Val Morgan Boeken

Exploring the lives of twelve significant figures from the Anglo-Norman period, this book delves into their unique contributions and the historical context of their times. Each biography highlights pivotal moments of death, disaster, and destiny, revealing how these individuals shaped the course of history. Through engaging narratives, the author examines themes of power, conflict, and legacy, offering insights into the complexities of the medieval world and the enduring impact of these historical figures on contemporary society.

In 1086, a year of lightning strikes and storms, William the Conqueror launches the most ambitious project of his reign, sometimes called the Great Description of all England. He sends out Royal Commissioners to travel the realm for months on end, subjected to many dangers, collecting data for the survey that will become known to history as the Domesday Book. One night they come to the castle of Lord Robert and set in train a series of turbulent events. But who are they and what do they really want? These questions are made more urgent when two dead bodies turn up on Robert's land. One person holds the key, but he is an outlaw with his own desperate gamble to play. Intrigues of treachery, love and revenge are set against a backdrop of ordinary village life in the few months leading up to the making of the most famous book in English history.

Imagine a bull and a sheep harnessed together at the same yoke. What would happen? The most likely thing would be utter chaos as they struggle to separate and go off in their own directions. The plough would slice dangerously about behind them, no furrow would be straight and in the end, the weaker animal would be trampled.This is the scenario evoked by Anselm on the day he was, controversially, made Archbishop of Canterbury.“You are trying to harness together at the plough under one yoke an untamed bull and an old and feeble sheep. What will come of it?”Anselm’s question is the beginning of a remarkable story.What ‘came of it’, that is to say, what happened between the bull, William II, King of England; and the sheep, Archbishop Anselm, in the closing years of the 11th century, is one of the great untold sagas of the medieval period.

On August 2nd 1100, King William Rufus was shot by an arrow whilst out hunting and died of the wound. Was it murder? Here is the story of what happened after that fatal arrow plunged the kingdom into years of disruption and uncertainty when exceptional personalities were playing for high stakes in a country wracked by violent disputes and long-drawn-out controversies. After the Arrow brings to life the people who struggled with the most divisive issues of their day and the people who bore the cost.