The Copybook: Readings in history and literature

1

One Vast Heap of Booty by Orderic Vitalis

Embarrassed by the behaviour of his Norman bishops and abbots, King William I asked monk Guitmond to come over and set an example.

2

England’s Lost Civilisation by Orderic Vitalis

Orderic Vitalis regrets the passing of a society far more refined and advanced than that which supplanted it.

3

Forgotten Melodies by Orderic Vitalis

When the Normans came in 1066 they deliberately destroyed English chant, the last survivor in Western Europe of a tradition five centuries old.

4

Rope Trick by Orderic Vitalis

When Ranulf Flambard, Bishop of Durham, became the Tower of London’s first prisoner he did not intend making a long stay.

5

Welcome to Micklegarth by Orderic Vitalis

After the Norman Conquest, thousands of disappointed Englishmen departed for a new life in the Byzantine world.