New England (Latin: Nova Anglia) was a colony allegedly founded in the mid-to-late 11th century by English refugees fleeing William the Conqueror. Its existence is only attested in two sources, dating from the 13th and 14th centuries, the French Chronicon Universale Anonymi Laudunensis and the IcelandicJátvarðar Saga. They tell the story of a journey from England through the Mediterranean Sea that led to Constantinople, where the English refugees fought off a siege by “heathens” and were rewarded by the Byzantine Emperor Alexius I Comnenus. A group of them were given land in the north-east of the Black Sea, reconquering it and renaming their territory “New England”. Though these sources are late, New England is thought by some historians to be based on a reality.
How interesting! A new England from one thousand years ago! I wonder where the descendants of those men are now?
Irish Tory 