Itisi

The nebulous ramblings; grammatical & punctuational experiments of a girl born on the fifth of November

Category: History

The Normans: evil only some of the time

I haven’t posted an interview this week because I haven’t had chance to send any questionnaires out, so look out for another one next week. Instead, because I haven’t published a history themed post here for a while, here’s one I made earlier.

Scene from the Bayeaux Tapestry
A famous scene from the Bayeaux Tapestry which depicts the Normans taking over a playground and refusing to let the kids have a go on the slide. As you can see, the children retaliated by tickling them with feather dusters.

In the 20th century it became commonplace to romanticise the Anglo-Saxons, and demonise the Normans. One group, we are told, were delightful, jolly peasants who lived in peace and harmony despite drinking copious quantities of mead; a bit like hobbits, but taller. The other were something akin to Nazis with pudding-bowl haircuts and a habit of talking like pantomime bad guys. However, as is usually the case, that isn’t quite true*.

It is true that English society changed dramatically in the years after the Conquest, but not always for the worse. There were many great things about the Saxons**, but they had a dark side. Conversely, the Normans could be extremely brutal, but ironically tempered this with a degree of enlightenment. So to even up things up a bit, here are a few things the Normans did that were actually pretty good.

Abolition of slavery: Anglo-Saxon England was a slave owning society. This was abolished very soon after the Conquest. Admittedly this was for financial reasons – if you owned a slave they might work for nothing, but you have to factor in the costs of purchase, food and accommodation. It’s much cheaper to pay someone who lives elsewhere to work for you. But, whatever the motivation, I would imagine the slaves were pretty keen on it.

Stone buildings: The Anglo-Saxons tended to build in wood. This made sense: there was a lot of it, it was easily to obtain, and it didn’t take long to construct a wooden building. Unfortunately, as a result of this, Saxon buildings were both vulnerable, and biodegradable – the latter is a good thing, but not if it’s your house.

The Normans were big fans of stone, it was like the new black to them. They used it, a lot, which is why we now get to visit pretty churches and impressive castles at weekends. Back in those days, it played a big part in the repelling of those pesky Vikings (who were still labouring under the delusion that this was a warm country), and later, the French (who were still labouring under the delusion this could become a wine producing country. *gallic shrug*).

Culture: Considering their reputation as blood thirsty brutes, the Normans were a cultured bunch – they commemorated the Conquest with a tapestry! That’s very telling.

And when I say culture, I don’t just mean hagiographies, some of it was good. For example: Chaucer, Norman England’s answer to Terry Pratchett; both funny and profound.

Technological advances led to more books being in circulation, and Norman England embraced that in much the same way we took to the internet. While literacy was still a very long way from being 100% – even amongst the wealthy – it was at far higher levels than ever before.

The legal system: Prior to 1066 the legal system in England was a bit odd; it included something called the blood feud. In simple terms: if you killed me, my relatives could kill you, but then, your relatives could kill my relatives, and … well, I’m sure you can see where that could lead; pretty soon, you’d run out of people.

The Normans replaced this with a system which revolved not around vengeance, but impartial justice in the form of such measures as the Charter of Liberties and Magna Carta. Our modern legal system may not appear immediately similar, but it evolved out of, and is still influenced by, the Norman one.

There you are: some good stuff the Normans did when they weren’t dragging peasants from their land; having family feuds that ended in civil war; or being really mean to that nice Maid Marion.

* To be fair, it is true about the hair; they did have terrible haircuts. In fact, I’ve come to the conclusion there were no barbers in those days; if a chap wanted a haircut his mother would pop a bowl on his head and trim round it.

** The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle; Beowulf; celebrity cake-burner, King Alfred, who founded the Royal Navy amongst other cool things.

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No Comments by Kate on March 16, 2010
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The NHS? It’s what Christ would do

In common with a lot of people in the UK, I’ve been watching the US healthcare debate with mounting bewilderment and indignation, particularly because of the allegations being made about the UK National Health Service (NHS). Over the last week or so, I’ve seen ever more bizarre claims being made about it’s inadequacies, which bear absolutely no resemblance to the system I’ve used all my life. No, it’s not perfect. It’s an enormous organisation run entirely by human beings, and human beings are fallible. However, for the overwhelming majority of people it works. It’s there when we need it; we can visit a doctor, or attend A&E knowing the first question we’ll be asked is ‘what are your symptoms’, not ‘how are you going to pay’.

One of the positive outcomes of all this crazy talk (from people who seem to have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo) is that we Brits have, for once, appreciated just how lucky we are. Yes, we are a nation of whingebags, we like to complain, and complaining about the NHS is right up there with complaining about the weather as one of our favourite national pastimes. However, it’s a bit different when we hear criticism coming from other quarters. That, we don’t like. We might take our health service for granted; we might moan about car parking, cold dinners, rude doctors, but that doesn’t mean anyone else can. As the #welovethenhs threads on twitter show, for the vast majority of people in the UK, the NHS is an important, and fundamental part of our society, one we hold deep admiration and respect for.

At a time when we hear so much about the breakdown of society, it was heartening to see so many people uniting behind a cause that benefits the country as a whole. And surely this unity should send a message to NHS critics across the pond. Shouldn’t they be asking themselves why we hold it in such high esteem if it’s as inadequate and evil as they say? You’d think so, but they won’t, because their response is that we’ve all been brainwashed by a socialist plot. Oh yes, Dear Reader, I am merely a spokeswoman of a Stalinist regime. (This is where I do something I rarely do on this blog, I’m going to swear, in English: To paraphrase Jim Royle – Stalinist plot, my arse!)

It’s easy to see why some people might believe the NHS is socialist; it epitomises Marx’s ideal of  “From each according to his ability, to each according to his need”. But, as anyone with a grasp of British history will know, the NHS (and the labour movement) has it’s roots in good, old-fashioned Christianity. Forget anything Palin the Peabrain and her band of malodorous  minions have told you, the NHS is not an evil, communist brigade who kill people’s grannies, it actually grew out of a long European tradition of religious orders providing healthcare to the poor – which meant pretty much anyone who wasn’t a king or aristocrat. The reason so many British and French hospitals are named after saints, is because they were originally adjunct to monasteries, whose monks tried to emulate the healing work of Christ by providing what passed for medical treatment at the time.

If you are a Christian, you might be familiar with this Christ chappie, and you’ll know that when He wasn’t walking on water or organising large picnics, He healed the sick. At no point during the healing process did He stick out His hand and ask for 30 pieces of silver. That wasn’t His style. He believed He had an ability and it was right for Him to to use it as it was needed. That’s how the NHS works. Collectively we all fund it, assuming we’ll rarely need it, but knowing it will be there when we do. And in the meantime, other people who do need it get the care they deserve as fellow human beings. We do this because we can, and because it’s the right thing to do. I think Christ would approve.

Updated to add: For an amusing video on the topic above, go here. With thanks to Chairman Bill :-)

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31 Comments by Kate on August 19, 2009
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