The Normans

by David C. Douglas

From the Introduction: The first part of the current volume, The Norman Achievement, 1050-1100, was originally published in 1969. The second half, The Norman Fate, 1100-1154, followed in 1976. Douglas's studies of the Normans in Europe will always attract readers because they are well argued and well written. His thesis that the Normans were essentially the same force wherever they triumphed - whether in Britain, France, Italy or Syria - was put forward by Norman historian in the twelfth century, but it is highly contentious, as Douglas knew very well. Nevertheless, it is this tension which makes his chapters so lively, as he leads his readers through one of the great debates of history. How unified the Normans were - and how successful they were - will always be matters for argument, as views differ across the various countries of Europe as well as among individual historians. Within England itself anti-Norman and pro-Norman factions have existed for centuries; did the Normans destroy Anglo Saxon civilisation, or did they rebuild the greatness of England on a new basis? In some areas, too much has certainly been attributed to the Normans: for example, Irish historians hold them rather than the English responsible for the invasion of 1170. On the other hand, going back to the eleventh century, Norman influence over the papacy and the Christian Church in general may have been underestimated. These differing views are reflected in the historians of the eleventh and twelfth centuries themselves. In his epilogue to the first part of this volume, Douglas describes himself as having 'commemorated' the Normans. This suggests that he had come to see his own role rather like that of a Norman chronicle recording for posterity the famous deeds of his people.

Genres: History, Medieval History, Nonfiction

563 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

A specialist in the Norman era, David Charles Douglas taught at the University of Cambridge before joining Oxford University in 1963 as Ford's Lecturer in English History.

Reviews

[Lee Broderick · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Normans were a European phenomenon, as such it's perhaps easy to see why David C. Douglas should choose to write about them in a way which suggests that they were largely responsible for modern notions of a European culture just at the time when the EEC was being created. Such ideas foreshadow the later adoption of the fictitious Celts as a pan-European forebear for the EU. Douglas's writing is rather pro-Norman in areas, reading as a man trying to convince others of the importance of what he believes, and the importance of this book lies in its pan-European treatment of its subject: even now, the Anglo-Norman, Sicilian and Antiochian realms are rarely considered together.

This, for me, is both the strength and the weakness of the book. Recent archaeological work has emphasised the cultural and trade links between the various Norman realms (e.g. The Norman Conquest: A Zooarchaeological Perspective ) and Douglas identifies several families in the middling aristocratic bracket who had members active in more than one realm. Where Douglas fails to convince however, is in any unity of purpose: crucially he does not uncover any evidence for links between the elite of Anglo-Normandy and Sicily (unless you include the first crusade in this bracket) and what emerges is a picture more like an old-boys network than anything else.

The book covers the period AD 1050-1154 and in that period members of two Norman families were to produce several individuals who were both militarily and politically talented and, although self-centred, combined naked aggression with charisma. What would be useful would be a study of the roots of this network: the school that produced these families, i.e. a history of Normandy from the arrival of Rollo/Rolf the Viking to AD 1050.

[Christopher Bergedahl · Rating 3 out of 5]

An at times fascinating, but overall uneven read. Compelling histories on key characters and events spanning the period 911 - 1154 CE are interspersed with endless lists of barely relevant nobles and clerics. Compares unfavourably to the more recent Empire of the Normans, which I tore through in just a couple of days.

[Lynn Silsby]

Book I, Ch. 1 (The Background to Achievement):

pp. 16-7 - "...Although the ideas and emotions dominant in western Europe between 1050 and 1100 appear in some ways so removed from those prevalent today, the primary motives which then inspired men to action were such as are common to all periods.... The connection between England and Europe, the control of the Mediterranean, the relations between eastern and western Europe, the schism between the eastern and western Churches, are topics whose interest has not faded. Nor have the lust for dominion and plunder, or the cruelties which it inspires, been noticeably diminished with the years.... The eleventh century is not the only period when western European mean have found value in the anxious analysis of dreams, or discovered presages of misfortune in coincidences in the calendar.... No century has...been more afflicted with ideological warfare than the eleventh - except perhaps the twentieth - and the reliance then placed on supernatural assistance in wars described as 'holy' has some strange parallels in very modern times. Again, a characteristic of the Normans was the use they made of propaganda which they employed in a manner almost reminiscent of the pulsating and deceiving air of Europe since 1938. The paradox of history is here. Deep is the chasm between the centuries, but by bridging it a man may return home."