Welsh Journals

a remarkably mature judgement has been joined. With this volume Dr. Ellis Evans takes his place among the foremost Celtic scholars of his generation. J. E. CAERWYN WILLIAMS Aberystwyth WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR. (The Clarendon Biographies, 2). By David Walker. Oxford University Press, 1968. Illus. Pp. 60. 9s. 6d. net boards, 5s. net paper. Dr. David Walker has contributed an attractive volume to the Clarendon Biographies. A great deal of material is available for the study of the Conqueror and Dr. Walker is to be congratulated on his powers of selection which have enabled him to tell a coherent story in a remarkably short space. He offers five short chapters on 'The Duke in His Duchy', 'The Prospects of a Crown' (an opportunity to introduce material on the old English monarchy in the reign of the Confessor), on the 'Conquest', 'The Years of Hazard (1066-1070)', and 'The Norman Settlement'. This is an effective arrangement: some might like to see 'The Years of Hazard' extended to 1072, but the earlier date is defensible. Dr. Walker shows his solid knowledge of the period and of the problems of interpretation in many ways. He accepts the possibility of a ducal visit to England in 1051-52, and the probability that Harold became William's man on a visit to Normandy in 1064. On the circumstances of Harold's death, Dr. Walker says no more than that the story of the fatal wounding by an arrow 'is not firmly established' (p. 29). Dr. Walker's authority on all matters appertaining to Hereford and Gloucester gives extra point to his comparison between Harold's success on the southern marches of Wales, and Duke William's prowess on the Norman border. He discreetly avoids the often arid controversies about feudalism, and contents himself with a direct description of the fief at work. 'The more influential of the mesne tenants' are taken to be an important element among those who swore the oath of Salisbury to the king in 1086. There is a brief but useful section on the military settlement, and Dr. Walker does not make the business too smooth and inevitable; an illustration from Hereford lands helps him to remind us of the 'private bullying, usurpation, and outright robbery' (p. 46) which characterized some of the detail of the settlement. The pages on Domesday Book take account of Professor Galbraith's recent work; the sworn juries of local men are seen, surely correctly, as attesting the truth of the facts presented to the king's commissioners. The central theme of the book is taken up with the activities of the Conqueror. Less, therefore, is said about some institutional aspects, five-hide units, writs, charters, and coinage than might otherwise have been the case. We look forward to a fuller exposition of the period from Dr. Walker's pen. The illustrations are well selected. Dr. Walker is to be congratulated on presenting a clear picture, sound