Medieval

The Norman Impact

Ruthless militarists who extinguished a more thoughtful and sophisticated culture? Or synthesisers of genius who gave England a new lease of life in focusing its attention on Continental Europe? R. Allen Brown weighs profit and loss from the events of 1066.

The Angevin Empire

The Angevin Empire may have come about by a mixture of luck and calculation, but skill and respect for local custom were required for Henry II to preserve it intact.

The Welshness of the Tudors

Without their Welsh connections, the Tudors could never have made good their rags-to-riches ascent to the English throne, argues Peter R. Roberts.

William the Conqueror and Battle Abbey

William's persistent determination to build an abbey on the exact site of his victory at Hastings underlines its importance as a symbol of the Norman Conquest.