Redeeming the English Past
The parallels and patterns within each invasion narrative suggest that their shared aim of redeeming England’s history of invasion is the most significant factor in their revised views of eleventh-century England. This goal supersedes conflict between English and Norman loyalties, as well as traditional modes of explanation by Providence and collective sin. This chapter explores the most significant ways in which twelfth-century narratives transformed the English from victims to victors. The four historians redistributed responsibility for conquest and rebellion to emphasize reasons for the English king’s actions, and the gravity of treachery against the king. The historians rewrote the past to give the English proportionally more control over their fate. The changes indicate sympathy for and confidence in the English, and a shared conviction that although the English are not culpable for a king’s unjust actions, they owe loyalty to their rightful king regardless of his origin.