Customer Reviews

History of William the Conqueror

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This is a very basic overview of the life of William the Conqueror, giving a brief history of the Saxon and Danish kings of England and the dukes of Normandy, followed by a detailed retelling of the life of William and his family. It is written at an appropriate level for a middle-school child (see examples below).

Abbot explains clearly what life was like for the nobility in the Medieval period and writes with sympathy for the commoners caught between the feuding pretenders to the throne. He discusses the rivalry between the various kings, their sons, and their supporters and enemies, always in clear prose. Abbot is also clear about motivations, for example distinguishing between, on the one hand, the cruel and rapacious kings (such as Ethelred) and, on the other, William, whom he believes acted in a combination of ambition and a sincere belief that it was his duty to displace a usurper of the throne. (According to Abbot, William had been promised by King Edward of England that he, William, would be named successor to throne. On Edward's death however, no such statement of succession was made and in fact Edward stated that he was indifferent to who should succeed him.)

To give a flavor of Abbot's writing, here are two brief quotes:

"It is not to be supposed that, even in the warlike times of which we are writing, such a potentate as a duke of Normandy would invade a country like England, so large and powerful in comparison to his own, without some pretext. William's pretext was, that he himself was the legitimate successor to the English crown, and that the English king who possessed it at the time of his invasion was a usurper."

"The hostages which are particularly named by historians as given by Godwin to King Edward were his son and his grandson. Their names were Ulnoth and Hacune."

All in all, for an adult, Abbot's book is a very basic overview of the facts of the wars of the period, the rivalries among the factions, and the execution of the Norman invasion. Abbot deals with personalities and motivations, but does not venture into the principles of the reigns of the various kings, leaving the reader with little to no information about the structure of the societies, the laws or the ways they were enforced (or not enforced), or why the Normans were never displaced, despite the continuing rivalries after William's death. For that, one will have to turn to another book.

This book is the fifth book that I read on historical figures by Abbott. After the initial excitement on reading them, I become to know some weakness.

For this book, I hope that the author can write more about how William managed England, which currently is related to a half a conclusion section.