The Norman Conquest of England was a violent onslaught by barbaric feudal chivalry on what was, at the time, a sophisticated constitutional monarchy based on the rule of law, under whose authority the common people experienced a fair measure of peace, prosperity, and justice. Anglo-Saxon England was no paradise: but the level of civilisation was far higher than what was to follow under the rule of Norman lords.
There is good reason, then, for 1066 to be the best-known date in English history. What happened in that year really mattered.
Unfortunately, the source material for reconstructing events is limited, and much of it is heavily tainted; in fact, as far as we can tell, much of the Norman material is worse than useless, being outright fabrication to justify the unjustifiable. Even where the contemporary chroniclers are reliable – as the Anglo-Saxon clerics usually are – they offer only the patchiest of narratives.
War on Film: Benediction