If the Saxons won the battle of Hastings...

[reportmonkey]

What would England be like today? Topical hypothetical question since its the 940th Anniversary approaching. on October 14th.

Also whats everyones view on rightness, wrongness on the Norman conquest.

[noxlumos]

I would imagine that today we would be much the same as we are, as the nordic nations largely unaffected by the Norman invasion on a very personal level have evolved similar social structures to ourselves and are not much different really.As we are talking almost a thousand years ago now, and we have had had umpteen influences upon our society from all over the world since then, I think it's almost impossible to say to be honest.
As for what I personally think about the conquest, I don't honestly have a passionate opinion about it one way or the other, it's fairly simplistic, in that it's great if you were a norman but your life was pants if you were lowly born no matter who was in charge.
You have however inspired my son to get his "Worlds 10 greatest use of the word fcuk" T shirt out, one of which is
"Watch it, you'll have some fcucker's eye out with that!" -King Harold.

[brionon]

A bit like Scaninavia, perhaps.

[reportmonkey]

One of the things I find most intriguing about it is that the Normans had the full backing of the Pope (giving William the papal banner and ring)

Since this pre-dates calls for the first crusade is this the first example of the Roman Catholic Church endorsing violence as a means to extend its influence, a crusade lite if you like?

[Haggisdj]

What if the Roman Empire hadn't fallen into such disarray. Would Mohammed and his followers have been able to spread the word in the violent manner in which they did??

[reportmonkey]

A touch irrelevant.

I've always seen the Normans as the Bad guys.

I think Harold should be down as one of Englands greatest heroes. Just an ordinary bloke made good. Liked by the populace clearly (His portrayal in the Bayeux tapestry makes this clear).

He could have waited and raised a massive force against William but because William was burning his villages he had to act. Most Norman Kings, barons couldn't give a stuff about the people of England, they ruled with an Iron fist. The fact that they needed Castles is evidence of this.

[jno]

I wouldn't have thought a serf's life was much different under the Normans from the way it had been before. The truth about who had the better right to the throne is lost in the mists of time, but taking it by conquest was fairly routine behaviour in those days. In the long run, I'm not sure the British have kept much of the Norman influence; they're still more of a Germanic/Scandinavian race than a French one. (Bearing in mind that the Normans were more Viking than French anyway.)

[morbidstorm]

What would life have been like if the Saxons were defeated and driven back to the seas around 600 years before 1066? then what would Britain be like?
What if the Romans had not conquered Britain? What would we be like?
Many ifs and buts and every Generation the goodies and baddies change. It is human nature, Harold was not a good wise king and supporter of Britains, William was a Norman Duke not even liked by the Frenchies.
If William had not conquered Britain then the whole of world history would be different not just British....

Hundred Years war
British Empire
WW1 & WW2
America as we know it today
Hatred of the French
Our language today
etc etc etc

[funnymunn]

it would be like today just that most of us would be blonde. Are women tall, blonde and DD's so us men would be much more pleased