Descendants of Viking adventurers, the Normans settled from the early 10th century in the area of France later known as Normandy.
By the time William the Conqueror became the fifth duke of Normandy in 1035, the Normans had become culturally assimilated into the kingdom of France to a significant extent.
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They spoke a dialect of French and were at the forefront of the great contemporary revolution in church building in Northern France that was associated with the ‘Romanesque’ style of architecture.
Where the Normans kept faith with their Viking ancestors was in their fierce martial reputation and insatiable hunger for land.
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The Norman Conquest of England was only one of several dramatic examples of Norman freebooting and land-grabbing in this era, which also witnessed Norman conquests of Southern Italy and Sicily, the coastal provinces of modern-day Syria and, in the following century, a brutal wresting of control of Ireland.
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Top image: William the Conqueror © Getty
