This illustrated talk looks at William the Conqueror and his family who - though French through and through – defined what it was to be English.

The England he forged was created through a reinterpretation of the landscape, the law, and the tiers of officials who administered it. No other landscape has encapsulated this revolutionary change more than the New Forest, in southern England. Designated as a hunting preserve by William, this exquisite terrain of vast heathland, pasture woodland, and valley mires was to claim the lives of two of his sons and a grandson.

Medieval commentators saw these deaths as a divine judgement on William as a man and as a king - evidence perhaps of a cursed dynasty. This talk, however, argues if that were the case, how is it that the impact on England of William and his dynasty still resonates in modern times - not just in the island of Britain but, arguably, the rest of the world.

Format: Illustrated talk with slides. Length: approximately 45 mins + Q&A