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Conquered England: Kingship, Succession, and Tenure 1066-1166

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This book contains a thorough examination of the justification for the Norman conquest of England in 1066 as well as for the far reaching consequences of that justification in the proceeding century. It is aimed at an academic audience or the well-read non-specialist who wishes to delve into these matters deeply, especially from a legal and socio-political perspective.

The first portion of the book discusses the justification for the conquest which was fabricated by the Normans after the invasion of 1066 went spectacularly right and they suddenly found themselves masters of a whole new country. The author then discusses how this justification meant that legally, the Normans claimed that William had inherited the whole kingdom as his own. Thus the Domesday Book was more or less a massive charter showing that every land owner in England held their plot as tenants of the king. This dependency on the king for tenure led to instability throughout the political system and particularly led to great uncertainty any time the succession was at issue.

Whilst the book is erudite and scholarly, it remains accessible. This in the main due to the author's very readable style, which consists of using short pithy sentences and a dash of humour here and there. As one would expect for an academic work of this type, it is heavily footnoted thus giving plenty of scope for the interested scholar to carry out further investigation.