Hello, welcome to the History of England, episode 22, 1066, and goodbye to all that.

So this week we finally read 1066, surely the most famous date in English history, it's

a very well-trodden path as masses of stuff out there, but it's also a fantastic story,

so let's enjoy going through it one more time.

Let's start then with a summary of the three main protagonists.

By 1066, William the Bar sip was a fully grown man, depicted as a man of fair stature

with remarkably strong arms, receiving a hairline and a rasping, guttural voice.

He was about 5'10", which would have been pretty tall for the age, and enjoyed excellent

health until old age.

He did get very fat in later life, so much so that the French king felt at first said

that William looked like a pregnant woman.

But that's the later, and I had to say it's a common only the French king at the time

would probably have felt brave enough to say.

So just like that old bloke you can't get away from in the pub, William had been brought

up in the School of Hard Knocks as we heard last week, and educated in the University

of Life.

He undoubtedly possessed considerable powers of leadership and courage, probably not the

nicest bloke, but he was devout, he inspired enormous loyalty in his followers.

Same time of course, he could be ruthless and very cruel.

He had the same passion for hunting that most nobility of his time had, but he also had

a passion for money.

He was therefore, in summary, a pretty brutal man, but an exceptionally talented one and

...