Apparently gesta believes that a review of the BBC’s new series on the Normans, which started with the main programme last night presented by Prof. Rob Bartlett, will be more interesting if done by the ignorant rather than the informed. Up to the current standards of journalism, then…
An hour-long episode started with the Vikings’ depredations across England and France (and hinted at their wider travels) and finished with the end of that battle and William heading off to take control of his new kingdom. It certainly rattled along at a good pace, was as clear and concise as you’d expect from an expert in the field, and had none of the romanticism of the last party political broadcast for the lunatic fringe, as given by Channel 4. The episode gave an excellent feel of the Normans and how they evolved into an effective and efficient, if quarrelsome and violent, group, and also gave a brief but clear (and, it seemed to the ignorant viewer, clear-sighted) feel of the Anglo-Saxon England and English, and how the Normans were inter-twined with them.
Presentationally it was similar to the previous series introduced by Bartlett, “Inside the Medieval Mind”, which gesta has talked about before. A bit less of the extreme camera work, and a bit more of the subtle background recreation (arrows flying, battles going on, horses, illuminations), but it was mostly unobtrusive (when gesta wasn’t grumbling about the irrelevant anachronisms). Occasionally the chronology got slightly confused (I guess in editing), or key points were over-emphasized or repeated, but at the time it felt well paced, self-contained, interesting and clear.
Now that I think back I realize that there were gaps that I would really like to have had filled. For obvious reasons the Normans’ relations and interactions with first the French king and then the English were the focus. So what was going on with the rest of what we would now call France? This was mentioned in passing because of Matilda, but it almost felt as if the Normans were alone and unopposed in France. In addition the evolution from the Viking raider of Rollo to the effective, if ruthless, rulers of an extended duchy clearly hid a lot of details, especially as the the intervening dukes were barely touched on. Still, to my mind that is just another point in favour of the presentation given: it neither tried to be comprehensive, nor pretended it was, but was still fascinating. Hopefully the later episodes will fill in some of the details, as the Normans expand.
Well, William the Conqueror certainly expanded. According to Orderic Vitalis, he burst in his coffin!
That makes me remember something Richard Sharpe said in questions after the last time I saw him present, to wit: “If something’s only recorded in Orderic, it’s almost certainly wrong.”
Good write-up by Reivers I thought! I think the grumbles should be included as footnotes though
I would have to disagree with Richard Sharpe on that one, or at least the emphasis.
I was mainly grumbling about the producer using John of Worcester’s illumination of Henry I’s dreams to make a point about the tenth-century Norman peasants’ revolt.
[...] Tags: BBC, Normans, Robert Bartlett, TV trackback Such an imaginative title to follow on from my first post on the BBC series whose central plank is Prof. Rob Bartlett’s three episode extravaganza. [...]
[...] doing their best Julius Caeser impression before living the original American Dream. After a good start and a superb follow-up, how did this measure [...]
Why be nasty to the Normans, its as if modern English history is being written by the Anglo Saxons. Like it or not, the modern English have a diverse ancestry, which includes the Normans, as well as the Anglo Saxons. I consider myself Welsh, but some of my family called Loveday, came from Painswick in Gloucesteshire. The History of the manor states that John de Loveday, Bailiff in about 1270, had a Norman mother. On the other side of my family, stonemasons and builders, there was a strong tradition, that among our ancestors, was Robert fitz Martin, a Norman Adventurer, who was given the Barony of Cemais in Pembrokeshire. Surely, this must be common amongst most non recent migrant families in England, that somewhere there was a Norman connection. A friend of mine says that the Welsh are descended from Princes, but they are also descended from the princes` cowherds.
John, I fear you’ve missed the point. No one is being nasty about the Normans here.