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Conquered
- The Last Children of Anglo-Saxon England
- Narrated by: Kristin Atherton
- Length: 8 hrs and 19 mins
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Conquered
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Summary
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 Ætheling, 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.
Critic reviews
"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)
"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)
"This outstanding, beautifully written history follows the young Anglo-Saxons whose lives were shattered by the Norman conquest." (Andrew Holgate and Robbie Millen)
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Martin D James
- 28-02-23
Excellent
Revealing and surprising review of the fate of the children of the generation of 1066.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Mr. C. M. Lynch
- 19-12-22
Children of the Conquered
A revealing lens through which to explore this most famous of England’s historical dates. I now want to buy the physical book and listen to it all over again.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Bee-nocchio
- 13-09-23
Indispensable
This book is a priceless gem. We so rarely hear about the experiences of the native inhabitants as they adjusted to the most violent and fundamental shift in the history of the English people.
There is a simple reason for this: a striking lack of contemporary sources exists describing the lives of the people most adversely affected. This often leaves those most interested in the subject at a frustrating dead end. Eleanor Parker does much to remedy this in a way that is both historically meticulous and emotionally-connected.
I think this book should be considered a triumph in the struggle to understand and piece together the short and long-term societal and cultural effects of the Conquest.
It is also brilliantly narrated, with a clear understanding of the subject matter, and accurate pronounciation of Old English names.
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