Erasmus Darwin speaks.
Taken from an idea I have for a book called Lichfield Prime. A 'who dunit' set in a Parallel reality Lichfield. Erasmus Darwin speaks. I like this version of Lichfield. The Cathedral is a lot smaller reflecting it's diminished status as a bishopric rather than Archbishopric. I believe this is a symptom of the divergence of this reality from Ours. In this reality, Mercia was weakened after the death of Offa and a jealous Archbishop of Canterbury managed to persuade the Pope to issue a Papal Bull demoting Lichfield back to a bishopric. It was a weakened Mercia that was overrun by Vikings relying on Wessex to drive them back. A weakened newly emerged England was conquered by the Normans whose leadership was descended from the Norsemen. A bizarre tale I know, but it does explain why this universes’ English is similar to our own: both realities had their English heavily influenced by the Romance languages, only ours was through a peaceful amalgamation of the French and Eng