This book examines the emergence of the Normans, their characteristics as a group, and their various achievements in war, culture, and civilization. The Normans were a product of history rather than a natural ethnic or regional group. This book explores what they believed made them a distinct people and how they constructed their identity. Marjorie Chibnall examines the enigma of the Northmen who first settled around the Seine estuary and built a principality that took their name and became the springboard for wider expansion and the conquest of England. The book moves on to study the rise of Normandy, and the integration and influence of other groups including the Saxons, the Franks and new Scandinavian leaders. The Normans' remarkable warfare and maritime successes are revealed in detail including their conquest of England, infiltration of Wales and Scotland, and assimilation in Ireland; and their campaigns in the South of Europe including southern Italy and the Mediterranean region. The book also examines the development of Norman culture; the writing of their own history; Norman myth; and their achievements in bringing together various racial and cultural elements to form a single people. This book provides the most comprehensive examination of the Normans available and will be invaluable for students and all those interested in European history.
"A masterly work, the most elegant and concise account of Normanhistory currently in print." Times Literary Supplement
"Lucidly written, based on up-to-date literature and above all,on an intimate knowledge of the sources, Marjorie Chibnall's latestbook is an absolute must for the novice reader as well as for theseasoned Anglo-Norman specialist." History
"Chibnall has produced a very engaging and informative generalstudy of the Normans." History
"A marvellous overview of the Normans written by a preeminentscholar of the Anglo-Norman realm ... While much of the Normanstory is well known, Chibnall's study brings it all together in onegraceful package. Her emphasis on the kingdom of Sicily is a usefulcorrective to our usual concentration on the Anglo-Norman realm.Equally valuable is her emphasis on kinship networks and theimportance of the church within Norman society. This attempt topresent a balanced view of the Norman world may be the single mostvaluable quality to this work. The Normans is an excellentintroduction for the student of this remarkable people."Albion
"Lucidly written, based on up-to-date literature and above all,on an intimate knowledge of the sources, Marjorie Chibnall's latestbook is an absolute must for the novice reader as well as for theseasoned Anglo-Norman specialist." History
"Chibnall has produced a very engaging and informative generalstudy of the Normans." History
"A marvellous overview of the Normans written by a preeminentscholar of the Anglo-Norman realm ... While much of the Normanstory is well known, Chibnall's study brings it all together in onegraceful package. Her emphasis on the kingdom of Sicily is a usefulcorrective to our usual concentration on the Anglo-Norman realm.Equally valuable is her emphasis on kinship networks and theimportance of the church within Norman society. This attempt topresent a balanced view of the Norman world may be the single mostvaluable quality to this work. The Normans is an excellentintroduction for the student of this remarkable people."Albion