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| "None Shall Pass" |
England. England. England. It has roads, waters, grass, and people…
You know what?
That’s all I got. Seriously, I
didn’t think I would get this far. You
can go home now. There’s nothing to see
here. We already have a grail.
Seriously, go, or I’ll need to unleash the killer rabbit
on you.
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| I warned you... |
The Medieval period is a time of knights, lords, serfs,
and kings. It often calls on images only
reserved for Monty Python and the Holy
Grail. Peter Ackroyd’s Foundation: The History of England from its
Earliest Beginnings to the Tudors tells this story (without any reference
to Monty Python I mean). Through the history of Medieval England,
Peter Ackroyd is able to present the facts on this era by blending the art of storytelling
and historical presentation. Peter
Ackroyd’s Foundation is a book that
will both educate and entertain the reader.
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| Peter Ackroyd |
Summary
Foundation: The
History of England from its Earliest Beginnings to the Tudors tells the
story of England, covering a period from the time of early man and
hunter-gatherer culture, the influence of Roman and Saxon cultures and the
arrival of the Normans to the War of the Roses and the advent of Henry Tudor
(Henry VII). Ackroyd covers the social
and political development in this period with the argument that the history of
England is “one of continual movement and of constant variation,”[1] that England was always changing and
developing, not in a Whiggish way but that is a starting point and still echoes
in contemporary times.
(I know it sounds Whiggish but it’s hard to avoid it when
explaining the flow of history. It was
also this or stopping to talk about Magna
Carta, which has the same result.
*sigh* Right, back to the summary.)
The book opens with the early history of England and the
hunter-gatherer culture of regions like Cheddar Gorge and Devon and the
Romanization of Britannia through both invasion and cultural exchange. Ackroyd then goes on to discuss the Saxon
invasion, something created through migration and destruction of the indigenous
population by bubonic plague, precursor to the 1300s. Once the Saxons are settled, the reader is
given an overview of the new Anglo-Saxon society, such as the use of the
Germanic word walh (Saxon for Celtic
or Latin speaker) and its use in place names like Wales, Cornwall, Walsall, and Walthamstow.[2] Ackroyd even mentions certain cultural
influences such as the cremation cemetery, where smaller villages like Sancton,
Yorkshire, where such forms of burial lasted well into the nineteenth century.[3] Chapter 7 introduces the reader to William
the Conqueror or William the Bastard (not William the Butcher, the Baker, or
Candlestick Maker) and it is here we see the medieval world we know. Readers are introduced to the Feudal System,
struggles for power between the king and his lords, pretenders for the throne,
the King of France, and (in some cases) the Pope. At this point, Ackroyd takes the reader through
events like the Peasants Revolt, the signing of Magna Carta, ultimately culminating
at the War of the Roses and the intervention of Henry Tudor, marking the
beginning of the Tudor dynasty.
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| Saxon Tapestry of a King and his Court with a man being hanged to the right. |
The Writing
Foundation’s
greatest strength is in the writing ability of its author, Peter Ackroyd. Throughout the book, Ackroyd has an ability
to strike that balance between narrative and analysis. This is never an easy task for any
historian. Even I find it hard to create
a post that is both informative and entertaining (goodness knows you guys were
probably bored to tears by my essay on the history of one-room school houses in
Ontatio!). One of my favourite parts in
Foundation is Ackroyd’s description of William I’s funeral:
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| The Bayeux Tapestry with William I in the Centre |
When [William
I’s] body was taken to the monetary of St. Stephen at Caen for burial body
burst, exuding a foul stench that sent the mourners running from the
building. It was, perhaps, a fitting end
for one who was already swollen with greed and cruelty.[4]
This morbidly dark yet
entertaining excerpt demonstrates Ackroyd’s ability as a writer. From the previous chapter, the reader is
given a picture of the cruelty and averous nature of William I. (He was a greedy bastard.) Throughout his rule, William treated England
as his cash cow. He confiscated land
from English opponents and raised with heavy and sudden taxation, documenting all
taxable items in what is known as the The
Domesday Book. Ackroyd draws a
poetic parallel between William I’s swelling wealth in life and his swollen carcass
in death.
The Layout
In addition, the layout of Foundation allows for the reader to smoothly transition throughout
each section of the book. Ackroyd
arranges his thoughts intricately, each one leading into the next with a
flawless stroke. One moment the you’ll
be reading about the landing of William the Concquror, his Norman army and
their victory against King Harold’s Saxon forces, the net you’ll be reading
about King John “Lackland” signing Magna
Carta at Runnymede. The secret to
Ackroyd’s brilliance is in how he alternates between the political and social
developments in a neat and clear fashion.
This alteration between these two historiographical topics allows for
the reader to understand the context before Ackroyd begins on the next major
topic.
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| Artist impression of King John signing Magna Carta at Runnymede. |
Conclusion
In conclusion, Peter Ackroyd’s Foundation: The History of England from its Earliest Beginnings to the
Tudors is worth checking out.
Ackroyd’s wit cuts through the shadows of the “Dark Ages” to provide an illustrated
narrative that both entertains and informs readers. Therefore, I highly recommend readying Foundation by Peter Ackroyd to anyone
who is interested in reading about Medieval England.
Sources:
Ackroyd, Peter. Foundation: The History of England from its Earliest Beginnings to the Tudors. New York: Thomas Dunne Books. 2011.
Gilliam, Terry, and Terry Jones, dirs. 1975. Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Film. EMI/Python Pictures/Michael White.
[1] Peter Ackroyd,
Foundation: The History of England from
its Earliest Beginnings to the Tudors, (New York: Thomas Dunne Books, 2011),
443.
