[00:02.661]These warlords were constantly in the saddle
[00:04.909]imposing their will on vassals,
[00:06.913]fighting off revolts
[00:08.158]and forging shaky coalitions.
[00:10.903]But the duchy was also humming with energetic piety.
[00:14.661]In the 11th century,
[00:15.901]handsome stone monasteries and churches with Romanesque arches began to appear.
[00:21.411]And the first grandiose stone castles,
[00:23.911]as tough as the Norman lords who'd built them,
[00:26.910]became part of the landscape.
[00:36.407]So until the throne of England
[00:37.402]tempted him back across the Channel at the age of 36,
[00:41.154]this was Edward's home,
[00:43.901]and while he was here a child was growing up
[00:46.992]who would change the course of British history.
[00:51.846]It was on the site of this castle at Falles in 1027
[00:55.845]that William,
[00:56.763]known to all his contemporaries although not in front of his face as William the Bastard,
[01:01.834]was born.

These warlords were constantly in the saddle
imposing their will on vassals,
fighting off revolts
and forging shaky coalitions.
But the duchy was also humming with energetic piety.
In the 11th century,
handsome stone monasteries and churches with Romanesque arches began to appear.
And the first grandiose stone castles,
as tough as the Norman lords who'd built them,
became part of the landscape.
So until the throne of England
tempted him back across the Channel at the age of 36,
this was Edward's home,
and while he was here a child was growing up
who would change the course of British history.
It was on the site of this castle at Falles in 1027
that William,
known to all his contemporaries although not in front of his face as William the Bastard,
was born.