1066: The Year That Changed Everything

By: Jennifer Paxton, The Great Courses

Narrated by: Jennifer Paxton

Length: 3 hrs

Publisher's summary

With this exciting and historically rich six-lecture course, experience for yourself the drama of this dynamic year in medieval history, centered on the landmark Norman Conquest. Taking you from the shores of Scandinavia and France to the battlefields of the English countryside, these lectures will plunge you into a world of fierce Viking warriors, powerful noble families, politically charged marriages, tense succession crises, epic military invasions, and much more.

Your journey starts in the 10th and early 11th centuries, when power in England and Normandy was very much up for grabs - and when the small island nation was under continuous assault from Viking forces. Professor Paxton helps you gain a solid grasp of the complex political alliances and shifting relationships between figures such as Emma of Normandy, Cnut, and Edward the Confessor. She also recounts for you the two seminal battles that pitted England against the Scandinavians and the Normans: the Battle of Stamford Bridge and the Battle of Hastings. Throughout the lectures, Dr. Paxton opens your eyes to continued debates and controversies over this year and offers her own take on the Norman Conquest's enduring legacy and the fascinating results of this epic clash. By exploring the year 1066 – what led up to it, what happened during that fateful year, and what changed as a result - you'll gain a sharper perspective and a greater understanding of everything that would come afterward.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

©2012 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)2012 The Great Courses

Very well done!

Clear and informative. The professor knows her stuff. A complete understanding of the events. I really enjoyed this.

Terrific!

Professor Paxton does an outstanding job. She covers every angle of the Norman invasion, including the decades beforehand and what lead to it. I especially liked her discussion of how William consolidated power in England in the years after Hastings, most of which was totally new to me. If you're interested in English history, you'll love this.

great insight

excelent narration , clear and engaging. the last chapter dealing with the effects of the Norman conquest provide great context. great professor

Outstanding!

I loved every moment of these lectures. The accounts were easy to follow because the author/narrator was very careful to weave details together in a thoughtful way. I will definitely listen again to reinforce what I learned. I highly recommend this scholarly and riveting work.

Really good

Very informative and really good presentation. She starts far enough ahead to set the stage, covers 1066 events, and summarizes the impact both immediately and thru to today. I enjoyed this course. Well done.

Good background noise

It was interesting, but not for me. History buffs or those who have also watched Vinland Saga will enjoy this, but I found myself tuning out for most of the book. It sure got me through half a day of work as background noise though!

Very interesting, well narrated but a little harsh sounding

One of the most relevant moments in western history explained. The sound quality is a little strident.

Wonderfully Accessible

Well-presented and accessible history of a critical period in world history. His helped me to understand the complexities of relationships in this period and the manner in which they shaped history.

Clearly told story

I enjoyed every second of this lecture. Brought me back to being in a college lecture hall listening to an excellent professor.

A Most Daring Enterprise

At the start of the first lecture Professor Paxton calls William of Normandy’s gamble in the autumn of 1066, “one of the most daring enterprises the world has ever known”. She then goes on to demonstrate, in six concise talks, how true that claim really is.

Living in a world shaped by the levee en masse, two world wars, popular elections and public opinion polling, we tend to discount events that don’t involve millions. But a few thousand men in a few hundred boats can turn the tide of history, too. And behind the military story there’s a diplomatic tangle as complex as anything dynastic or democratic Europe would produce thereafter.

We have marriages and alliances that reach back to the century before the Conquest; a Danish Conquest of England; an earl overawing his weak sovereign; a duke growing up among (and thereby learning how to deal with) rebellious vassals; oaths that may or may not have been given; promises that may or may not have been kept; and more plausible pretenders to the English throne than you could shake a battle-axe at.

It may be only due to lack of time—these lectures run a mere three hours—but I find Professor Paxton’s focus on turning points and pivotal men and women refreshing. Looking at history "from the bottom up" is more fashionable, but telling the story "from the top down" is infinitely more dramatic.

The last lecture, covering the ramifications of the Conquest, is especially illuminating. For example: The inevitable cultural exchange after 1066 introduced Celtic legends and folklore to French writers. As a consequence, after Duke William conquered England King Arthur conquered France, and a literary vein was opened up that has continued to yield entertaining ore right down to our own day.

It is all terribly engrossing, even if the professor sounds a little too much like she’s reading a script. Of course, she may be speaking extemporaneously; I had a professor for Renaissance and Reformation History who had given the same lectures in the same classroom so long that, speaking without a scrap of notes, he rarely fluffed a syllable.

Be that as it may, this presentation lacks the gusto and verve I enjoy so much with Timothy Shutt, Elizabeth Vandiver or Thomas Shippey—and so Professor Paxton lose a star for “Performance”. But the scholarship is solid and the story is thrilling; neither should be missed.

As with everything from the Great Courses, these lectures are encumbered with unnecessary musical intros and canned applause at the beginning and end of each talk. Cringe-making? Yes. But ignorable.