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The Norman invasion and occupation of England was probably the most catastrophic single event in this nation's history. It brought slaughter, famine, scorched-earth warfare, slavery, and widespread land confiscation to the English population, along with a ruling class who had, in my cases, little but contempt for their new subjects. It wasn't until 1399, over three centuries after Duke Guillaume of Normandy launched his successful invasion, that England again had a king who spoke English as his first language.
The cataclysm of 1066 sparked nearly a decade of risings, rebellions and guerilla warfare across the country, as populations in north and south struggled unsuccessfully to repel the invaders. This resistance finds contemporary parallels in the struggles of the Viet Cong against the US army, or the French against the Nazis, yet today the English are remarkably ignorant of this period of our history.
