A kingdom after conquest In 1086, just twenty years after the Norman Conquest, England was still bruised, unsettled and full of arguments about who owned what. William the Conqueror had handed out huge tracts of land to his followers. Old English lords had lost estates. New Norman magnates were still testing boundaries. The royal treasury…

Why We Still Gather to Trade Step into any bustling town square, open your favorite shopping app, or stroll through a weekend farmers’ market. Each scene looks different, yet all share one beating heart: the marketplace. You and I visit markets to buy bread, scroll for sneakers, or hunt down vintage toys. But markets are…