The Normans

Summary

Pious statesmen, explorers and travellers

Have you ever wondered about those mail-clad horsemen who came ashore in Sussex and defeated the only Anglo-Saxon army ever raised, changing Britain for ever into the bargain? The Normans – or Norsemen – were more than just a warrior race who had occupied what is today Normandy for two generations. They were pious statesmen, explorers and travellers, and builders of some of finest cathedrals in Christendom. They invented the term knight, perfected mounted assaults, and developed what is now called chivalry. They also enforced their will on people under their domain with an iron fist and at the point of the spear. The Normans were a phenomenon for five centuries, controlling vast areas of France, England, Ireland, Wales, the island of Sicily and providing guards for the Ottoman Sultans in Constantinople. Many of the young men of noble Norman families took part in the First Crusade to recapture Jerusalem from the Muslims. This week-long trip will take us to Normandy and help us to understand these people on their home soil because even a thousand years on, the mark which they left is still there in Normandy.

Tour highlights:

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• Understand the background to William the Conqueror, the first Norman King of England and his grip on power
• Visit Falaise to see the Conqueror’s birthplace and immerse in the medieval splendour of Rouen
• Take an optional pilgrimage to Gold Beach where British soldiers landed on D-Day