Wow... so the current royal family in england are really vikings?

[Monolith2]

Was just perusing wikipedia and started reading up on the Normans. Apparently they were originally viking raiders who settled in normandy. Their leader was named Rollo. 100 years (or so) later William the first comes along (direct lineage from Rollo) and beats the crap out of the Saxons in England. And of course, the current royal line can trace itself back to William. So, technically, the current royal family is nothing but a bunch of Viking raiders!

Sorry if this is old news to some, but i thought it was fascinating. :p

[Caesar Clivus]

Actually they're not. That line of monarchs ended with the Stuarts when Ann died childless and they shipped in a distant relative to take the throne. The current royal family is more German now than anything else.

[thrashing_mad]

Not really, current Windsor dynasty (from 1917) is of German origin - lateral branch of Wettin family, from Saxony-Meissen-Thuringen region.

[delra]

They love the queen despite her German origin. This is awesome. I suppose we wouldn't like to have a german king or queen here in Poland no matter how nice a person that would be.

[ArnyBoy]

A German Queen!!!! Whoaa!!! In England!!!!! Whoaaa!!!!!!! Thats news to me, but I guess it's not that bad because my name is of German origin.

And for your information the saxons were not beat to paste they simply made a mistake when they went to war with no archers. But they still had the advantage with their great shield wall which was un breakable until the idiots broked formation and charge the Normans instead of holding their ground!!!

I mean what would England be like if the Saxons had kept control???

[delra]

I think it would be conquered by somebody else or fall into internal struggle between nobles and the king. Guillaume le Conquérant had a couple of good ideas on organizing the country and granting land the way that prevented nobles going rebel. He was the guy who brought feudal system to the island.

By the way, you reminded me about broken shield wall in M2TW and destroyed such a wonderful evening. Thanks. :-)

[Caesar Clivus]

I mean what would England be like if the Saxons had kept control???

If William the Bastard (which he was known as before he conquered England) lost at Hastings, he would've simply tried again later. The man firmly believed he had a rightful claim to the throne. He wouldn't have given up IMHO.

[Fenix_120]

If William the Bastard (which he was known as before he conquered England) lost at Hastings, he would've simply tried again later. The man firmly believed he had a rightful claim to the throne. He wouldn't have given up IMHO.

He did have a rightful claim, the King of England before Harold Godwinson ( I can not recall his name) promised the English throne to William, not Harold, and even publicly named William his heir.


But before he died he named Harold as king for some reason(many suspect foul play in the matter) and so it began.


Their were more than Normans and Saxons involved.

many Celts, Norsemen, "Germans", and "French"(the people of Modern Germany and France were very different back then, in some case's races varying by province, Like the Breton's and Franks are commonly termed as "French" even though they were nowhere even close to being related.) were also involved with English politics at the time.



Back on Topic, Yes the Royal Family now is more German than anything else, but some Scottish monarchs have been king or queen and even though they were called "Norman" some English kings may have had more Saxon in them than they would have liked to let on...

[delra]

Normans deserved to get England and they used their power there very well.

I especially like Richard's the Lionheart story. He made his nobles pay for any official positions they had. Even Thatcher didn't treat clerks so badly. We certainly need such a system nowadays. :-)

[Nightbringer]

i'd rather not look back on the middle ages as the good old days, that is just depressing

[delra]

Now we have to work half a year to earn for all the taxes and social insurances we have. An average peasant back then had to work like two months to pay off his liege...

If only they had toilette paper, internet and their girls knew what depilation is...

[Nightbringer]

and they didnt have crusades, inquisitors, constant war and all that other fun stuff, although i agree that things are getting pretty bad in other ways now.

[Krusadr]

perhaps...theyre greek.