Conquered: The Last Children of Anglo-Saxon England

Description

"Outstanding." - The Sunday Times "Beautifully written." The Times "Superbly adroit." The Spectator "Excellent." BBC History Magazine The Battle of Hastings and its aftermath nearly wiped out the leading families of Anglo-Saxon England - so what happened to the children this conflict left behind? Conquered offers a fresh take on the Norman Conquest by exploring the lives of those children, who found themselves uprooted by the dramatic events of 1066. Among them were the children of Harold Godwineson and his brothers, survivors of a family shattered by violence who were led by their courageous grandmother Gytha to start again elsewhere. Then there were the last remaining heirs of the Anglo-Saxon royal line - Edgar AEtheling, Margaret, and Christina - who sought refuge in Scotland, where Margaret became a beloved queen and saint. Other survivors, such as Waltheof of Northumbria and Fenland hero Hereward, became legendary for rebelling against the Norman conquerors. And then there were some, like Eadmer of Canterbury, who chose to influence history by recording their own memories of the pre-conquest world. From sagas and saints' lives to chronicles and romances, Parker draws on a wide range of medieval sources to tell the stories of these young men and women and highlight the role they played in developing a new Anglo-Norman society. These tales - some reinterpreted and retold over the centuries, others carelessly forgotten over time - are ones of endurance, adaptation and vulnerability, and they all reveal a generation of young people who bravely navigated a changing world and shaped the country England was to become.

Eleanor Parker is Lecturer in Medieval English Literature at Brasenose College, University of Oxford, UK. She also writes a regular column for History Today.

Conquered is beautifully produced and written with flair and great scholarly acumen. Parker teaches medieval English literature at the University of Oxford and she dedicates her book to her students. Because of the pandemic these young people, she points out, like the young people in her book, have had to cope with upheaval, loss and a sudden change in the expected course of their lives. They have faced it with courage and determination, but, she writes, "it is no doubt an experience that will remain with them". -- John Carey * The Sunday Times * In her superbly adroit new history, Eleanor Parker examines how memories of Edgar and his like - the generation that straddled the Conquest - survived, or were melded to meet the needs of the time.... It is much to the credit of Parker's sensitivity as a scholar that, almost 1,000 years later, she has been able to resurrect, often from silence, the pathos of those decades and the plight of those who endured them. -- Alex Burghart * The Spectator * This outstanding, beautifully written history follows the young Anglo-Saxons whose lives were shattered by the Norman conquest. -- Andrew Holgate and Robbie Millen * The Times, Best Books of 2022 * This excellent book offers an original premise: that there is much to learn by considering the children whose lives were upended by the Conquest... Parker insightfully shows how the experiences of these children of Anglo-Saxons (among others) illustrate the accommodations being made in England as conquered and conquerors adjusted to the new reality, and reframed the 1066 narrative for future generations. -- Dave Musgrove * BBC History Magazine * A child grasps a woman's hand as they flee a house being torched by two men seemingly unconcerned for their plight. This image, embroidered onto the Bayeux Tapestry several years after 1066, is a hauntingly timeless reminder of the devastation warfare and conquest can wreak on individuals, families and communities... Conquered narrates their stories vividly and knowledgably in a refreshing departure from popular narratives of the Norman Conquest, which concentrate on the political and military concerns of adult men. -- Emily J. Ward * Times Literary Supplement * Fascinating and accessible. -- Sarah Foot * The Church Times * This book is a revelation. What it demonstrates is the international inter-connectedness of the pre-Norman secular and ecclesiastical aristocracy. -- Duncan Bowie * The Charist * Eleanor Parker has written an innovative book in clear and evocative language. She invites the reader to engage with an idea we do not often consider-that many of the European historical sources from the late-11th century were written by people whose childhoods were defined by the Norman Conquest. Parker's use of Icelandic Sagas and other non-English texts shows us the world in which these "conquered" children lived and worked, exploring how their stories continued past 1066 and its aftermath. * Dr Janet Kay, Associate Research Scholar and Lecturer, Department of Art and Archaeology, Princeton University, USA * Eleanor Parker brings to life what the upheaval of the Norman Conquest meant for men and women in England. Following the personal experiences of individuals, she eloquently evokes the loss and uncertainty of the age. This is a book of rich stories of misfortune, perseverance and adaptability, told in an accessible yet authoritative voice. * Dr Rory Naismith, Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic and Fellow of Corpus Christi College, University of Cambridge, UK *