The Telegraph blamed the housing crisis on William the Conquerer and of all the funny comebacks, this historian said it best
To the Daily Telegraph now, where the paper has helpfully identified the real cause of the housing problem gripping Britain right now and making it so incredibly difficult for first time buyers to get on the market.
Yes, it’s all William the Conquerer’s fault.
How William the Conqueror’s land grab stoked Britain’s housing crisis
Roots of the country’s problem lie in the Norman king’s system of lease and ownershiphttps://t.co/YKXRqNioDy
— The Telegraph (@Telegraph) May 12, 2024
Well, that’s some Norman wisdom we did’t seen coming.
‘When William the Conqueror was shaping his new kingdom in 1066, the plight of 5 million leaseholders a thousand years in the future wasn’t even a distant consideration …’
The article, such as it is, prompted a whole heap of very funny and totally on-point replies.
I’m contractually obliged to welcome articles that put contemporary problems in historical perspective. But “we had to deal with the terrible legacy we inherited from the Normans” is buck passing on an epic scale. https://t.co/PVSRMge2sk
— Philip Murphy (@philipvmurphy) May 12, 2024
Lo, Lord Barratt didst whisper with ye Duke of Taylor Wimpey about ye neede to avoid undue blayme falling upon ye inward flowe of new folk to the realm
— Horus (@infinitehorus) May 13, 2024
Britain if Harold Godwinson won: https://t.co/oOykxRIBuK pic.twitter.com/s3jnfBxlYy
— Gianni Sarra (@GianniRSarra) May 13, 2024
It there an equivalent housing crisis in Scotland, where William the Conqueror never ruled?
— David Chapman (@timon_phocas54) May 13, 2024
Even I, as a fan of the longue durée, reckon this is pushing it https://t.co/Oq2RH2qF4D
— Peter Frankopan (@peterfrankopan) May 13, 2024
This is just idiotic. There was a housing shortage for rural laborers in the mid-1800s, but that was largely solved by the end of Victoria's reign by migration to the cities and constructing more cottages. The Victorian Countryside, Volume II covers this
The real issue now is…
— Will Tanner (@Will_Tanner_1) May 13, 2024
Always blaming the foreigners https://t.co/RXCSawieey
— Dan "the Legal Juggernaut" Kaszeta (@DanKaszeta) May 13, 2024
What is this bullshit♂️
— No to Bullshit (@ShrekKeplr) May 13, 2024
But surely no-one said it better than historian of religion and belief and much else besides, Dr Francis Young.
I’m sorry but it’s absurd to blame William the Conqueror for the housing crisis. The blame lies squarely with Boudicca, whose burning of Roman cities caused London to emerge as the capital – skewing Britain ever after to a unipolar metropolis and causing unrealistic house prices https://t.co/qoPbAuBuhN
— Dr Francis Young (@DrFrancisYoung) May 13, 2024
And we’re very glad to say it didn’t stop there.
Surely the blame lies with the sea level rises of the mid-Holocene causing the disappearance of Doggerland and the creation of the Thames and Rhine estuaries in close proximity thus re-orientating our land mass away from the North Sea and towards the South East.
— Benjamin Carter (@revbcarter) May 13, 2024
Very true
— Dr Francis Young (@DrFrancisYoung) May 13, 2024
What is it about female rulers from South West Norfolk that makes them have such an impact on the housing market?
— John Henderson (@westrowhendo) May 13, 2024
— Dr Francis Young (@DrFrancisYoung) May 13, 2024
I blame Grok, the first Neolithic farmer to build a house in England. Can't have a housing crisis without houses.
— Neil Jackman (@JackmanNeil) May 13, 2024
I think Douglas Adams hit the nail on the head:
"Many were increasingly of the opinion that they’d all made a big mistake in coming down from the trees in the first place. And some said that even the trees had been a bad move, and that no one should ever have left the oceans."
— Chris Samuel (@chris_bloke) May 13, 2024
To conclude …
This is why I don't understand that social media depresses people. They're not following the right accounts. pic.twitter.com/959z3hjvWI
— Deborah Hyde (@jourdemayne) May 13, 2024
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Source @DrFrancisYoung
