Alternate History Considerations

 Alternate History:

Considering what might have changed had William of Normandy lost the Battle of Hastings...

https://www.quora.com/How-would-history-change-if-King-Harold-Godwinson-had-won-the-Battle-of-Hastings

Geoffrey Richard Driscoll-Tobin

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Mathematics, physics, programming, engineering, historyUpvoted by 

Brian Waldorf

, M.A. History, Arizona State University (2019)5y

Originally Answered: What would have happened if William the conquerer had lost the battle of Hastings?

There are various ways William could have lost during the battle:

1. When his horse was cut down and threw him facedown into the mud, if Earl Gyrth had not been intercepted he would have slain William. His army surrenders.
2. William survives but still loses the battle. His army remnants surrender.
3. William dies, but his subordinates continue the battle and win. Alan Rufus makes his father Eudon (Edward the Confessor’s older cousin) king of England.
4. William dies, his subordinates continue the battle and lose. His army remnants surrender.

Now, if William dies, then his eldest son Robert Curthose is too young (not to mention incompetent) to rule Normandy. I see trouble for the Duchy. How much trouble?

Conan II, Duke of Brittany, legitimate heir to Normandy, who is already leading an exceedingly powerful army, seizes Normandy in a lightning campaign in October 1066.

In our timeline, Conan attacked northern Anjou first and took its supposedly impregnable frontline castles before he marched into Mayenne and allegedly died of poison before he could reach Normandy.

In the “William dies” scenario, Normandy is in turmoil, dissension and civil war, and most Norman citizens welcome Conan as the strongest candidate for Duke and the one most likely to restore order.

Conan is descended from Alfred the Great through the Carolingian king Louis IV of France. He has great credentials, and the power, to rule both France and England.

Breton government has a light hand and a penchant for wealth creation, its officials being jurists and merchants. They are also keen on scientific teaching and learning.

Consequently, a cross-Channel empire is formed, like Henry II’s a century later, but larger, stronger, richer, better educated and definitely popular.

Expect accelerated political, social, economic and technological progress, creating a modern world without the intervening oppression, fanaticism and civil wars.