Conquered: the last children of Anglo-Saxon England

The defeat of Harold Godwinson by the Normans in 1066 resulted in the end of the rule of Anglo-Saxons in England. In her book, Conquered, Eleanor Parker explores what happened to the children of some of the Anglo-Saxon families close to power at the time of the Conquest. How did the arrival of the Normans change their ambitions and their lives plus the lives of future generations?

The author examines what happened to five families after the Conquest basing her account on the limited records available at the time. The records include several versions of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles plus extracts from church records and books written at the time. People discussed in the book include Hereward, Margaret of Scotland, grandchildren of Gytha and Godwine, Waltheof and Eadmer of Canterbury.

Many of the families remained in England but some tried for a new life in different countries. For Margaret's family unrest in England meant exile overseas where she was born and lived until returning to England with her brother. After the Conquest the family sought refuge in Scotland where Margaret eventually married King Malcolm III. Some years later Margaret and Malcom's daughter, Edith (Matilda) married Henry I of England, the son of William the Conqueror. This was one case where being part of the old regime was an advantage as the Normans attempted to further establish their rule of England.

In some of the chapters the information provided appeared disjointed as the author used a variety of texts, when available, to tell the story. However this is an interesting book to read by those interesed in this period of British history.

Winters in the World: a journey through the Anglo-Saxon year

In Winters in the World Eleanor Parker looks at the Anglo-Saxon calendar, especially the four seasons Winter, Spring, Summer and Harvest. Throughout the book she quotes from the few pieces of Anglo-Saxon poetry and other writing that remain today to illustrate how the Anglo-Saxons viewed the change in the seasons and how the seasons affected the daily life of people living at that time. The author looks at the various festivals and special days celebrated throughout the year and the affect of Christianity on the celebration of some of these events. 

A major feature of the Anglo-Saxon year were the winter and summer solstice and the two equinoxes. Events celebrated in the Christain church often also occur at these times. Throughout the year, whatever happens life goes on. Eleanor Parker ends, in the acknowledgements (p259), with a quote from St Augustine's Soliloquies going back to the time of Alfred the Great:

You rule the year, and govern it through the turning of the four seasons, that is, spring and summer and harvest and winter. These change places, each with another, and turn so that each of them is again exactly what it was before, and where it was before; and likewise all heavenly bodies change places and turn in the same way, and the sea and rivers too. In this way all created things undergo change.

NB: On page 219 mention is made in reference to Shakespeare's play, MacBeth, that Malcolm, who becomes king of Scotland, would marry Edward the Confessor's great niece, Margaret, - "thus uniting himself to the last surviving branch of the the Anglo-Saxon royal family and helping to ensure its continuation after the Norman Conquest". The Normans on arrival in England also valued connections with Anglo-Saxon England. William the Conquoror's wife, Matilda had Anglo-Saxon royal connections on one side of her family as did Henry I's wife, Edith (later Matilda), the daughter of King Malcolm of Scotland and Queen Margaret.

At the end of the book is an extensive list of references, a bibiography and an index.