Welcome to the History of English Podcast, a podcast about the history of the English

language.

This is episode 67, the year that changed English.

In this episode, we're going to look at the events of 1066, one of the most important

dates in English history, and the history of English.

Of course, this was the year of the Norman conquest, and the beginning of the end of

Old English.

It was an incredibly active year, so much happened, and if the events had not unfolded in just

the way they did, Williams' conquest would have probably failed, and English would be a

completely different language today.

So this time, we're going to explore how those events unfolded, and how William the

bastard became known to history as William the Conqueror.

At first, I have a few quick announcements to make before we begin.

Since the last episode, several of you were kind enough to send me links to the new book

by Paul King's North called The Wake, and I thought I should mention it to you if you're

not familiar with it.

The book was previously released in the UK, and it's now been released in the US.

It's a fictional novel set in England in the immediate aftermath of the Norman conquest,

so the setting is very timely given where we are in the overall story of English.

But what makes this particular novel so interesting is that King's North actually attempts

to render the original language of the Anglo-Saxons.

Of course, it isn't actually Old English because a modern audience wouldn't be able to

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