieval war to daring and 20th century and innovative statebuilder. His legacy is still debated almost a thousand years later. But how much do we know about the man behind this formidable reputation? I spoke to Emeritus professor David Bates to chart William's dramatic rise to power and the brutal realities of Norman rule. Thank you so much for joining me on the podcast, David.
We're going to be introducing the life of William the Conqueror and also talking a bit about how he was understood at the time and how he has been seen since his death. To start us off, let's go right back to the beginning, right back to his birth. William was born in the Duchy of Normandy, but what kind of world was he born into? Yes, well, N Normandy at the time of William's birth, which is either late in the year 1027 or early 1028, well, what we call the Duchy was by those times very well established, originally a Viking settlement, which was created into a territorial principality which became Normandy.
It became politically well established, monasteries were being founded, the institutions were developing. One can talk of it, in other words, mostly as having an identity which was Frankish, French, if you like, while there was, of course, some memory of the Viking past, which made it different. And of course, it is very important for the subject that's coming that it was on the coast. That's perfect context to lead us straight into William's life.
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