The Lives of the III. Normans, Kings of England: William the First, William the

Hayward, John, Sir, 1564？-1627Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 3.5

Word count: 371K words
Chapters: 38

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.The Lives of the III. Normans, Kings of England: William the First, William theAuthor: Hayward, John, Sir, 1564?-1627,Language: English, Class: DA: History: General and Eastern Hemisphere: Great Britain, Ireland, Central Europe, Release Date: Jan 7, 2012

Editor's review

This book is a biography, written in English by Sir John Hayward, of the first three Norman kings of England: William I the Conqueror, William II, and Henry I. As a work from the late sixteenth to early seventeenth century, it has a distinctly early modern historiographical tone: the author draws on chronicle materials while incorporating commentary on monarchs' characters, statecraft, and political ethics, reading more like a set of character studies with moral judgments. Its value lies not in providing verification in the modern academic sense, but in showing how early modern English people understood the Norman Conquest and its impact on kingship, law, and the aristocratic order. For Chinese readers familiar with the basic historical facts, this book can serve as a text for observing changes in historical writing, and can also be read alongside modern studies of the Norman dynasty to identify differences in source selection and evaluative criteria. It should be read as a historical source work rather than an introductory general history.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers with basic knowledge of English medieval history and the Norman Conquest who want to understand early modern historiographical style
Students and researchers studying historiography or the history of English political thought, concerned with the writing of monarchical images
Advanced readers who enjoy English originals and are willing to read slowly with annotations and background materials
University history teachers who need primary source excerpts as classroom supplementary materials

Not a good fit for

Beginner readers with no background in English history who hope for a general history framework
Readers expecting modern academic verification, maps, genealogical tables, and other auxiliary materials
Casual readers who only want a quick understanding of Norman dynasty stories and are unwilling to deal with early English style

Reading tips

First read a basic chronology of the Norman Conquest and the reigns of the three kings before entering the main text, to avoid confusion over characters' relationships.
After finishing each king's biography, review the author's evaluative language regarding character and policy, and compare differences in praise and criticism.
Mark passages quoting chronicles or classical allusions and look up the background in a concentrated session rather than pausing for each one.
Read alongside modern studies of the Norman dynasty, focusing on which events the author selected and which conflicts were omitted.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book a modern academic biography?

No. The author lived in the late sixteenth to early seventeenth century, and this book is an early modern biography and historical commentary; its source basis and argumentation differ from modern academic monographs. It is more suitable as a historiographical text than as an authoritative general history or the latest research.

What background knowledge should I read first?

It is recommended to first understand the Norman Conquest of 1066, the relationship between William I and the English aristocracy, and the basic structure of royal power, the church, and the nobility during the reigns of William II and Henry I. With a basic chronology and concept of genealogical relationships, the author's evaluations and narrative will be much smoother to read.

What should I note when reading the e-book edition?

This edition comes from a public-domain e-book project; the main text uses old-style English spelling and sentence structures, and may preserve the original book's paragraphing and punctuation. It is recommended to use a reader with adjustable font size and search functions; when encountering unfamiliar spellings, first judge from context and do not pause too long over individual word forms.

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Hayward, John, Sir, 1564？-1627 Author · British · 1564–1627

Sir John Hayward (1564?–1627) was an English historian and lawyer. Public information about his early life and education is limited, and surviving records centre mainly on his writings and on his imprisonment for his words. He wrote a life of Henry IV and The Lives of the III. Normans, Kings of England, which recounts the deeds of the Norman kings; one of his works is held in this collection. Hayward's historical writing takes politics and kingship as its theme, draws on chronicle sources, and is dignified in narrative, offering lessons for rulers. Such subjects were sensitive in Elizabethan England; he offended the Queen through his book and was imprisoned, an example of punishment for writing that also reflects the tension between historical writing and political power. His works therefore have value both as historical sources and as evidence for early modern English historiography and the limits of free expression.