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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;FitzNigel, post: 2235317, member: 74712&quot;]I somehow messed up the formatting of my reply - here it is again:</p><p><br /></p><p>I won&#039;t speak for the rest of these coins, but let me tell you about Richard</p><p><br /></p><p>Richard may we&#039;ll be responsible for the Norman invasion of England.&nbsp; He was not the invader of course (that would be William), but it was through his attempts at gaining England as an ally that would lead to circumstances allow for the Norman conquest.</p><p><br /></p><p>Richard&#039;s daughter Emma was married to Aethelred II of England as a marriage alliance.&nbsp; Aethelred was a fairly weak king who couldn&#039;t fight off the Viking/Danish attacks on England.&nbsp; Swein Forkbeard (then later his son Cnut) were succeeding in taking England, Aethelred and his family fled to Normandy because of their new relationship with Richard (except Emma stayed behind and married Cnut...&nbsp; A juicy bit of soap opera there).</p><p><br /></p><p>Anyway, this left Athelred&#039;s son Edward to be raised at the Norman court with Richard and his successors.&nbsp; Cnut and Emma would succeed in having a child who would become King of England (Harthacnut), but he dies after reigning for 2 years.&nbsp; This allowed Edward to return to R bland to claim the throne, but he had taken on many aspects of Norman culture (it was said he spoke with an accent), and had brought many Normans back to Rngland with him.</p><p><br /></p><p>Because of Edward (known as the Confessor) had been raised in Normandy, he kept Norman friends, and may have promised the throne of England to William, Duke of Normandy (and great-grandson of Richard I), on his death.&nbsp; So without Richard&#039;s schemes, Arthelred would not have relied on Normandy, Edward would not have been raised there, and William would not have had a flimsy claim to the throne.&nbsp; From there, English and European history as we know it would be completly different, never mind that the language we think of as English would not exist.</p><p><br /></p><p>While this is a very simplified version of events, how is that for the importance of Richard I?[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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