Tapestry Tales

Tapestry Tales Alex Conradie I've always been rather fascinated by chaos. How the beating of a butterfly's wings can spark a storm half a world away; how seemingly insignificant events can tip the scales and dramatically change the landscape. In 1066, after his success against the Viking threat in the North, King Harold of England hastily returned South to face William of Normandy. Urgency or overconfidence prevented him bolstering his forces or reinforcing his nonmounted warriors with archers. Forced march may have imperceptibly weakened his hardened warriors & critical mass may have been subtly lost in his most experienced & disciplined units during the Viking campaign. In October, William of Normandy probably surprised him near Hastings, though Harold managed to claim the high ground. Harold expertly employed a defensive tactic aimed at weakening the attacking force with minimal losses, but to no avail. That day, after several hours of fighting, twelve thousand warriors decided the ill fate of 1-2 million Saxons; perhaps more significantly the fate of Saxon culture. Anje & I walked across this waterlogged field of battle, considering a landscape largely unchanged by nine centuries. So much blood.

The Norman challenge to Saxon culture was much as the Saxon challenge to the Celtic culture five centuries earlier. The Normans brought their rule & customs. French became the language of law, estates, song, verse, chanson & romance. The Normans brought feudalism with its fragmented authority and unfortunate caste system. Most of all, the Saxons resented being an oppressed majority.

Understandably, the fractal beauty of feudalism remained unrecognised during the High Middle Ages. Nevertheless, after the fall of Rome, the High Middle Ages was the break of day. Europe's great fortune lay in the weakness and division that accompanied an uncertain & poorly understood world. Constant competition between its component parts propelled Europe forward, spurring innovation. Had Rome persevered, Europe would have stagnated as a pre-industrial society.

Reminders of Saxon culture are rare, though an architectural heritage lies scattered upon the British landscape. Most significant of all is the Dark Age Saxon poem, Beowulf. In the epic poem, the monster Grendel is the clear antagonist, the walker of the boundary land. He lurks unseen in the shadows of the bog outside the warmth of the mead hall, launching sudden vicious attacks on the hall's certainty.

Like the reasons for King Harold's demise, modern-day Grendels are more subtle. A monoculture lacks diversity, stifling to innovative thinking. If everyone has the same thought process, similar solutions will always be found. Post-war Europe in the 20th century had a unique opportunity to become a mosaic of diverse, loosely federated states aligned along shared economic goals. Unlearning the lessons of the past, the 21st century European Union continually seeks greater centralisation in Brussels. The looming single Constitution for Europe must surely be a potential threat to diversity & innovation. "It is like a nail," the chairman of Stalin's League of the Militant Godless, Yemelian Yaroslavsky, once complained of Christianity, "the harder it is struck, the deeper it goes." Pray that the many European peoples & cultures will respond in kind.