William (the Conqueror) and Matilda (de Flanders)

We have finished our Normandy D day explorations. The celebrations for the end of the war in Europe are due to take place on the 8th of May. This seems to be very important for France, their day of liberation (jour de la liberation) and the beginning of the fourth French Republic.

Unfortunately for anybody getting tired of our unhealthy fascination with war, we have not finished revisiting our military history. We have merely wound the clock back 1000 years to the time of William the Conqueror and his wife, Matilda. It was his Norman conquest of England in 1066 that lead to our ancestors being Norman (or at least a mix of Norman and Saxon), rather than Saxon.

The Abbey Aux Dames, Caen, Normandy: Matilda de Flanders tomb lies within.

Interior of the Abbey Aux Dames

William's burial site in Abbey aux Hommes, Caem, Normandy

The Abbey aux Hommes.

William the Conqueror resplendent in battle armour.

William's 10th Century castle in Falaise, Normandy