402. The Norman Conquests: The Real Story of 1066 (Part 2)

Hello and welcome to Empire with me, Anita Arnand. And me, William DeRimple. And joining us for the next episode uh is the historian who has probably done more than anyone else to put 1066 back in the hands of general readers. Uh the great Mark Morris, author of The Anglo Saxons and the Norman Conquest, but also biographer of later English kings like uh King John Nebu the first. Mark, welcome to Empire, very nice to meet you. Thank you very much for inviting me. Mark, you know, with all the huge crowds going to see it, um, for those who think they're looking at a Gospel truth.

account. of what happened in ten sixty six. You Would sound a note of caution, wouldn't you? Yes, I I think most people would realise they're being told one version of a story, you know, and to send any historical source is to some extent propaganda with a small P. I think the thing with the bio tapestry that people can run away with the idea of if they are not corrected is that this is our only source. Or perhaps even the most important source for ten sixty six, when it is just one of dozens of sources. The biotapestry has certain obvious strengths, most obviously.

It's the it's a pictorice without compare. So the biotapestry gives us loads of stuff, incidental stuff for the most part, that the that other sources, written sources do not. So it tells us about haircuts and clothes and facial hair, you know, for in in some sense quite peripheral things, but it's still nice to have them. Mustaches. Mustaches, w whether William had a mustache or Harold had a mustache. This crucial information. So but it it it is absolutely unique in that it gives us a visual window onto that lost world. But at the same time we have lots of other very rich written sources, biographies of The Godwinsons.

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