Welcome to the British History Podcast.

My name is Jamie, and this is episode 431.

The gang has a wedding.

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From 1066 to 1071, William had been at war with the English.

Five long years of conquest, insurrections, and rebellions.

And here's the thing about that.

William didn't even seem to like England all that much.

Not the culture, and definitely not the people.

William wasn't up here trying to escape his homeland.

Normandy suited him perfectly.

In fact, there wasn't a single year where he failed to visit the Duchy.

While in contrast, following the initial five-year period of rebellion, William never

again spent a full year in England.

And there were at least five years, and perhaps as many as seven years, where he never even

bothered to visit England at all.

If you want to know how this king felt about his new kingdom, take a look at the fact that

he only ever damed to visit England when it was under threat of invasion, or beset by

...